Author: Chukwuebuka Festus - Page 2

UN Urges Urgent Action To Avert Famine In Somalia

8Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Agriculture, News

UN Urges Urgent Action To Avert Famine In Somalia

The UN has warned that Somalia is heading towards a famine as the country faces its worst drought in at least four decades. Currently, close to half of the population is facing crisis-level food insecurity. The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for the country, Adam Abdelmoula, has said the international community must act now or more people will die. He said the country was on the brink of devastating and widespread hunger and mass starvation that could claim hundreds of thousands of lives. Read Also: 20 Million Farmers In Africa To Benefit From $1.5 billion Emergency Food Facility Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed and the UN estimates the ensuing severe drought has affected seven million people and displaced more than 800,000. At the same time, food prices ar...

Tunisian President Cuts Judges’ Wages After They Strike Over Sackings

7Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Judiciary, News, Tunisia

Tunisian President Cuts Judges’ Wages After They Strike Over Sackings

Tunisia's political crisis deepened on Monday as President Kais Saied ordered judges' salaries cut to take account of strike days after they began a week-long work stoppage in protest at his move to dismiss dozens of them. Saied, who has progressively sought to tighten his grip on power, last week dismissed 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists. Courtrooms were closed across the country on Monday. The head of the Tunisian Judges Association, Anas Hamaidi, said 99% of judges observed the first day of the strike, and that the action would continue until Saied reinstated those sacked. Read Also: Tunisia Judges To Strike Over Presidential Sackings The president assumed executive powers last summer in a move his opponents called a coup, subsequentl...

South African Pastor Found Guilty Of Treason, Racist Plot

7Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Crime, Judiciary, News, Religion, South Africa

South African Pastor Found Guilty Of Treason, Racist Plot

A South African court has convicted a pastor of plotting to overthrow the government and to kill thousands of Black people in the country. Harry Johannes Knoesen, 61, a leader of the National Christian Resistance Movement, was on Monday found guilty of high treason, incitement to carry out violent attacks, and recruiting people to commit attacks. Knoesen’s group explored the possibility of using a biological weapon to infect and kill Black people, including the poisoning of water reservoirs supplying Black communities, according to the prosecution. Knoesen was also found guilty of unlawful possession of firearms by the Middelburg High Court. Weapons and ammunition were found when he was arrested in Middelburg, a small town in the eastern Mpumalanga province. The plot by th...

Ramaphosa: I Have Never Stolen Money From Anywhere

6Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Corruption, Crime, News, South Africa

Ramaphosa: I Have Never Stolen Money From Anywhere

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has made a robust defence of his integrity after he was accused of being involved in kidnapping and bribery. Last week, former spy chief Arthur Fraser said the case related to the alleged attempted theft of $4m (£3.2m) in 2020 at one of the president's properties and the alleged efforts to conceal what happened. The president then confirmed that there was a robbery at his farm in Limpopo "in which proceeds from the sale of game were stolen". But then questions were raised as to why he had that sum in cash. Talking to supporters at the weekend, Mr Ramaphosa explained that as a farmer he frequently bought and sold cattle and people often paid in cash. In addition, he denied that the amount stolen was anywhere near $4m. Read Also:...

Suspected Islamists Kill At Least 18 In East Congo Attack

6Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Armed Forces, Congo, News, Rwanda, Security, Terrorism, Uganda

Suspected Islamists Kill At Least 18 In East Congo Attack

Suspected Islamists killed at least 18 people in a village raid in eastern Congo on Sunday night, local sources said, while fighting resumed with the M23 rebel group in a neighbouring province. Fighters believed to be from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed residents and burned down houses in the village of Otomabere, in Irumu territory, Ituri province, said a witness, a local chief and a local human rights group. Congolese army spokesman Jules Ngongo confirmed the ADF attack without giving a death toll, and said Congolese forces were in pursuit of the assailants. The ADF is a Ugandan militia that moved to eastern Congo in the 1990s. The group carries out frequent attacks and killed more than 1,300 people between January 2021 and January 2022, according to a United ...

