Sudan's Protesters Launch General Strike After Crackdown

Shops are closed and streets are empty across Sudan's capital on the first day of a general strike called for by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council.   The Sudanese Professionals Association had called on people to stay home Sunday in protest at the military's deadly crackdown last week, when security forces violently dispersed the group's main sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum.   The SPA spearheaded months of mass protests that led to the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April, and had called on people to remain in the streets until a full handover of power to civilians.   The group posted photos it said were of an empty Khartoum International Airport. It says airport workers and pilots are taking part in the civil disobedience.  

Is IS Gaining Foothold in Mozambique?

A recent attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group in a northern province in Mozambique signals a growing presence of extremist groups in the southeast African country, experts contend.    IS claimed responsibility for an attack May 28 in the Cabo Delgado region, where a gunfight between government soldiers and Islamist militants left at least 16 people dead and a dozen wounded. Mozambican officials have declined to comment on the incident.    Since 2017, Islamist insurgents have carried out similar attacks against the military and local residents in the impoverished, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado region. More than 200 people have been killed and dozens of villages burned down by Islamist extremists in the past two years, according to local sources. The growing violence continues despite a heavy police and military presence in Cabo Delgado and other northern areas of the country. Ansar al-Sunna  The group suspected of carrying out the recent attack in Cabo Delgado is called Ansar al-Sunna, locally known as al-Shabab, which is an extremist group that has been operating in the region for more than two years. The group has also used other names, including Ahlu al-Sunna and Swahili Sunna.  While little is known about Ansar al-Sunna, it has been responsible for dozens of attacks against civilians and government forces in northern Mozambique.  The group has been reportedly preying on young Muslims who have been distraught because of unemployment and lack of economic opportunities in the country.  ​IS presence After losing all the territory it held in Iraq and Syria, IS seems to be shifting its strategy and focusing on local Islamist militant groups that have pledged allegiance to the terror group. IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video in April, encouraging his followers to wage attacks on behalf of IS throughout the world, naming an IS affiliate that has been active in several African countries.  IS "has recognized [Ansar al-Sunna] as an affiliate and this is essentially how it claims it has presence and fighters that operate within Mozambique," said Ryan Cummings, director of Signal Risk, an Africa-focused political and security risk management consultancy.  He added that it was difficult to confirm all such claims, since Mozambican authorities have not confirmed the recent attack and insist that the terror group has no presence in the country.  IS, however, "has produced images of weapons it had seized from the Mozambican soldiers following the attack, which is something [IS] generally does in cases where it does have access to that information to support its claims," Cummings told VOA.​ ​North Mozambique Some experts believe IS has already set its sights on Mozambique, particularly its northern region because of the economic disparity that, in part, allows radical Islamist ideology to flourish, especially among the youth. "The situation in north of Mozambique is more virulent than other parts of the country," Alex Vines Obe, director of the Africa Program at Chatham House, said during a panel on extremism in northern Mozambique, held Thursday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.  "The situation there is highly complicated, and so the government of Mozambique needs to be forensically focused with its international partners and focus on that crisis," he added. "Islamic State has its eyes on the country, with the environment in northern Mozambique now regarded as a perfect gateway appropriate to its strategy," Jasmine Opperman, a counterterrorism expert, argued this week in an opinion piece published in South Africa's Daily Maverick newspaper.    Violent extremism  U.S. officials also say that Mozambique has been facing challenges in dealing with violent extremism in the northern part of the country.  "The United States and other regional and international partners have been engaged in helping the government develop a holistic security, community engagement and communication approach," said Stephanie Amadeo, director of the office of southern African affairs at the U.S. State Department. "The goal for this approach is to address governance and development issues and provide increased training to build the capabilities of Mozambican security forces," she added during a speech at the CSIS event in Washington. But experts believe that regional and international cooperation with Mozambique on countering violent extremism has been limited in scope to only intelligence sharing.   "There isn't any information to suggest that Mozambique is receiving any form of counterterrorism assistance from outside of the continent at this time," analyst Cummings said. "At this stage, if there's any military cooperation that is taking place, it seems to be limited between Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda to a certain extent," he added.  Government measures  Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has vowed to address threats posed by extremists, deploying additional reinforcements to northern Mozambique where hundreds of people have been arrested. "The country is falling victim and we all need to understand the real reasons," Nyusi said in a recent interview with the Canal de Mocambique newspaper.  "The defense and security forces are putting their whole resources into this, so we can learn motivation [of the insurgents] and who these people are," he said. 

