ITMILD

WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — Namibians who are part of the LGBTQ+ community often find it difficult to get decent health care and many report discriminatory practices within the health care system.

For example, when 20-year-old Immanuel Uirab sought contraception at a health facility, the nurse on duty would not assist him.

“I don’t know if it’s the shorts I was wearing or you can generally just tell by looking at me that I am gay,” he said, “but then this particular nurse … came out and she was, like, ‘No, we don’t offer contraceptives for people who practice sodomy. We can’t do that for you. … You can go buy them if you want to use them in your private space, but we … won’t give them to you because our government does not support homosexuality.’”

A recent two-day training workshop facilitated by the group Our Equity Advocacy was aimed at encouraging health care practitioners in Namibia to not discriminate against sexual minorities.

Discrimination in health care services violates the right to health care and the human rights principles of equity, privacy and dignity, said the United Nation’s special rapporteur on the right to health, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng.

Mofokeng held a workshop last weekend in Windhoek where she trained health care practitioners and young people about the role of health care in human rights.

There are many opportunities in which health care workers “can take a seat at the table,” she said. “Not just in policymaking, but importantly in advocacy … also in understanding human rights.”

The executive director of Namibia’s Ministry of Health, Ben Nangombe, said that discrimination in health care based on sexual orientation is against the law and that practitioners who refuse health care to patients for any reason can lose their jobs.

“The official position [of the] government on this matter is that the Namibian government provides health care services to all Namibians who need it without any discrimination whatsoever,” he said.

One theme from last weekend’s workshop was the need for nurses to become agents of change and advocates for their patients.

Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane, a legal practitioner and health rights activist from South Africa who co-facilitated the workshop, said members of sexual minority groups in Africa often face intrusive questioning when they seek medical care.

“Let’s say you are going to a hospital or a clinic for a broken arm or a headache, some tummy ache, whatever,” Mokgoroane said. “What often happens is when you are trans or when you are gender nonconforming or when you are a member of the LGBTI community, immediately what happens is that the questions veer away from why you are actually there to really invasive and discriminatory questions, right? ‘I have a headache, why are you asking me about my sex life? … I have a headache, why are you asking me about my genitalia?’”

Mokgoroane said the issue can be addressed by training health care workers to affirm the gender of their patients when they treat them.

However, Mokgoroane expressed worry that the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Africa will further drive discriminatory practices in the health care system and undermine public health altogether.
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GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Botswana’s election commission is warning opposition parties against what it calls “reckless” claims of poll rigging ahead of the October 30 general election, even as some opposition leaders insist that cheating is happening.

The Independent Electoral Commission’s chief public relations officer, Osupile Maroba, said allegations that dead people’s names have been placed on the roll of registered voters are false, disrespectful and absurd.

Even so, Moeti Mohwasa, a spokesperson for the opposition coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change, insisted his party knows about plans to rig elections and even accused the electoral commission of enlisting the services of Zimbabwean authorities to do so.

“The IEC is working in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to assist it in the game that they master most — that is, cheating in the elections,” Mohwasa said. “The Central Intelligence Organization of Zimbabwe is working with the Directorate of Intelligence and Security in Botswana to achieve the same.”

Mohwasa said the Umbrella for Democratic Change will petition the Zimbabwean Embassy in Gaborone next week over its election concerns.

The Botswana Congress Party, which is not part of the opposition alliance, is equally concerned the poll will be marred by irregularities.

BCP spokesperson Mpho Pheko said the party worries in particular about the counting of votes away from polling stations.

“The BCP has always held the position that elections in Botswana are free but not fair,” Pheko said, recounting that BCP President Dumelang Saleshando proposed a motion in parliament that the law should be reviewed to allow for ballots to be counted where they were cast.

“But the majority refused, insisting on the transportation of ballot boxes,” Pheko said.

Kgalalelo Kentse of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party said that the opposition parties’ claims are a sign of desperation and that they made the same assertions during the 2019 election but could not prove them in court.

Burundi-based Raphael Bindariye, program manager of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, previously worked as an electoral officer in United Nations missions in Africa. He said opposition concerns over election rigging in Africa emanate from how electoral bodies are managed.