Kenya Crash Kills 11 Returning From Dowry Ceremony

6Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Kenya, News, Safety, Transportation

Kenya Crash Kills 11 Returning From Dowry Ceremony

At least 11 people have been killed in central Kenya when the minibus they were travelling in overturned. Police in Kitui county say the victims, who were related to each other, were returning from a dowry payment ceremony during the night. Police say the vehicle was being driven at high speed, resulting in loss of control and the fatal crash that occurred at 11pm. “The matatu rolled over, killing ten on the spot. The eleventh victim died during treatment at the Matuu Level 4 Hospital,” area chief Jacob Mueti said. Read Also: Okada Riders Raze Houses In Abuja Over Killing Of Two Colleagues The administrator said a few other passengers were injured and taken to Matuu hospital, with some, who sustained serious injuries, being transferred to the Kenyatta National Hospital ...

Tunisia Judges To Strike Over Presidential Sackings

5Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Judiciary, News, Tunisia

Tunisia Judges To Strike Over Presidential Sackings

Judges in Tunisia are to strike for a week and stage sit-in protests against the president’s firing of dozens of their colleagues. President Kais Saied this week dismissed 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists in a crackdown on the judiciary - his latest step to tighten his grip on power in the North African country. Judge Hammadi Rahmani said a meeting of judges on Saturday voted unanimously to suspend work in all courts, and to start the sit-in. The strike will start on Monday in all judicial institutions and could be extended, Anas Hamaidi, president of the Association of Judges, said. Last summer, Saied seized executive power in a move his foes called a coup, before setting aside the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dismissing the elec...

Coca Cola Inaugurates Its ‘Mega’ Factory In Ethiopia

5Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

African Development, Economy, Ethiopia, News

Coca Cola Inaugurates Its ‘Mega’ Factory In Ethiopia

Coca Cola has inaugurated its new 'mega factory' in Sebta City in Ethiopia. The $100 million factory, located 25 km from the capital, Addis Ababa, is equipped with state of the art machinery and will create 30,000 job opportunities. Senior government officials were in attendance at the inauguration "Coca-Cola is 60-years-old and plays an irreplaceable role as a factory in Ethiopia. Today, the establishment of this factory in this city is a testament to the development activities in Ethiopia," said Melaku Alebel, Ethiopian minister of Industry. The factory has a daily production potential of 70,000 racks of 24 bottles. This level will bring the group's total manufacturing capacity in the country to 100 million cases per year and will make the country a strongh...

Vandals Loot Graves In Mozambique For Scrap Metal

4Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Crime, News, Security

Vandals Loot Graves In Mozambique For Scrap Metal

Residents of Beira city in the central Mozambican province of Sofala have called for protection of local cemeteries amid reports of vandalism of graves. At the Mangalane cemetery, more than 50 graves have been vandalised in the past month. The criminals are removing copper crucifixes and other metallic objects. The traditional leader responsible for the cemetery, Fernando Jaime, said the acts of desecration have been taking place in broad daylight. Read Also: Hoodlums Kill Three, Loot Hospitals in Darfur – MSF "They take crosses and other objects of dead people they find beside the grave. They put these things together and sell them for scrap," he told local media. Carlos Cassicussa, a resident of the Mungassa neighbourhood, said the situation was the result of a degrad...

South African Police Decry Increased Crime Rate

4Jun

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Crime, News, Security, South Africa, Violence

South African Police Decry Increased Crime Rate

South Africa's police minister on Friday decried a "brutal" surge in murders and other violent crime, in a nation that was already among the world's most dangerous. "The first three months of this year were violent, brutal and unsafe for many South Africans," Bheki Cele told a news conference. Between January and March, 6,083 people were killed - a 22.2 percent increase from the same period last year. The killings took an especially alarming toll among children, leaving 306 dead, a 37.2 percent increase, he said. Read Also: Zimbabwean Killed as Protest Rocks South Africa Reported sexual offenses rose by 13.7 percent, with 10,818 people raped. Kidnappings showed the sharpest increase, with 3,306 cases reported -- more than double the number from a year ago. "The qu...