Five Countries to Join UN Security Council Ranks in January

Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam were elected Friday to two-year terms on the U.N. Security Council. The five will join the 15-nation body responsible for maintaining international peace and security on Jan. 1, 2020. There is usually little suspense in the General Assembly for the vote, as regional groups typically pre-select a candidate from within their bloc to run uncontested. This year, Tunisia, Niger and Vietnam ran unopposed. So did Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, until just hours before Friday morning's vote, when El Salvador announced it would challenge the tiny island nation for the one open seat in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Diplomats expressed surprise ahead of the vote as to why El Salvador would come in at the last minute, when the regional bloc had agreed in December to put up Saint Vincent as their candidate. "You don't do it like that," one western diplomat said disapprovingly. Most other countries appeared to agree, with El Salvador winning only six of the 193 votes cast. Eastern Europe did run a contested race this year, endorsing two candidates, Estonia and Romania. Estonia, which joined the U.N. in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has never served on the Security Council. It beat four-time council veteran Romania after two rounds of ballots, exceeding the necessary two-thirds majority needed. Member states cast secret ballots and candidates must win a two-thirds majority of votes to succeed, even if they are running uncontested. Candidate countries cap off their often years-long campaigns with parties in the lead-up to the vote. Reaction "I want to reiterate that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines views this as an historic occasion," Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told reporters after the election. "We are the smallest country ever to be elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council." The island nation has a population of just 110,000. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has aligned with the Maduro regime in Venezuela. "Non-interference, non-intervention, peaceful settlement of serious difficulties pertaining to governance," the prime minister said when asked what his government's policy is toward Venezuela.   Vietnam had nearly unanimous support in the General Assembly, winning 192 of 193 votes. "As Vietnam went through decades of war, we hope that we can bring to the council the experience of Vietnam, the country that has been able to rebuild after the war and deal with many other issues," said the president's special envoy Le Hoai Trung. Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said his nation would try to be a "bridge builder" on the council and contribute to trying to solve some of the most important peace and security issues. Council dynamics "With the election of Saint Vincent and Vietnam, the Security Council could tilt a little towards China and Russia next year," said Richard Gowan, U.N. Director, International Crisis Group. "Saint Vincent has stuck with Maduro in Venezuela, and Vietnam hews to a pretty robust anti-Western line in U.N. debates."  Tunisia and Niger will represent Africa on the council. Gowan told VOA they could figure prominently if Libya and the Sahel continue atop the agenda. "It will be hard to ignore their views on issues like the spillover of violence from Libya and the worsening security situation in Burkina Faso," he said. The five new council members will replace Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland, whose terms end Dec. 31, 2019. They will join the other non-permanent members — Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia, and South Africa — as well as the permanent five members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Journalists Say They Are Under Attack in Nigeria

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Nigerian authorities to “investigate and hold accountable the police officers” who allegedly beat and threatened journalist Kofi Bartels. CPJ said Bartels told the committee that on Tuesday he was beaten and arrested for trying to film several officers who he said were beating a young boy. Bartels, a journalist with Nigeria Info, also tweeted about the attack in the city of Port Harcourt.  Bartels told CPJ that an officer told Bartels that he had “been giving them problems for a long time,” citing his work covering the police in Rivers state. He said the officer also threatened to put him in a prison cell with an inmate who would rape him. Bartels was not charged with any crimes and eventually released. “The police officers involved in this horrific alleged assault against Kofi Bartels must be swiftly brought to justice,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “The initial assault of a reporter documenting police behavior, compounded by the brazen retaliation for past reporting, is a chilling example of a gravely consistent pattern of Nigerian security services’ violence against journalists.” Also Thursday, Nigeria’s broadcasting authority shut down a private radio and television station owned by a key opposition figure. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said it had suspended the license of Daar Communications, the owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM radio. Officials said both media entities had failed to follow the Nigerian broadcasting code, but did not elaborate. The owner of two broadcast stations, Raymond Dokpesi, who is also a key member of opposition Peoples Democratic Party, had predicted the move by the NBC. Hours before the licenses were suspended, Dokpesi told reporters at a news conference that his staff was being intimidated on the instruction of the Nigerian presidency. “We are on a road previously traveled. A media and press clampdown is in the offing,” he told reporters.

