NEWS - The African Mirror

Sep

27

2021

Egypt’s “Decent Life” initiative gains ground in the countryside

NEWS

IBRAHIM RIYAD WHEN it comes to reaping the benefits of development, Egypt's far-flung rural villages have always come last. Dusty and forgotten, many languished without even basic services. In January 2019, that began to change, thanks to a massive new social program. The "Decent Life" initiative is "the largest national project witnessed by the Egyptian state in its history in terms of cost, number of villages and beneficiaries," said Jamil Helmy, Assistant Minister of Planning for Follow-up Affairs of the Sustainable Development Plan. According to Helmy, some 15.5 billion Egyptian pounds (around 1 billion US dollars) was spent on the…

Dec

12

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s chief justice unrepentant for linking vaccines to Satanism

NEWS

SOUTH African Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Friday dismissed concerns that he might be endangering people's health by linking coronavirus vaccines to a "Satanic agenda". It was the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic that a senior judge had aired such preoccupations. South Africa has registered more than 22,700 deaths from COVID-19, by far the highest number on the continent. Worries quickly surfaced, in a country where new medical interventions are often controversial, that people might avoid vaccination as a result of the comments. After South Africa began hosting the continent's first coronavirus vaccine trial, anti-vaccine activists protested…

Sep

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwandan genocide ‘kingpin’ Bagosora dies

NEWS

A former Rwandan army colonel who was accused of masterminding the slaughter of 800,000 people during the 1994 genocide has died in prison in Mali, Malian officials have announced. Theoneste Bagosora was serving a 35-year sentence after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by the then International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). His sentence had been reduced from life in prison. "It is confirmed. He was over 80 years old, he was seriously ill, with heart troubles. He was hospitalised several times and had three surgeries. He died today in a clinic," a source in Mali's prison administration who…

Dec

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Boko Haram faces ICC war crimes investigation

NEWS

THE prosecutor of the International Criminal Court would seek a full investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during Nigeria's conflict with the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram. Fatou Bensouda said in a statement her office had completed a preliminary examination and found a "reasonable basis to believe" that Boko Haram and its splinter groups had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, through murder, rape, sexual slavery, and torture. Judges must approve the request. Bensouda's office has been reviewing the conflict between government forces and Boko Haram and its various splinter groups in western and…

Sep

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Thousands of Tunisians protest against president

NEWS

TAREK AMARA SEVERAL thousand demonstrators have rallied in the Tunisian capital to protest against President Kais Saied's seizure of power, calling on him to step down in the biggest show of public anger since his intervention. Saied this week brushed aside much of the 2014 constitution, giving himself power to rule by decree two months after he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority. "The people want the fall of the coup," chanted the crowd on Tunis's Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focal point of the demonstrations that ended the rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben…

Sep

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Sudan says it repelled attempted incursion by Ethiopian forces

NEWS

SUDAN’S military has revealed that it had repelled an attempted incursion by Ethiopian forces in the border area between the two countries. Head of Sudan's military, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The Ethiopian forces had been forced to retreat from the Umm Barakit area, a military statement said, without giving further details. The head of Sudan's military, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told reporters the incident took place on Saturday. He said it showed how the military was protecting the country in the wake of a coup attempt in Khartoum last week. Colonel Getnet Adane, Ethiopia's military spokesperson, did not immediately respond…

Sep

27

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Mali asked private Russian military company for help’

NEWS

MICHELLE NICHOLS MALI has asked a private Russian military company to help it fight against insurgents, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said at the United Nations. Mali's year-old military junta is close to a deal to recruit the Russian private military contractors the Wagner Group, sources have told Reuters, triggering opposition from France, which has said it was "incompatible" with a continued French presence in the West African state. "They are combating terrorism, incidentally, and they have turned to a private military company from Russia in connection with the fact that, as I understand, France wants to significantly draw…

Dec

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Crisis hits South African Police top leadership

NEWS

JOVIAL RANTAO TWO of the most powerful men in the South African Police Service - the national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole and Minister of Police Bheki Cele, the political head of the force - are on a collision course over the suspension of top police officers implicated in the purchase of personal protective equipment. At the heart of the dispute between Sitole and Cele was the decision of the national commissioner to suspend three generals. On December 1, Cele wrote to Sitole instructing him to halt the suspensions until his office had received a final report on alleged PPE…

Sep

26

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Rwandan troops cannot stay Cabo Delgado forever’

NEWS

BAZ RATNER and SHAFIEK TASSIEM RWANDAN President Paul Kagame said the country cannot stay forever in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, where allied Rwandan and Mozambican troops have been recapturing areas from Islamist militants since July. "As much as we cannot be here forever, I think the problem we are dealing with, with our friends in Mozambique, cannot stay here forever too," Kagame said at a news conference with Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi in Pemba, Cabo Delgado's capital city. "Every time, every step, we are assessing what needs to be done... The need to stay and for how long, that comes…

Sep

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Mass resignations lands Tunisia in political crisis

NEWS

TAREK AMARA MORE than 100 prominent officials of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party, including lawmakers and former ministers, resigned on Saturday in protest at the leadership's performance, the biggest blow yet to the party which is facing a severe split. Ennahda, the largest party in parliament, has been thrown into crisis by its response to President Kais Saied's sacking of the government and suspension of parliament on July 25, an intervention the opposition called a coup. In a statement, 113 senior officials from the party said they had resigned due to wrong choices by Ennahda's leadership, which had led to its…