NEWS - The African Mirror

Apr

28

2023

Families in Sudan divided by rival military factions

NEWS

AS Sudan fell apart this month in pitched battles between warring military factions, Mohamed Jally's family in the vast desert region of Darfur was itself torn in two, with a brother fighting on each side. Although the brothers are not presently fighting in the same place, Jally fears the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group will eventually pitch them against each other. "It definitely feels really bad having one of my brothers fighting with the army and the other with the RSF, both on the frontlines," said Jally, a banker. "I pray to God…

Apr

28

2023

By KHALID ABDELAZIZ and NADINE AWADALLA

Sudan fighting flares but military approves ceasefire extension

NEWS

SUDAN'S army and a paramilitary force battled on Khartoum's outskirts, undermining a truce in their 11-day conflict, but the army expressed willingness to extend the ceasefire. The army late on Wednesday said its leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, gave initial approval to a plan to extend the truce for another 72 hours and send an army envoy to the South Sudan capital, Juba, for talks. The Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) previously agreed to a three-day ceasefire that was due to expire late on Thursday. There was no immediate response from the RSF to the proposal…

Apr

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan father searches for wife and six children among dead cult members

NEWS

STEPHEN Mwiti was too distraught to go identify the bodies of his wife and six children among the corpses of dozens of cult members recovered from Shakahola forest and brought to a mortuary in Kenya's coastal town of Malindi. "My children are gone. The children who have been rescued, I went and had a look and I did not see my children," Mwiti said as he waved a photo of his wife and four of the children. He has been carrying the fading, dog-eared photo in a plastic bag for the last six months or so as he searched for…

Apr

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Exxon resumes operations in Nigeria after labour dispute ends

NEWS

EXXON Mobil Corp resumed operations at its facilities in Nigeria after resolving a labour dispute over pay and conditions with its in-house union, a company spokesperson said. The industrial action had forced Exxon to declare force majeure on oil liftings at its terminals in the country. A spokesperson for Exxon said in email responses that its three ventures, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, and Esso Exploration and Production (Offshore East) Limited were now operating at normal levels. "This follows the discontinuation of the industrial action earlier embarked upon by our in-house workers' union," the spokesperson said. Earlier, Nigeria's…

Apr

27

2023

By CARIEN DU PLESSIS

S.Africa’s Eskom losing well over $55 million a month through theft, ex-CEO says

NEWS

SOUTH African state power firm Eskom loses well over 1 billion rands ($55 million) a month from theft, its former chief executive told parliament, saying a previous estimate he gave was conservative. Andre de Ruyter made the comments in a written submission to parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) seen by Reuters, following an interview to local news channel eNCA in February where he made sweeping corruption allegations without detailed evidence against Eskom and South Africa's governing African National Congress. Shortly after the interview aired Eskom announced de Ruyter would leave his job immediately, cutting short a notice period he was serving after…

Apr

27

2023

By NJODZEKA DANHATU, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Learning is easier, with this 20-year-old Cameroonian’s app

NEWS

MBAH Javis was in his final year of high school in Batibo in Momo Division in the Northwest Region in 2016 when war broke out in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions - Northwest and Southwest. The war shattered lives, businesses, and institutions; his school was no exception. Mbah, who was one year from writing the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level, had to stay home for two years due to battles between the Cameroon military and separatist fighters. "There were no signs of classes resuming in Batibo, so I moved to Bamenda, the Northwest regional capital, which was relatively calm.…

Apr

27

2023

By GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER and EMMA FARGE

‘High bio-hazard risk’ in Sudan after laboratory seized, WHO says

NEWS

THERE is a "high risk of biological hazard" in Sudan's capital Khartoum after one of the warring parties seized a laboratory holding measles and cholera pathogens and other hazardous materials, the World Health Organization said. Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video link from Sudan, the WHO's representative in the country, Nima Saeed Abid, said technicians were unable to gain access to the National Public Health Laboratory to secure the materials. "This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to go to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available," he said, declining to…

Apr

27

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa, due to host Putin, rows back from pledge to quit war crimes court

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa rowed back from a pledge to quit the International Criminal Court, months before he is due to host Russia's Vladimir Putin who is wanted by the ICC for suspected war crimes. Ramaphosa had said on Tuesday that the ruling African National Congress would aim to repeal South Africa's membership of the Hague-based court, which hears cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office said he had made a mistake. "South Africa remains a signatory to the ICC in line with a resolution of the 55th National Conference of the ANC –…

Apr

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Buckets for toilets and no lights – Johannesburg’s poorest feel let down

NEWS

CATHERINE SCHENCK and ANAIT MIRIDZHANIAN IN a dilapidated block in the business district of Africa's wealthiest city, Johannesburg, Thulani Cele and 300 others squatting in the building fill buckets with water from the only working tap so they can drink and wash. "We are living in a terrible situation. We need toilets ... We need water," says Cele, a 40-year-old former retail worker, who adds that residents have no sanitation and must use buckets as toilets. The Johannesburg Department of Housing has said one of its priorities is providing water and sanitation to informal settlements and all residents deserve quality…

Apr

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Factbox: Kenya starvation deaths latest in long list of cult tragedies

NEWS

THE death toll among followers of a Kenyan cult called the Good News International Church, who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves, has risen to 89 and could rise further, Kenyan authorities said. The following are some of the deadliest cult-related incidents in recent history. UGANDA, MARCH 2000 A doomsday cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, burns nearly 800 followers alive in a locked church after its prediction that the world would end at the start of 2000 fails to come true. Advertisement · Scroll to continue UNITED STATES, MARCH 1997 Thirty-nine members of…