UN Moving Civilian Staff Out of Sudan for Now

The United Nations said Wednesday it is temporarily removing some civilian staff from Sudan because of the security situation in the country, where security forces Monday carried out a deadly raid on a protest camp. Medics linked to the opposition said the death toll from Monday’s operation and subsequent unrest had risen to 108 and that it was expected to increase further. No official casualty figures have been released. The raid followed weeks of wrangling between the ruling military council and opposition groups over who should lead Sudan’s transition to democracy and it marked the worst outbreak of violence since the army ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his rule. “What we are doing is temporarily relocating some of the staff from Sudan. There will still be some staff on hand to perform critical functions but because of security some ... are being relocated temporarily,” said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. The spokesman provided no information on how many staff were being moved, where they were going, when they might return and how many would remain in the country. The staff being relocated were civilians and no uniformed personnel are leaving, he said. U.N. activities in Sudan include development cooperation and humanitarian assistance as well as peacekeeping operations by the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) deployed since 2007, according to the U.N. website.

Ebola Listening Projects Take Cues from Community to Improve Response

Working in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak in 2015, researcher Katherina Thomas noticed that while experts and aid workers had lots to say, no one was listening to ordinary people affected. She and a team set about interviewing patients and community members about their experiences, creating an oral history archive which she believes could help responders struggling to gain the trust of Ebola-hit communities in Congo today. Ebola has been spreading in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since August in the world's second biggest outbreak, which has killed 1,354 people and surpassed 2,000 cases this week, according to government figures. Struggling to contain outbreak Aid workers have said they are struggling to contain the outbreak because of community resistance, with people refusing vaccines, concealing symptoms and attacking treatment centers. "People are asking why community members don't trust the responders, but I think we should be asking, why aren't we trusting them?" said Thomas, currently a writer-in-residence at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in the United States. "They don't have a seat at the table, but their voices and insights are so crucial," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Reasons for resistance Community resistance was also a problem during the West Africa outbreak, which hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the reasons were sometimes surprising, said Thomas. She and her colleagues interviewed the young men who attacked an Ebola quarantine center in Liberia in 2014 and found they believed they were saving their community, she said. Although the context is different in eastern Congo, an active conflict zone, Thomas said some of the insights are relevant and she hopes to make the archive available for public use. The Red Cross has been leading efforts to collect community feedback during the current outbreak with over 700 volunteers doing interviews by going door-to-door. Perceptions are changing By analyzing which comments are most frequent and where, they have been able to see how perceptions of Ebola are changing and what concerns need to be addressed, said Ombretta Baggio, senior advisor for community engagement at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). "If you start from where they are, they listen to you differently," Baggio said of the people affected. Right now, for example, there is a rumor going around that in treatment centers patients are given a pill to make them die, she said. The West Africa outbreak reached a turning point when communities themselves became engaged in stamping out the disease, rather than just aid workers, she said. "I think sharing those lessons learned — not by responders but by communities — would be so powerful," said Baggio.

Cameroon Tops List of Neglected Displacement Crises

A conflict that has forced half a million people from their homes in Cameroon was on Wednesday named the world’s most neglected displacement crisis by aid workers who said the country was edging toward full-blown war. Hundreds of villages have been burned, hospitals have been attacked and nearly 800,000 children have seen their schools close, said the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which compiles the annual ranking. “This culture of paralysis by the international community has to end,” said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the NRC, who recently visited the central African country. “Every day the conflict is allowed to continue, bitterness is building and the region edges closer towards full-blown war.” 36 crises in 2018 The NRC analyzed 36 crises in 2018 to produce its annual list, based on lack of funding, lack of media attention and political neglect. Most of the 10 most neglected were in Africa. “Humanitarian assistance should be given based on needs, and needs alone,” said Egeland in a statement. “However, every day millions of displaced people are neglected because they have been struck by the wrong crisis and the dollars have dried up.” A record 68.5 million people had been forced to flee their homes by the end of 2017, said the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in its latest global trends report. Top four crises in Africa Cameroon, where a conflict between armed groups and security forces in the Southwest and Northwest has left 1.3 million people in need of aid, scored highly on all three areas measured by the index. It was followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Burundi, all of which have been affected by conflict. Ukraine, at No. 5, was the only European country in this list, while Venezuela climbed to sixth place. The final four countries in the top 10 were Mali, Libya, Ethiopia and Palestine. Need outpaces aid Aid agencies are struggling to meet increasing needs worldwide while relying on limited funding, said Helen Thompson for humanitarian organization CARE International UK. “Ultimately, humanitarian action alone cannot end humanitarian need,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “These crises require political solutions to put an end to conflict, allowing people to recover, rebuild their lives, and live in peace.”