“It is how impartial, how independent, how natural the electoral management bodies are in Africa,” Bindariye said. “How are they set up, who is setting them up, where do they get results from? It is generally from the government. It is generally from the ruling parties that have more means and is the one managing the national resources in the country.”

More than 2,000 Botswanan citizens living abroad, along with local election officials and police, will cast votes this Saturday. The rest of the more than 1 million local voters will get their turn on October 30.
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Abuja, Nigeria — Authorities in Nigeria have announced plans to review safety protocols for the transportation of gasoline after a deadly tanker accident and explosion in Jigawa state killed more than 140 people Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu said the review will be “swift and comprehensive,” but some observers are skeptical that safety standards will improve.

The tanker crashed in the village of Majiya and a short time later burst into flames, killing and injuring many who had gathered around the wreckage to scoop up spilled fuel.  

Tinubu said a review of transport protocols for gasoline will be carried out in partnership with various state authorities and that offenders of the new regulations will be punished. 

It is not clear what the new regulations will be. 

The president also sent top government officials including his defense and transportation ministers, along with food aid and medical supplies, to the site of Wednesday’s crash. 

Economic analyst Eze Onyekpere said he doesn’t expect any new measures from authorities. 

“It is a very unfortunate situation and position because the leadership of the country has not been proactive about planning for transporting of whether it’s crude oil or refined petroleum,” Onyekpere said. “The government is not known to think through issues, they just latch on when there’s a public outburst.” 

The accident in Jigawa comes barely one month after another tanker exploded after it collided with a truck in Niger state, killing 48 people. 

Tinubu has ordered the Federal Road Safety Corps, or FRSC, to strengthen enforcement of already existing road transport protocols, including regulations on night travels and official patrols. 

Energy expert Chukudi Victor Odoeme said the new measures are welcome, but is skeptical about compliance. 

“The federal government thinking at this point that it’s the time to put policies in place is a good one, but the only snag I see in this is compliance,” he said. “It has to do with enforcement, it’s not actually about the laws. Load limits have always been there, but it has never been enforced. They have to do a lot of enforcement, I don’t think it’s in creating new policies.” 

Nigeria’s 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) of oil pipelines are often prone to vandalism, and petrol suppliers mostly rely on tankers to transport fuel around the country. But due to poorly maintained roads and disregard for existing road measures, tanker accidents are common. 

Onyekpere said the government needs to repair and protect the pipelines. 

“If those pipelines were secured and maintained, that would have been the cheapest and easiest way of transporting these things in such a manner that would not expose Nigerians to a lot of risk,” Onyekpere said. 

In 2020, more than 500 people died from about 1,500 tanker accidents, according to the FRSC.
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The Tana River delta on the Kenyan coast includes a vast range of habitats and a remarkably productive ecosystem, says UNESCO. It is also home to many bird species, including some that are nearly threatened. Residents are helping local conservation efforts with an app called eBird. Juma Majanga reports.
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Abuja, nigeria — Surging fuel prices in Nigeria are making it unaffordable for some workers to commute to their jobs, forcing them to quit. The trend is hitting low-income and informal workers especially hard.

Fuel in Nigeria now averages 66 cents per liter, a 15% hike since September. 

The price surge forced Victor Zion to quit his job, as commuting costs consumed the lion’s share of his $85 monthly salary.

Zion said that what’s left of his income after transportation expenses could no longer keep him afloat.

“When it happened that there was an increment in the cost of transportation, I spent up to 70% of my salary on transportation and that didn’t make sense to me at all,” he said. “Resigning from my job has actually impacted me financially.”

Zion’s experience reflects that of many workers, especially in the informal sector, who make up the majority of Nigeria’s workers.

Ifunnaya Oyakimo recently closed her gym business, unable to maintain a staff because workers resigned in droves.

“Some of them said they can no longer sustain themselves with the salary, and with the whole thing that is happening, I just had to let it all go, close the gym, sell off the equipment,” she said.

Some employers, like Moses Ogwoke, who is in the printing business, are covering 60% of workers’ transport costs to retain staff and stay operational.

Ogwoke said those costs cut into profits, threatening the sustainability of his business.

