Month: January 2024

A man wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend and leaving her body in a parking lot at a Boston airport before flying to Kenya has been arrested, Kenyan police said Tuesday.

Kevin Kangethe, 40, was apprehended at a nightclub Monday following a tipoff, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin told The Associated Press.

Amin said Kangethe will be extradited.

The body of Margaret Mbitu, 31, was discovered in early November in a car at a parking garage at Boston Logan International Airport.

Mbitu, of Whitman, Massachusetts, had been reported missing by her family two days before her body was discovered.

Law enforcement officials said it was unclear if Kengethe had a lawyer yet.

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden in Boston praised the efforts to track down Kangethe.

“I’m extremely grateful to the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the FBI, Kenyan law enforcement agencies, the Kenyan government and the Massachusetts State Police for bringing the person accused of Margaret Mbitu’s brutal murder into custody,” Hayden said in a statement.

David Procopio, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police, described the arrest as “a joint effort that reached across oceans and continents.”

“We had been keeping tabs on him while the international coordination of the arrest warrant and apprehension plan was being completed,” Procopio said. “The next step is the extradition process, but there is no timetable on that yet.”

The U.S. Embassy also commended the efforts of Kenyan law enforcement in arresting the fugitive.

Crime has a global reach, and Africa is not exempt from its impact. The continent grapples with crime rates influenced by socio-economic disparities.

Factors such as poverty, limited educational access, and economic inequality contribute to a climate where some individuals resort to illicit activities for survival.

Certain African cities face significant challenges, marked by high crime rates linked to issues like drugs, kidnappings, and armed conflicts.

According to the latest update from Numbeo’s crime index, urban areas exhibit higher crime frequencies than rural or suburban areas.

The crime rate is calculated as the number of offences per capita per year, offering insights into the safety of a particular area. Numbeo categorizes crime levels as moderate (40-60), high (60-80), and very high (exceeding 80).

Understanding and addressing these socio-economic factors is crucial to fostering safer communities across the continent.

Rank City Country Crime Index Global rank

1. Pretoria – South Africa – 81.8 2nd

2. Durban – South Africa – 80.9 3rd

3. Johannesburg – South Africa – 80.7 4th

4. Port Elizabeth – South Africa – 77.0 8th

5. Cape Town – South Africa – 73.5 16th

6. Lagos – Nigeria – 68.0 27th

7. Windhoek – Namibia – 67.6 30th

8. Harare – Zimbabwe – 61.0 57th

9. Nairobi – Kenya – 59.1 67th

10. Casablanca – Morocco –  54.4 93rd

A Haitian judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse issued an arrest warrant for his wife late last year for failing to meet with him so he could interrogate her about the case, according to a legal document leaked late on Monday.

The warrant is dated Oct. 25 and signed by Judge Walther Voltaire, who is overseeing an ongoing investigation into the killing that occurred at Moïse’s private residence, where authorities say a group of heavily armed men shot him a dozen times and injured his wife, Martine Moïse.

The one-page warrant contains little detail except to say that authorities are seeking to interview Martine Moïse about the case.

It does not state nor suggest any involvement.

Martine Moïse could not be immediately reached for comment, and a spokesperson for an attorney of hers based in Florida said he was trying to reach her.

Messages sent to people close to her went unanswered.

After the July 7, 2021 assassination, Martine Moïse was airlifted to a hospital in Florida for treatment.

She returned unannounced to Haiti less than two weeks later, surprising many.

Since then, she is believed to be residing in the U.S. and has on occasion posted about the assassination on X, the platform formally known as Twitter.

In December, she wrote that the “assassins…feel that their reign of impunity and untouchability seems to be coming to an end.”

This month, she repeated her call for an international tribunal to investigate the case, writing, “Haiti stand up, so that the social injustice done to the people can be repaired.”

In June last year, attorneys for Martine Moïse filed a lawsuit against those accused in the killing seeking unspecified damages and a trial by jury.

Voltaire, the judge investigating the case, did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

He was appointed in May 2022 to oversee the case, becoming the fifth judge to do so.

Previous judges have stepped down, including one who said he feared for his life and another who left a day after one of his assistants died under unclear circumstances.

The case has largely stalled in Haiti, where more than 40 suspects were arrested in the killing, including 18 Colombian soldiers and at least 20 Haitian police officers.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have prosecuted several extradited suspects in the case.

Four of 11 suspects in Miami have pleaded guilty, including a retired Colombian army officer and a former Haitian senator.

Zimbabwe launched a cholera vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunize over two million people against the waterborne disease.

Administered orally, the vaccine offers protection for at least six months. Beginning in Kuwadzana near Harare, Health workers, focus on schoolchildren and door-to-door initiatives.

The outbreak, ongoing since February 2023, has claimed over 400 lives and infected more than 20 000 individuals.

Zimbabwe will receive a total of 2.3 million vaccine doses from UNICEF and the World Health Organisation to be deployed to 29 of the hardest-hit districts. More than 892 000 doses have already been dispatched, according to the health ministry.

Cholera is spread by contaminated food or water and often occurs in crowded urban areas with poor sanitation facilities.

In November, the Zimbabwean government moved to restrict public gatherings and food vending and monitor burials in areas affected by cholera after cases spiked.

The campaign acts as a crucial preventive measure against cholera in crowded urban areas with sanitation challenges.

A Ghanaian court has sentenced 12 people to life imprisonment for the murder of army officer Major Maxwell Mahama seven years ago.

The High Court in Accra found them guilty of murder, conspiracy, and abetment in the lynching that took place in Denkyira Obuasi in May 2017.

Among the convicted is a local politician accused of inciting the community to attack the soldier while he was jogging. Two suspects were acquitted.

Major Mahama, 32, was attacked by a mob over false allegations of being an armed robber while on duty to protect a local mine.

The incident sparked national outrage, leading to the arrest of over 50 suspects, with 14 facing prosecution.

The government posthumously promoted Major Mahama to the rank of major and gave him a state burial in Accra.

In 2019, a statue was unveiled in Accra as a national campaign against mob action.

As the conflict escalates in the southern Gaza City of Khan Yunis, thousands of Palestinians are evacuating towards Rafah near the Egyptian border, carrying whatever belongings they can.

Israeli troops have ordered residents to leave a downtown area that includes Nasser Hospital and two smaller medical facilities.

Approximately 1.5 million people, or two-thirds of Gaza’s population, are now crowded into shelters and tent camps in and around Rafah, where safety remains elusive due to ongoing Israeli strikes.

The offensive in Gaza has caused extensive destruction in the Northern Territory, with Israel claiming to have largely dismantled Hamas.

According to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, around 1.7 million people have been displaced within Gaza, primarily from the heavily affected northern regions.

The Health Ministry in Gaza reports over 26,000 casualties, including both fatalities and injuries, since the October 7 attack in southern Israel that triggered the conflict.

On Friday, the International Court of Justice issued an order for Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent death, destruction, and acts of genocide in the besieged territory.

Israel has been asked to submit a compliance report within a month, subjecting its military actions to increased international scrutiny.

The situation remains dire, raising concerns about the possibility of displaced residents returning to their now-devastated neighbourhoods.