Sudan's Ruling Military Leaders Call for Elections Within Nine Months

Sudan's ruling military council says it is canceling its previous agreement with civilian protesters following Monday's attack by security forces on a protest site in Khartoum that left at least 30 people dead. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Transitional Military Council, announced Tuesday in a televised address that it will hold elections within the next nine months. General Burhan said the elections would organize under regional and international supervision. Monday's raid on the protest site outside the Defense Ministry capped a breakdown of relations between the military and the Alliance for Freedom and Change, a coalition of protesters and opposition parties. The two sides had been negotiating over the makeup of a transitional government following the military's ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in April, after mass protests against his autocratic rule. The parties had agreed to form an interim government that would rule Sudan for three years before handing over power to a permanent civilian government. But the talks broke down last month over differences on the leadership of the transitional government. ​Details of the raid On Monday, with batons in hand, Sudanese forces dressed in police and military uniforms surrounded protesters near the military headquarters and began forcing the demonstrators to leave. Explosions and heavy machine gunfire were heard, and video on several media outlets shows Sudanese forces beating protesters lying face down on the ground. Protesters say rapid response forces and paramilitary units surrounded two Khartoum hospitals. Witnesses say that by mid-afternoon on Monday, the area had been cleared. The protesters had been staging the sit-in since April at the start of the negotiations. The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, which is close to Sudan’s protest movement, said Tuesdaythe death toll has risen to 35 with many more injured. Transitional Military Council spokesman Shams El din Al Kabashi said the forces only targeted what he called“dangerous groups” that infiltrated the protesters in the sit-in area. In a statement released by his spokesman in New York, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Monday's attack in Khartoum.  "The Secretary-General reminds (Sudan’s) Transitional Military Council of its responsibility for the safety and security of the citizens of Sudan," the spokesman said. "He urges all parties to act with utmost restraint." Guterres also called for unimpeded access for first responders at the sit-in site and in hospitals where the wounded are treated, and called on Sudanese authorities to conduct an independent investigation and hold people accountable for the deaths. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet also condemned the attack and urged the security forces to stop immediately. "Those exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression must be protected, not targeted or detained," Bachelet said in a statement. "This is a fundamental tenet of international human rights law." The U.S. embassy in Khartoum tweeted that the attacks on protesters "must stop."  ​The British embassy condemned the attack and called it an "outrageous step that will only lead to more polarization and violence." The Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces — a coalition of political parties leading the protest — issued a statement calling on all demonstrators to continue with "the revolution." Protesters later blocked roads leading into and out of Khartoum.  Protest organizers have suspended further talks with the Transitional Military Council and called for civil disobedience across the country until the military hands over power to civilians. The organizers also say in the statement that security forces who killed protesters must be brought to justice.

Sudanese Security Forces Move to Disperse Sit-in in Khartoum

In Khartoum, explosions and heavy machine gun fire were heard early Monday as Sudanese security forces moved on the site of a sit-in protest outside the Defense Ministry. The Reuters news agency reports that a medical association affiliated with the protesters said at least one person has been killed and several injured as the government troops attempt to disperse the protest in central Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. The Associated Press is also reporting that one of its journalists saw smoke rising from the site as the raid is in progress. The sit-in begin several weeks ago as civilians and military officials argue over the makeup of a transitional government, following the military overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in April, after mass protests against his 30-year rule.  The protesters are demand the military hand over power to civilians.

