Month: November 2023

After nearly two decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations stabilisation mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has signed a deal to withdraw its 15,000 peacekeepers.

The Congolese foreign minister Christophe Lutundula and MONUSCO’s head signed the agreements on Tuesday.

Speaking on national television, Lutundula said the deal marked the end of a collaboration “which has proved its limits in a context of permanent war, without the longed for peace being restored to eastern Congo.”

Violence in eastern Congo

Eastern Congo is in the grip of a decades-long conflict fought by dozens of armed groups, some backed by DRC’s neighbours.

With presidential and parliamentary elections coming up on December 20, the conflict has taken centre stage.

In September, incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi called for an accelerated withdrawal of the UN peacekeepers.

The UN mission in the region has often caused tensions amongst the local population, with protests against MONUSCO and others at times turning deadly.

At the end of August, a crackdown by Congolese troops on anti-UN demonstrations resulted in nearly 50 deaths.

Failed missions

With the Congolese frustrated at what they feel to be a lack of protection from the rebel groups, the Congolese government last month also directed the East African regional force to leave the country by December.

The force, composed of troops from Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda, has been deployed in the area since late 2022 to help end the fighting. The government alleges a “lack of satisfactory results on the ground”.

The withdrawal of MONUSCO’s forces was not given a firm timeline in Tuesday’s announcement, with observers saying that any acceleration is unlikely before the end of the current election cycle.

A desperate crush to get through a stadium gate for an army recruiting event saw at least 31 people trampled to death in the Republic of Congo capital, officials said Tuesday.

A prosecutor said he had opened an investigation into the disaster when several thousand youths descended on the Michel d’Ornano stadium on Monday night hoping for one of 1,500 army posts.

Security officials said the dead were left after people tried to push through one gate.

They said some tried to force the gate open while others tried to jump over a wall into the stadium.

The government revised down a toll of 37 dead to 31 but officials said many of the 145 injured were in serious condition.

A 24-year-old man, who declined to be named, told Africanewsguru.com how people were pushing to get through the gate, sparking a stampede. “There were people injured far worse than me,” said the survivor, who dislocated his foot.

Another survivor, who also requested anonymity, said: “There was a row of people in front of me. The people fell. I fell on top of them and other friends fell on top of us.”

He said he lost conscious and only woke up in an ambulance.

Several videos on social media appeared to show dozens of bodies in a city morgue.

Others showed injured people being admitted to hospitals in Brazzaville.

The army said in a statement read on national television that the recruiting drive had been indefinitely suspended.

Tresor Nzila, head of local rights NGO, called for a full investigation and to hold the Congolese government responsible for not evaluating the risks of a call-up.

“The Congolese government is incapable of creating other employment opportunities,” he said. “The defence and security forces have become the main job providers”.

The Republic of Congo, which is also known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its larger neighbor the Democratic Republic of Congo, is an impoverished country of about five million people — despite its rich oil and gas reserves.

Youth unemployment is about 42 percent, according to the World Bank.

Congo-Brazzaville’s state prosecutor Andre Ngakala Oko said he had launched an investigation.

Congo has witnessed similar disasters. Seven people died in a stampede at a music festival in Brazzaville in 2011.

And at least 150 people were trampled to death in the capital in 1994 when worshipers crammed into a church to avoid a storm.

The Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union (ZIBAWU) reports that 75% of jobs in the sector have been lost since the beginning of the millennium. This decline is attributed to a combination of accelerated digitization and socio-political challenges facing the nation over the past two decades.

In discussions with NewZimbabwe.com about the outcomes of a high-level convention that brought together workers from the country’s banking sector, trade unionist Peter Mutasa expressed concern about the diminishing workforce.

He remarked, “The congress coincided with extremely difficult operating conditions, which have constrained our ability to effectively serve our members. The economy, experiencing stagnation for decades, has taken a significant toll on trade unionism.”

