Month: March 2023

Tanzania’s health ministry on Tuesday confirmed that five people have died and three others are being treated for the Ebola-like Marburg disease.

Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said the cases were identified in the western region of Kagera and the government had managed to control its spread to other regions.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in bats and spreads between people via close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or surfaces, like contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people.

Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Ghana, according to the World Health Organization.

Kenya and Uganda are on high alert due to the recent cases in Tanzania.

WHO representative Zabulon Yoti, who spoke during the Tanzania health ministry press briefing, praised the government for what he called its swift response and transparency.

The acting director of the African Union’s public health agency, Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, tweeted that Africa CDC would deploy immediately to strengthen response and limit the spread of the disease.

The rare virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.

There are no authorized vaccines or drugs to treat Marburg, but rehydration treatment to alleviate symptoms can improve the chances of survival.

The European Union is concerned about the deterioration of the political and economic situation in Tunisia and fears a collapse of the country, declared Monday the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.

“The situation in Tunisia is very dangerous,” he warned after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

“If Tunisia collapses, this risks causing migratory flows towards the EU and causing instability in the MENA region. We want to avoid this situation,” he said.

The ministers asked Belgium and Portugal to send representatives on a mission to Tunisia in order to carry out “an assessment of the situation to enable the EU to direct its measures”, he specified.

“The European Union cannot help a country unable to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund” (IMF), he maintained. “President Kais Saied must sign with the IMF and implement the agreement, otherwise the situation will be very serious for Tunisia,” he insisted.

President Saied has granted himself all powers since July 25, 2021, and has arrested many personalities. The main opposition parties denounce an “authoritarian drift” which is wobbling the young democracy that emerged from the first revolt of the Arab Spring in 2011.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi on Tuesday, March 21 filed his petitions to the presidential elections tribunal to challenge Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in last month’s poll behind Atiku Abubakar and victor Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

The petition, jointly filed by Obi and his party, has INEC, Tinubu, Shettima Kashim, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the respondents.

Here are the five prayers Obi and the Labour Party seek in their petition.

Obi and the Labour Party have requested five prayers in their petition, according to a report by local media reports.

Eligibility

Petitioners argue that Mr. Tinubu should not have been eligible to run for the top office, a spokesperson for Mr. Obi’s presidential campaign told the BBC on Tuesday.

Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu also argued that the president-elect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

25 % in FCT

Because Tinubu was declared winner of the election without securing 25% in the FCT, Obi, and the Labour Party want the tribunal to determine “that the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the Presidential Election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25 February 2023.”

Election Cancellation

Obi and his Party also prayed the court to order the cancellation of the February 25 presidential election.

Fresh Election

In addition to the cancellation of the election, the LP candidate asked the court to compel INEC to conduct a fresh election.

Fresh election without Tinubu/Shettima

Obi prayed the tribunal to make an order that will ensure Tinubu and his running mate, Shettima do not participate in the fresh election.

Election disputes take months to be resolved in Nigeria, despite the constitution stipulating that they should be concluded, where possible before a candidate is sworn into office.

This year’s election was the tightest presidential race since the end of military rule in 1999, but international observers said it lacked transparency and there were operational failures.