Zimbabwe Businesses Drop Local Currency for US Dollars

As Zimbabwe’s economy struggles and the country faces scarce fuel supplies, some businesses are refusing to accept the ever-weakening local currency, insisting on doing business in U.S. dollars. One reason is that the local currency, known as bond notes, are not accepted outside the southern African country, making them useless for any companies that need to import goods. This spare vehicle parts seller, Tongai Madamombe, says he wants President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to switch to the U.S. dollar as pricing in bond-notes has become difficult. “For those that do not import, charging in bond-notes is not as difficult, as it is for us who import,” Madamombe said. “If you do not calculate well, you will fail to restock. We are really in difficult times. So we are now pricing in U.S. dollars, those who do not have it we use parallel market rates, as we will go there to get foreign currency to import our stock.” Zimbabwe abandoned its dollar more than a decade ago, when hyperinflation made it worthless. Now the bond notes, introduced two years ago, are also depreciating in value. The South African rand and British pounds are acceptable in many places, but very hard to find. Even some Zimbabwe government departments and companies such as the National Railways have started asking for payment in U.S. dollars, partly to protect themselves against the depreciating bond notes. Fuel is another scarce product in Zimbabwe, and the government continues to control its price. Some companies have resorted to selling it in U.S. dollars only. Eddington Mazambani, the head of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, says it is only allowing fuel companies that have directly imported fuel on their own to trade in U.S. dollars, as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe pays foreign currency for most fuel imports in the country. “We require documentation, if you have procured through Reserve Bank [and] you then fail to produce documentation to us, we will then take the necessary measures. You would be breaking the law, so we will take measures according to the laws in the petroleum sector,” Mazambani said. The government says gas stations trading in U.S. dollars when they are supposed to take local currency are being stripped of their licenses. But so far that policy has not made fuel more available or stopped the practice.

Zimbabwean Businesses Abandon Local Currency for US Dollars

With Zimbabwe's economy struggling, more businesses are refusing to accept local currency, taking only U.S. dollars. As Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, even some government agencies have started charging in American currency.

1 Killed, 10 Wounded in Clash at Khartoum Sit-In Site

One person was killed and 10 wounded in Khartoum on Saturday when shots were fired near the site of a protest sit-in, a doctors committee close to demonstrators said.  "After regular forces opened fire, there were casualties on Nile Street near the sit-in site," the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a statement.  The committee did not specify which forces opened fire or identify those killed or wounded.  A man died "who was hit with live rounds in the head," the committee said. Soldiers and security forces blocked off the city's Nile Street on Saturday afternoon, while gunfire could be heard in the distance, an AFP reporter said. It was unclear who was firing.  The doctors committee said three people were wounded by gunfire and most of the other casualties were hit with rifle butts and steel bars, without elaborating.  The military ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule. Protesters have remained camped out in front of Khartoum's army headquarters to pressure the generals to yield power.  Two earlier killings The latest violence came after a man was shot dead Thursday on Nile Street, a day after a woman was killed in the same area.  The latter death happened during a "clash with live fire that took place between the armed forces and uncontrolled elements from it," according to the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded anti-Bashir protests.  Negotiations between protest leaders and the ruling military council have broken down, as the two sides have failed to agree on whether a planned transitional body would be headed by a civilian or a military figure.   The SPA said Saturday that it had reason to believe the military council was "planning and working to end the peaceful sit-in at the headquarters with excessive force and violence."  It said it held the military council responsible for "guaranteeing the safety of those at the sit-in."  The military rulers did not immediately comment on the latest violence, but on Thursday warned that incidents on Nile Street threatened "public security and safety."  Authorities would "work in accordance with the law to guarantee citizens' safety and to resolve manifestations of insecurity and lawlessness," the council said. 

