Author: Jideofor Elumogo

South Africa’s health ministry on Tuesday said there is no need to impose any new COVID-19 restrictions either at home or for arrivals over an infection surge in China and the detection of the first case of Omicron subvariant.

Speaking to reporters, the country’s health minister Joe Phaahla said the new strain from China will not harm South Africans given the strong immunity among the people.

The minister further confirmed that South Africa has seen more Covid infections and deaths in recent weeks.

However, the country will increase Covid testing and reinvigorate its vaccination campaign in light of rising global infections, he said at a media briefing.

South Africa, which detected the first case of Omicron in late 2021, has recorded more than four million cases of the coronavirus and more than 102,500 deaths. Some 48% of the eligible population is vaccinated.

XBB.1.5, the grandson of the Omicron family, is the “most transmissible sub-variant detected to date”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned this week.

The sub-variant was detected on Friday in the southern African country in a sample taken in late December, according to de Oliveira, but no “increase in cases, hospitalisations or deaths” has been seen at this stage.

XBB.1.5 is present in some 30 countries, notably in Europe and the United States, where it is becoming dominant. Its characteristics are not yet precisely known. But according to the first data, a booster dose with a bivalent vaccine would produce neutralising antibodies, according to the WHO.

The regional forces in Mozambique fighting jihadist violence have launched an investigation after a video surfaced on social networks showing soldiers throwing dead bodies on a pile of burning rubble, the South African military (SANDF) said Tuesday.

The command is “investigating the involvement of its members in this despicable act,” the SANDF, which has sent troops to Mozambique, said in a statement. “The culprits will be brought to justice.”

The widely shared images show soldiers throwing bodies into a fire where at least one other body is already burning. One of them pours liquid on the remains while others, including one wearing the South African army sign, watch and film the scene with cell phones.

The incident is believed to have taken place sometime in November 2022, according to the SANDF.

South Africa’s main opposition party (DA) called the acts a “disgrace” for the country in a statement, recalling the existence of international rules for the treatment of the dead “even in conflict zones.”

The northeastern province of Cabo Delgado has been plagued since 2017 by jihadist violence that has already left nearly 4,500 dead, including nearly 2,000 civilians, according to the NGO Acled, which collects data in conflict zones. The violence has also caused one million people to flee their homes, according to the UN.

More than 3,000 African troops were deployed in 2021 to the poor, Muslim-majority region bordering Tanzania to support the Mozambican army.

Violence has decreased in intensity but sporadic attacks continue.

The latest estimates by the United Nations Inter Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation found that some 5 million children less than 5 years old have died in 2021 alongside, 2.1 million aged between 5 and 24.

According to the latest estimates and UN data report released Tuesday, in 2021, a child or youth died every 4.4 seconds in the world.

The United Nations Inter Agency Group for Child Mortality found that some 5 million children less than 5 years old have died in 2021 and 2.1 million aged between 5 and 24 have also passed.

A separate report estimates the death of stillborn babies during the same period to be at 1.9 million.

These deaths are attributed to uneven access to quality healthcare.

Despite having 29% of global births, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 56% of all under-five deaths in 2021 with children in the region subject to highest risk of childhood death in the world.

Children born in the region have a 15 times higher risk of death than the one born in Europe and Northern America.

Nearly half of all registered stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa.

Nevertheless, all is not gloom and doom as the report also shows significant improvement with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000 which can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and adolescents.

The global under-five mortality rate has decreased by 50% since the beginning of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36% and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%.

Though these improvements are notable, seemingly, gains have reduced significantly 2010 and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable development Goals target for under-five mortality.

The report states that if swift action is not taken to improve health services, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030 and nearly 16 million will be lost to stillbirth.

However, the reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programs designed to improve childhood survival and well-being globally.

Gabon’s president Ali Bongo Odimba named Monday (Jan. 09) the country’s first female vice-president.

Rose Christian Ossouka Raponda served until this nomination as Prime Minister.

The 59-year-old is a former mayor of the capital Libreville and Minister of Defence.

She fills an office that has been vacant since 2019 making history for a second time. Indeed, in July 2020, she became the country’s first female Prime Minister.

The VP’s role is to “assist” the head of state and the person serving as vice-president has no interim role in the event of a power vacuum.

Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze is now the new Premier.

The president named a politician who has since 2006, held several ministerial portfolios. He’s now tasked with forming a new government.

Gabon is one of the African countries gearing up towards presidential elections this year.

In August millions of voters will head to the polls.

The ruling party, the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) held a congress late last year with calls for the Head of State to seek a 3rd term.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame said on Monday that the country can no longer accept refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In eastern DRC, a region rich in mineral resources, fighting between government forces and rebels from the M23 movement, a former Tutsi rebellion, has increased tensions with neighbouring Rwanda, which the DRC accuses of supporting the militia.

Rwanda however denies any involvement.

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), in November 2022 Rwanda had some 72,000 Congolese refugees.

In a report published in December, UN-mandated experts said they had collected “substantial evidence” of “direct intervention by the Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) on the territory of the DRC” at least between November 2021 and October 2022.

Diplomatic initiatives have been launched to try to resolve the crisis in eastern DRC, where an East African regional force, led by Kenya, is being deployed.

Ten bodies were fished out of the Niger River in Nigeria’s northern Kebbi state on Wednesday after an overloaded boat with about 100 passengers broke in two, a local official said.

The dilapidated vessel was crossing the river and broke in two as it approached the village of Samanaji in Koko-Besse district.

It had taken on passengers “way beyond its capacity,” said Yahaya Bello Koko, a district official.

“We found 10 passengers with the help of local divers, and we are still looking for 10 more,” he said.

They “are presumed drowned, considering the number of hours they spent in the river,” Koko said.

More than 80 passengers were rescued, he said.

Federal or state authorities were not immediately available.

Accidents involving boats are common in Nigeria. They are often linked to overloaded vessels, excessive speed, poor maintenance and disregard for navigation rules.

In October, at least 80 people drowned in two shipwrecks.