Tag: Covid-19

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 ...

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:...

Ethiopia’s Dr Tedros Re-elected As WHO Head

25May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Ethiopia, News

Ethiopia’s Dr Tedros Re-elected As WHO Head

Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been re-elected as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) head for a second five-year term. The result of the secret vote was a formality since he was the only candidate. Opening the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Dr Tedros, who has led the global response to the Covid pandemic, said coronavirus had turned the world upside down, leaving many still enduring suffering. Fighting back tears as he spoke, he also called for an end to war, which he said "shakes and shatters the foundations on which previously stable societies stood". He recalled his own first-hand experience as a child of war in Ethiopia, which is again experiencing civil conflict in its northern Tigray region, where he is originally from. Read Also: Kenyan Fight...

$4.7m Malawi Covid Fund Missing After Audit

22May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Corruption, Covid-19, Finance, Malawi, News

$4.7m Malawi Covid Fund Missing After Audit

An audit into Covid spending in Malawi has found that around $4.7m (£3.7m) cannot be accounted for from $21m set aside to deal with the second phase of the pandemic. This is on top of $881m from the first phase that a 2020 audit showed had been spent irregularly or was not accounted for. After the first audit, President Lazarus Chakwera promised to crack down on the culprits and several officials were taken to court, though none of the cases have yet concluded. The latest investigation - a 66-page report by the country’s auditor general - lists the irregularities, which include undelivered medical supplies, allowances paid without attendance sheets and fuel acquired without official documentation. Read Also: Face Masks Now Optional, COVID-19 Restrictions To Go Soon – FG ...

20 Million Farmers In Africa To Benefit From $1.5 billion Emergency Food Facility

21May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Africa, African Development, Agriculture, News

20 Million Farmers In Africa To Benefit From $1.5 billion Emergency Food Facility

The African Development Bank has approved a $1.5 billion emergency food production facility for 20 million farmers on the continent. This is aimed at reducing the looming food crisis driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the bank announced on Friday. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is further disrupting a global and liberalized food system that was already undermined by COVID and the unfolding climate crisis. Read Also: Kwara State to Partner AfDB on Infrastructure Devt., Women Empowerment The funding is meant to assist Africa overcome a shortage of at least 30 million metric tonnes of food due to the disruption of global food supplies caused by the conflict in Europe, especially for wheat, maize and soybeans imported from Russia and the Ukraine. The facility was designe...

Face Masks Now Optional, COVID-19 Restrictions To Go Soon – FG

31Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Face Masks Now Optional, COVID-19 Restrictions To Go Soon – FG

COVID-19 The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 has said the use of face masks in public places is now optional, while the decision on the final relaxation of measures will be taken after Easter. The Head of the Technical Secretariat, who also doubles as the Secretary of the PSC on COVID-19, Dr Muktar Muhammed, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH in Abuja. Countries across the world have started relaxing COVID-19 measures. Recently, Ghana, a West African country, announced that the use of face masks was no longer mandatory. Nigeria has continued to witness a drop in the number of daily COVID-19 cases. The PSC also announced that it would stop demanding proof of PCR tests from fully vaccinated travellers. Muhammed stated, “We are easing up ...

FG To Integrate Childhood Immunisation Into COVID-19 Vaccination

26Jan

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

FG To Integrate Childhood Immunisation Into COVID-19 Vaccination

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency(NPHCDA), in Nigeria on Tuesday announced that it would integrate childhood vaccination at COVID-19 vaccination sites for children from 0-23 months in the ongoing mass vaccination exercise. Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, NPHCDA, disclosed this at the National COVID-19 Vaccines weekly briefing, in Abuja Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, NPHCDA, disclosed this in a statement delivered at the National COVID-19 Vaccines weekly briefing, in Abuja and was shared on the Twitter handle of NPHCDA, @Nphcda. Shuaib explained that the integration was to ensure that preventable childhood diseases are not neglected in the face of the response against the COVID-19 pandemic. The NPHCDA boss also called on Nigerians to endeavour they...

Lagos Government Declares End Of COVID-19 Fourth Wave

23Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Lagos Government Declares End Of COVID-19 Fourth Wave

The fourth wave of COVID-19 is over in Lagos, the state government has said. Commissioner for Health in the state, Prof Akin Abayomi, said that a consistent decrease in COVID-19 case positivity was an indication of the end of the fourth wave in the state. Read Also: COVID-19: Nigerian Government Vows To Bar Unvaccinated Workers From Offices By December Abayomi in an update on his Twitter account said there was a reduction in positivity rates of COVID-19 infection from 29.3 per cent recorded on December 21, 2021, to 1.9 per cent on January 20, 2022. He put bed capacity utilisation at only two percent and fatality rate at 0.71 per cent. But the commissioner asked Lagosians to get vaccinated and continue to adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions to further reduce the s...

Enforce Compulsory Vaccination On LG, State Workers – FG Tells Governors

10Jan

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Enforce Compulsory Vaccination On LG, State Workers – FG Tells Governors

The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency has urged state governments to step up mass vaccination against COVID-19 as part of moves to combat the virus. The agency, in its latest advisory obtained by one of our correspondents in Abuja, also urged state governors to enact and enforce vaccination mandate for local and state government workers. This came to fore as the percentage for fully vaccinated Nigerians stalled at 4.2 per cent while those that had taken their first dose remained grounded at 9.8 per cent as of Sunday, January 9, 2021. The NCDC in its daily updates continued to report increase in the number of fatalities reporting no fewer than 38 deaths between January 1 and January 8. Despite the increasing number of cases and deaths, some states have not vaccinate...

Why Garba Shehu, Other Presidential Aides Contracted COVID-19— Femi Adesina

27Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Why Garba Shehu, Other Presidential Aides Contracted COVID-19— Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, says there is nothing abnormal in presidential aides testing positive for COVID-19. There had been reports that some presidential aides including the Permanent Secretary in the State House, Tijani Umar; the President’s aide-de-camp (ADC), Yusuf Dodo; his chief security officer (CSO), Aliyu Musa, and his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu tested positive for COVID-19 and were in isolation. Speaking on the development, Adesina, in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, said presidential aides are also humans and not immune to happenings around them. Read Also: Electoral Act Amendment: Buhari Returns Bill To NASS, Faults Direct Primaries, Cites Insecurity “What I...