US Draws Eritrea Closer With Removal From Terror List

The United States has removed Eritrea from a list of countries uncooperative in the fight against terrorism, the latest in a series of diplomatic victories for the East African nation. The U.S. State Department first placed Eritrea on a list of countries not cooperating fully with its anti-terrorism efforts in 2008. A year later, the country also faced U.N. sanctions for allegations that it supported al-Shabab, a terror group based in Somalia.  Until Wednesday, Eritrea was the only African country on the list, and it found itself alongside such pariah nations as Syria, North Korea and Iran. But government officials have long denied supporting terror groups, and a U.N. monitoring group was, for many years, unable to find evidence that Eritrea was backing al-Shabab. Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel took to Twitter to praise the change: Herman Cohen, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, hopes the U.S. will take this opportunity to forge closer ties with Eritrea. "We should see Eritrea as a friendly, crucial strategic country, and we should take advantage of it and give them assistance in the economic area because they are looking to modernize their economy," he told VOA.  Cohen also said the country's location on the Red Sea, near Yemen and Gulf states, makes it an important military partner. "It's very important to have military people there who can observe what is going on in that very volatile, crucial area," Cohen said. "We used to have a military station in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. I think it would be wonderful now if we could restore that." The move is the latest thawing of hostilities between Eritrea and the rest of the world. Last year, Eritrea and Ethiopia announced an end to a 20-year dispute over their border, and the U.N. Security Council lifted sanctions on the country. And in March, a U.S. congressional delegation made the first such diplomatic visit to the country in 14 years.  Awet Weldemichael, an associate professor of history and global development studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, said Eritrea's removal from the list is a symbolic gesture, but U.N. sanctions, which lasted nearly a decade, had a more tangible impact on the country. "[The sanctions were] consequential for Eritrea because [of] the restrictions on the use of the U.S. dollar and close scrutiny of its foreign transactions (that had previously been carried out in U.S. dollars) severely hampered the country's foreign transactions, even for legitimate and peaceful purposes," Weldemichael said in an email.  Since 2015, Weldemichael said, Eritrea has allowed Saudi and United Arab Emirates forces to use an Eritrea naval and air base to launch strikes against rebel forces in Yemen. This too may have raised the country's status as a valuable military partner in the eyes of the U.S., he added.  "There is already serious and consequential cooperation going on by proxy," he said of the U.S.-Eritrea partnership. Eritrea remains a tightly controlled nation, without a democratically elected government and with severe restrictions on freedom of speech and religion. Thousands of young people have fled the country to avoid mandatory, indefinite military service. But Cohen believes the country's economy is improving, pointing to increased activity at the ports of Massawa and Assab, the potential for cross-border trade with Ethiopia, and the nation's rich mineral wealth. "Generally speaking, there is an upsurge of economic activity that's going on now. More mining companies are coming into Eritrea," Cohen said. "They have a very, very big mining potential. So now that the tensions have diminished and the hostility is diminished, I think things should really expand nicely."

Opposition Leader's Body Returning to Congo for Funeral

The body of longtime Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi is headed home more than two years after his death now that his son is president. Family members had accused the former government of Joseph Kabila of blocking a funeral for Tshisekedi because it feared demonstrations around the country's most popular opposition figure.   Tshisekedi died in February 2017 of a pulmonary embolism while in Belgium. His body remained there until Thursday, when a plane carrying it took off for Congo's capital, Kinshasa.   Tens of thousands of people are expected to welcome the arrival.   The surprise declaration of Tshisekedi's son Felix as Congo's presidential election winner earlier this year opened the way for the body's return. The election was disputed, with another opposition figure claiming victory.    