Mutasa highlighted the decline in membership from a peak of 12,000 in the late 1990s to approximately 3,000 at present. He pointed out significant transformations in the banking sector, such as digitalization and automation, as the main culprits.

The unionist noted that high unemployment has adversely affected collective bargaining, with traditional methods like strikes becoming less effective. Mutasa criticized the restrictive nature of labour laws, further complicated by a toxic political environment in which the government views every union with suspicion, treating them as enemies of the state.

Mutasa shared that the convention revealed bankers facing various mental health problems due to economic and social crises, work demands, and interpersonal conflicts at both work and in society. Additionally, the convention shed light on the inadequate social security in the country, with many workers retiring without meaningful financial security and pensions.

“We noted that most of the problems we face are not emanating from the labour market but from politics. We agreed that we have a governance crisis affecting the economy, society, and public services. Therefore, we resolved to build an active citizenry through massive civic and political education for our members and communities,” he concluded.

Sheynnis Palacios made history when she became the first Nicaraguan to wear the Miss Universe crown.

Palacios who holds a degree in social communication succeeded late Saturday night to R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss USA.

The 23-year-old beauty pageant said she wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself.

Palacios appeared to secure the win in El Salvador, when she confidently answered the question of which woman’s shoes would she like to spend a year in by saying Mary Wollstonecraft.

The 18th-century English writer and philosopher was an advocate of women’s rights.

Palacios said she wants to work to close the gender pay gap so that women can work in any area.

Miss Thailand, Anntonia Porsild, was first runner-up and Miss Australia, Moraya Wilson, the second runner-up.

The last African contestants, Miss Cameroon Issie Princesse, Miss Namibia, Jameela Uiras, and Miss South Africa Bryoni Govender, didn’t make it past the top 20.

Eighty-four women competed for the crown in the 72nd edition of the competition.

The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who was removed from office in June, was on Friday (Nov .17) charged with procurement fraud at a local court, which remanded him in prison pending his bail ruling.

In amended charges, the Nigerian goverment said Godwin Emefiele illegally awarded contracts for dozens of vehicles during his time as the governor of the apex bank in Africa’s largest economy, according to court documents.

The charge sheet alleged that Emefiele used his position as the bank’s governor to “confer a corrupt advantage” on another member of staff by awarding the contracts to a company with links to that staff member, thereby breaching Nigeria’s procurement laws.

Appearing in court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, Emefiele pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could land him in jail for at least five years if convicted. He has been in custody for most of the time since he was removed from office.

Regarded as one of the most powerful government officials in Nigeria when he led the bank, Emefiele’s nine years of overseeing Nigeria’s monetary policy affairs was ended by Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, shortly after he took office in May.

The Nigerian presidency had said his suspension was to enable an investigation into the central bank’s affairs as part of new reforms in the financial sector, though it did not surprise many because of some of the bank’s policies had been seen as controversial such as Nigeria’s failed currency swap program.

Some of his monetary policies also appeared different from the agenda of Tinubu while he was running for president — which matters in a country where the presidency has a huge influence on how the central bank operates.

His prolonged detention and investigation had complicated his case, leading him to sue Nigeria’s secret police for allegedly breaching his fundamental rights by detaining him longer that the period provided by the law. He was later released on court orders.

The court is expected to rule on his bail application.

An opposition activist in Zimbabwe has been found dead after being abducted while campaigning ahead of by-elections, his party announced on Monday.

This is the third incident in recent weeks denounced by the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), the country’s largest opposition group, which accuses the ruling Zanu-PF party of conducting a vast campaign of intimidation against its supporters.

At the end of October and beginning of November, the CCC announced that one of its MPs and a former MP had been kidnapped in Harare, tortured and then found naked and wounded in the case of the former, and with his head shaved in the case of the latter.

The CCC said on Monday that the body of Tapfumanei Masaya, kidnapped in broad daylight by armed men last Saturday in Harare, had been found on the outskirts of the capital.

