NEWS - The African Mirror

Dec

07

2021

“Regional armies outmatched by tech-savvy jihadists”

NEWS

WEST African armies need a new strategy to combat the growing jihadist threat because improved technologies have given militants the upper hand as they seek to destabilise the Sahel region, Niger's president Mohamed Bazoum said on Monday. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their reach in the central Sahel since 2017, staging regular attacks that have killed thousands of people and displaced millions across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. "Technological advances are now allowing rebel groups to access a number of tools which used to be the privilege of state forces," said Bazoum, noting the use…

Dec

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenyan police officer kills six in shooting rampage – police

NEWS

A Kenyan police officer shot dead six people in a rampage through the capital, Nairobi and then shot and killed himself, police said. The officer first shot and killed his wife at their home before setting off with his service-issued AK-47 rifle to shoot dead another five people, police said in a report. They did not say what had caused the rampage. "The officer ... went on a shooting spree where he shot and killed five people including two boda boda (motorcycle) riders one who died while undergoing treatment," police said in the report. Francis Wahome, the officer in charge…

Dec

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Gambian candidate accepts Barrow’s victory

NEWS

GAMBIAN presidential candidate Essa Mbye Faal has congratulated President Adama Barrow for winning re-election, backtracking after he and two other candidates had refused to accept the result. Barrow's resounding win in Saturday's peaceful polls was seen as a win for democracy in the tiny West African country of 2.5 million people. The vote helped draw a line under the oppressive 22-year rule of former president Yahya Jammeh, who lost to Barrow in 2016 and was forced into exile. The victory was tainted slightly by an announcement late on Sunday by Faal, main challenger Ousainou Darboe, and another candidate that they…

Dec

07

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S., five other countries urge Ethiopia to cease illegal detentions

NEWS

SIX countries including the United States have expressed concern over reports of widespread arrests by Ethiopia of Tigrayan citizens based on ethnicity in connection with the country's year-old conflict, urging the government to stop acts they said likely violate international law. The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands cited reports by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the rights group Amnesty International on widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans, including Orthodox priests, older people and mothers with children. The countries said they are "profoundly concerned" about the detentions of people without charges, adding that the government's announcement of…

Dec

06

2021

By The African Mirror

31 killed as bus swept away by flood waters in Kenya

NEWS

AT least 31 people drowned at the weekend when a bus carrying a group of religious faithful was swept away by flood waters as the driver tried to cross a river in the eastern Kenyan county of Kitui, the county governor said. Many parts of the East African nation have been experiencing unusually heavy rainfall in the past week. At least 17 people were rescued after the bus was swept into the River Enziu, the governor, Charity Ngilu, said. "This afternoon tragedy has struck Kitui county," she wrote on Twitter, adding that rescue operations were being carried out by personnel…

Dec

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Gambian president wins re-election, opposition cries foul

NEWS

BATE FELIX GAMBIAN President Adama Barrow has comfortably won re-election, the electoral commission said has announced, though he may face a legal challenge from opposition candidates who rejected the results because of unspecified irregularities. The vote was the first in 27 years without disgraced former President Yahya Jammeh, who was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept defeat to Barrow in 2016. Jammeh's despotic 22-year rule over the small West African nation of 2.5 million people, which began with a 1994 coup, was characterised by killings and torture of political opponents. Saturday's peaceful election was seen by…

Dec

06

2021

By The African Mirror

S.A protest against Shell oil exploration in pristine coastal area

NEWS

SIYABONGA SISHI SOUTH Africans took to their beaches on Sunday to protest against plans by Royal Dutch Shell to do seismic oil exploration they say will threaten marine wildlife such as whales, dolphins, seals and penguins on a pristine coastal stretch. A South African court on Friday struck down an application brought by environmentalists to stop the oil major exploring in the eastern seaboard's Wild Coast, rejecting as unproven their argument that it would cause "irreparable harm" to the marine environment, especially migrating humpback whales. The Wild Coast is home to some of the country's most undisturbed wildlife refuges, and…

Dec

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Don’t exploit migrants for politics, pope says on refugee island

NEWS

POPE Francis condemned the exploitation of migrants for political purposes on Sunday during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, lamenting that Europe had entered "an era of walls and barbed wire". Francis, who was to have been driven straight to the podium, instead walked through the camp, stopping to greet dozens of refugees and giving a high five hand greeting to a young African boy. Francis, who first visited one of the main entry points for migrants in 2016 and took 12 Syrian refugees back to Italy with him, returned briefly as part of his five-day trip to…

Dec

06

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: Western companies are blind to Ugandan investments – President Museveni

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA and KARIN STROHECKER CHINESE private investment in Uganda is growing while Westerners are losing appetite to put money to work in the country, President Yoweri Museveni told Reuters, pledging to step up efforts to tackle corruption that has made slow progress. Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said Uganda was working to sign a number of deals with Chinese private sector lenders in sectors such as agro- and fertilizer-processing, minerals processing and textiles. "The Western companies have lost their spectacles; they no longer have the eyes to see opportunities. But the Chinese see…

Dec

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Gambia votes: President Barrow takes early lead

NEWS

PAP SAINE and BATE FELIX Gambian President Adama Barrow had a narrow early lead after Saturday's presidential election, according to provisional results from the first few constituencies to be verified by the electoral commission. In a test of stability and democratic progress, the small West African country is holding its first election since former President Yahya Jammeh was voted out of office in 2016, ending 22 years of autocratic rule. Barrow, a 56-year-old former security guard and property developer, ran against five rivals, including his former political mentor, Ousainou Darboe, 73, who was seen as the main challenger. Preliminary results…