Finance Minister Retained in Leaner S. African Cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday retained Tito Mboweni as finance minister in a new, leaner cabinet, following on from a pre-election pledge to reform and revive an ailing economy and attract foreign investors.  Ramaphosa, who was sworn in as South Africa's president on Saturday for his first full five-year term, trimmed the cabinet from 36 ministers to 28.  That will serve as an early barometer of his ability to push through change more efficiently, having struggled to implement tough reforms since he succeeded scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma last year.  "All South Africans are acutely aware of the great economic difficulties our country has been experiencing and the constraints this has placed on public finances," he said in a televised national address. "It is therefore imperative that in all areas and spheres of government, we place priority on revitalizing our economy while exercising the greatest care in the use of public funds."  Analysts described Ramaphosa's cabinet picks as a market-friendly outcome that maintains important allies in key ministries while sidelining some top officials in the ruling African National Congress accused of corruption and  mismanagement.  "In all, the cabinet appointments announced tonight speak of a new confidence in the Ramaphosa administration," said Razia Khan, chief Africa economist at Standard Chartered Bank. "Should this momentum and seemingly newfound confidence be built on with the pursuit of further structural reform, then markets would be correct to react positively."  Some analysts, however, expressed concern over the number of deputy ministers, which remained at above 30.  "Trimming the size of cabinet by the size he did is a strong message, but creating so many deputy ministries is a problem. So, no, it's not enough yet," said Ralph Mathekga, an independent political analyst.  The immediate task of the new cabinet will be to help Ramaphosa revive Africa's most industrialized economy and preserve its last investment-grade credit rating.  Ramaphosa's long to-do list also includes generating jobs, acting against entrenched corruption in and outside the ANC, resolving policy uncertainty in the mining sector, and speeding up reforms of power utility Eskom and other state-owned entities.  Familiar faces  Markets are likely to welcome the reappointment of Mboweni, a former central bank governor who is well-respected by investors. He was first appointed to the Finance Ministry in October and has spoken out about trimming government spending and selling some state companies that are acting as a drain on public finances.  Ramaphosa's decision not to reappoint some senior ANC figures who have been tainted by scandal is also expected to win praise from investors. They include the former minister for women, Bathabile Dlamini, who serves as president of the ANC women's league and is considered a staunch ally of Zuma. She has denied wrongdoing.  But investors will scrutinize Ramaphosa's decision to retain David Mabuza as deputy president.  Last week, Mabuza had requested a delay in his swearing-in to parliament to clear his name before an ANC integrity commission, following allegations of impropriety during his decade-long premiership of the mineral-rich eastern Mpumalanga province. He, too, has denied wrongdoing.  Mabuza was finally sworn in on Tuesday after he was cleared by the ANC of bringing the party into disrepute. Ramaphosa kept on Pravin Gordhan as public enterprises minister. The ministry oversees state-owned companies, including Eskom. The management of Eskom's restructuring is key to reviving the economy after power cuts in the past year undermined broader efforts to kick-start growth.  His appointment is, however, likely to face criticism from opposition parties after the country's anti-graft watchdog found Gordhan acted improperly in granting an early pension payout to a revenue service executive when he was finance minister.  Gordhan is challenging the findings in court.  The president also appointed Gwedwe Mantashe as mining and energy minister after combining the two ministries. Mantashe previously headed the mining ministry. Naledi Pandor, previously higher education minister, was appointed as foreign affairs minister.  Half of the new cabinet members are women, making South Africa one of three African countries, with Rwanda and Ethiopia, to achieve gender parity among ministers, according to U.N. Women. 

Kenyan Villagers Use 'Digital Wells' to Cope with Record Drought

Kenya is facing one of the worst stretches of drought in years, causing underdevelopment, fights over water, and fears of starvation. However, a village in western Kenya is using a high-tech solution to water scarcity with so-called "digital wells" in a bid to improve local livelihoods and prevent waste. In Nakuru County's Solai village, a group of women carry jerrycans to the local well to collect water.    Solai villagers have long been dependent on seasonal rivers and salty Lake Solai for their animals and irrigation. But drought ravaging much of Kenya has reduced the local river into a stream.  Residents like Anne Chesire said the drilling of so-called "digital wells" in December has been a lifesaver.  Previously, she said, they would have to wake up very early to beat the queue at the watering hole, which is kilometers away.  The water was salty, said Chesire. But, since receiving the new taps, she said, life has become so much easier. World Vision Kenya and the Nakuru County government funded the wells, giving residents access to clean drinking water, but also using a high-tech solution to prevent waste.   Villagers use cards fitted with microchips and pre-loaded with money to dispense and pay for the water, helping to fund the costs of drilling wells.    Charles Kimutai is the Chepkulu Water Project Chairman.  Kimutai said the card system has been very helpful since he no longer has to chase people down to get them to pay their water bill.  The project has brought much-needed water closer to home and extra income for locals, like mother of two Brenda Chepngetich. She said she is now growing vegetables in her backyard which she also sells. It has helped her sustain a comfortable livelihood, said Chepgngetich. Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui called on residents of Solai to take advantage of the new water access to grow and sell produce.  "As we move forward we will want to get the water not just into the water kiosks but even closer to the homes and actually into the homes, eventually," Kinyanjui said. Project manager for World Vision Kenya John Mwaura said they have built 11 boreholes and water dispensing machines in the area since December 2018. "Since we entered into the area, life has changed," Mwaura said. "As per an evaluation we did, water penetration was at 37%. And to date we have gone to 54%. So we can say this is an achievement and all this achievement is due to the project that World Vision is doing. And we hope to go far with the partnership we are doing with the government." For the villagers of Solai, the access to clean, safe drinking water has literally taken a load off their backs.    