“We call on the police to investigate this heinous crime and bring the perpetrators to justice”, the party said on X (formerly Twitter).

The police confirmed that a body had been found without confirming its identity, which they said had yet to be established.

Contested elections in August returned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to power.

Parliament has since declared vacant the seats of 15 elected CCC MPs, who denounced the decision as “fraudulent”, and by-elections are scheduled for December to fill them.

Tapfumanei Masaya was campaigning for a CCC candidate in Mabvuku, a suburb of Harare, when he was forced into a vehicle, according to his party.

The “illegal” and “fraudulent” cancellation of the elections for our MPs “led to (his) death”, the CCC wrote on social networks. In August, CCC leader Nelson Chamisa, 45, was defeated by President Mnangagwa, 81, in general elections that also gave Zanu-PF a majority in parliament.

According to international observers, these elections failed to meet democratic standards. The forthcoming by-elections could hand Zanu-PF, which has been in power since independence in 1980, a two-thirds majority in parliament, which is needed to amend the Constitution.

According to some analysts, Zanu-PF could take advantage of this to allow Mr Mnangagwa, who came to power after a coup that overthrew President Robert Mugabe in 2017, to remain in power beyond 2028.

Suella Braverman has been removed from her position as Home Secretary after defying the directives from No 10 by publishing an article that accused the Metropolitan Police of displaying bias in their handling of protests.

Her actions were criticized for exacerbating tensions in the lead-up to protests in London.

James Cleverly has been named as her successor, while the unexpected appointment of former Prime Minister David Cameron as the new Foreign Secretary has raised eyebrows.

Mrs. Braverman expressed that serving as Home Secretary had been “the greatest privilege of my life.”

This move marks the beginning of a significant cabinet reshuffle orchestrated by Rishi Sunak as he seeks to reshape his top team in preparation for the upcoming Autumn Statement next week.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson stated, “This reshuffle is aimed at assembling a unified team under the Prime Minister’s leadership to bring about the necessary long-term changes for our country.”

Back in July, Mr. Cleverly had humorously remarked that he would have to be forcibly removed from his role as Foreign Secretary, leaving “nail marks down the parquet flooring.” However, on Monday, he expressed that it had been a “huge privilege” to serve as Foreign Secretary and emphasized that being Home Secretary was also a “fantastic job.”

He declined to comment on whether he would distance himself from Mrs. Braverman’s tenure in the Home Office, stating, “I intend to carry out this role in the manner that I believe best safeguards the interests of the British people and our nation.”

The sixth edition of the annual Paris Peace Forum got underway on Friday in the French capital, with the aim of tackling a wide range of global challenges from climate change to migration.

But is also offered a unique platform to discuss the crucial role that artificial intelligence can play in development.

This is particularly true in Africa, despite challenges such as the high cost of connectivity and low internet penetration on the continent.

For Sally Bilaly SOW from the organisation Guinea Check, there is no need to wait until internet penetration is 100 per cent to understand how AI works.

“We need to adopt it now, integrate it into our daily practices, but also and above all – raise awareness of its positive aspects,” he said.

Cameroonian Steve MengnHe said artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in Africa’s development, but there is still a long way to go to before the benefits reach many remote villages.

“In the rural areas, in the villages where we live every day, there are no networks, there is no light. So, how do you expect AI to have an impact,” he said.

In connected regions, AI has the potential to transform Africa with significant advances in areas of health and agriculture through applications tailored to specific needs.

Vilas Dhar is president of the Patrick J McGovern Foundation, an organisation that focuses on artificial intelligence and data solutions.

He said he was inspired by the work that is happening in the field across the continent.

“In places as far flung as Morocco, South Africa, and Senegal, where the government recently rolled out a new national AI strategy that acknowledges that AI is something that could drive meaningful social and economic progress.”

The Paris Peace Forum highlighted the essential role of artificial intelligence and its impact on development.

But countries will need to work together to strike a balance between technological innovation and responsibility.