The significance of Uganda's Buganda Kingdom - Straight Talk Africa

In this episode of Straight Talk Africa, host Shaka Ssali interviews the Prime Minister of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga. Buganda is a subnational kingdom with 6 million citizens, in the central region of Uganda, including the capital, Kampala. Since 1993, Buganda is considered a kingdom monarchy with a large degree of autonomy from the Ugandan government. The head of Buganda's government is the Prime Minister or "Katikkiro" who was appointed by the current head of state or king in 2013. .

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Sudan Rebel Leader Returns Home Despite Death Sentence

A Sudanese rebel leader has returned home despite a 2014 death sentence given in abstentia, saying he will stay even though Sudan's military junta has asked him to leave. Yasir Arman told VOA's South Sudan in Focus that he is in Sudan to help resolve the ongoing standoff over who should lead Sudan's transitional government for the next three years. Arman, deputy chairman of a faction of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), flew into Khartoum on Saturday after more than 20 years of living in Kenya or in Sudan's restive Blue Nile state and Nuba Mountains area, on the border with South Sudan. He said the ruling military junta sent him a message Tuesday ordering him to leave, but Arman said he intends to stay, as Sudan is his country. "This voice for peace and for political settlement is not being heard by the [transitional] military council. That is regrettable because we need this new development in Sudan to take us into a comprehensive peaceful settlement," he said.  Threats from junta Arman first took up arms against Sudan's government in 1986 with the rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, under the late John Garang. After South Sudan won independence in 2011, he became involved in the rebellion against then-President Omar al-Bashir in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states. Arman and fellow SPLM-N leader Malik Agar were sentenced to death in absentia in March 2014 by a Sudanese court in Sanjia, Sennar state, for their role in the Blue Nile rebellion. However, Arman is not taking the death sentence seriously. "I am not scared because that was a political scheme," Arman told VOA. "General Bashir started the war. He removed an elected governor in Blue Nile [state] and he killed the people of the Nuba Mountains and in Blue Nile and we were defending those people.'' The junta has made no public comment on the return of Arman or other SPLM-N leaders.  Arman says that since his return, he has met with leaders of several opposition groups. 

Ethnic Clashes in Nigeria Send 20,000 Fleeing into Niger

The U.N. refugee agency says an upsurge in violence in northwest Nigeria since April has driven an estimated 20,000 people to seek safety in neighboring Niger. U.N. refugee spokesman Babar Baloch says the jump in violence is not linked to the Boko Haram insurgency, which has displaced 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad Basin since 2009. "People are fleeing due to multiple reasons, as far as we understand, including clashes between farmers and herders of different ethnic groups, vigilantism, as well as kidnappings for ransom in Nigeria's Sokoto and Zamfara states," he said. Baloch says the majority of those fleeing are women and children, and new arrivals in Niger's Maradi region describe the horrors they have witnessed.They say civilians were the victims of ferocious violence, including machete attacks, kidnappings and sexual violence. Aid agencies do not know what is driving the inter-ethnic violence, Baloch told VOA. "We know there is the general sense of insecurity in these areas and that is the reason that this is out of reach for humanitarians so far," he said. "So, we will need to try to analyze and understand. ... The worry is this adds a new dimension into the ongoing conflict that is already affecting Nigeria." The Boko Haram insurgency spilled over into Niger's Diffa region in 2015. The displacement crisis has escalated, with the region currently hosting nearly one-quarter million displaced people. They include mainly Nigerian refugees and thousands of local people displaced inside their own country. Baloch says many of the newly arrived refugees are staying close to the Nigerian border, leaving them at high risk of armed incursions from Boko Haram. The UNHCR and partners are conferring with the government about the possibility of moving them inland, away from the dangerous border area.