“We have jobs that need to be attended to,” he said. “What we decided to do is to support them the little way we can in paying their transportation at least three times a week, while they take care for the remaining two days. But that money needs to come from somewhere, so from the little profit we are making, we are still dipping hands there to be able to run the office.”

The crisis extends beyond individual struggles. There is the risk of further destabilization of the labor market in Nigeria, where the unemployment rate stands at 33%.

Economist Akin Ogunshola outlined the dangers of the resignation trend and suggested possible policy solutions.

“If people are resigning, definitely, they may be tempted to take to crime, they may be tempted to take to corruption, fraud and so many other social vices that will impact negatively on the economy and the society. … What government is to do to help the workforce is to subsidize the cost of transportation,” he said.

Fuel prices soared in Nigeria last year after President Bola Tinubu ended subsidies that had kept prices low for many years.

The government has promised relief, including buses that run on compressed natural gas, but many workers doubt the measures will be sufficient or will be implemented soon.

With no immediate relief, many Nigerians face a tough choice — pay commuting costs or resign their jobs.
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Maputo — Daniel Chapo, the presidential candidate of Mozambique’s ruling party, is comfortably leading the vote count in nine of the country’s provinces and appears set to become the country’s next president. His closest challenger was running a distant second Wednesday as vote counting from last week’s election continued.

Preliminary results from Wednesday’s election announced so far show Chapo leading with over 50% of the vote in nine of Mozambique’s 11 provinces.

In the capital, Maputo, Chapo is ahead with over 53 percent, followed by independent candidate Venancio Mondlane at just under 34 percent.

Chapo has led at every polling station counted, according to the chairperson of the Maputo Provincial Election Commission, Lucilia Sitoe.

She said, “Daniel Franscisco Chapo, 656,056, which corresponds to 68.02. Venancio Antion Bila Mondlane, 260,792, which corresponds to 27.04%.”

The two other presidential candidates, Ossufo Momade of the opposition Renamo party, polled 9.6% of the vote in Maputo, followed by Lutero Simango of Mozambique Democratic Movement, MDM with 2.86%.

A similar scenario is also occurring in the central province of Zambezia, traditionally an opposition stronghold. There, Chapo is leading with 73%, with Mondlane a distant second with 14.7%.

In Sofala province, another longtime opposition stronghold, Chapo held 65% of the vote.

Turnout in Wednesday’s election was relatively low, less than 50%. According to data shared by electoral bodies, close to 9 million of Mozambique’s 17 million registered voters did not vote.

In the northern province of Nampula, the largest constituency in the country, more than 2 million voters stayed home and tens of thousands cast blank ballots – a common form of protest in Mozambique, showing dissatisfaction with all the candidates.

The numbers were similar in Zambezia, the country’s second-largest constituency.

In Cabo Delgado province, plagued by an insurgency by Islamist militants for several years, 925,000 people did not vote, 35,000 cast blank ballots and another 18,000 votes were spoiled.

The chairman of Mozambique’s national elections commission vowed that every ballot cast will be counted.

He said, “Every vote will be counted definitely, we are ready for that. The counting system is participatory because all the political parties are represented at polling stations so every vote will count and we just hope for the best.”

Final results are expected in about two weeks. Independent political analyst Dercio Alfazema said the next president faces high expectations from the public.

“Our expectations are number one, is to be well governed, so we have a challenge to obtain a better result, the people want the end of corruption, we are looking for more security, we are looking for more health service and the quality of education, the extension of the services such as infrastructure. We also have the problem of terrorism in the north, the kidnappings; the young people are looking for jobs and some opportunities,” said Alfazema.

The president-elect will be sworn into office in January, when current President Filipe Nyusi, who is barred by the constitution from running again, steps down at the end of his second five-year term.

Mariama Diallo, VOA’s Nairobi bureau chief, contributed to this story.
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Kenya is one of 16 African countries that have organized female gamers competitions this month. Kenya’s competition attracted at least 10 female gamers competing for a chance to represent the nation in the Democratic Republic of Congo next month. Mohammed Yusuf reports. (Camera: Mohammed Yusuf)
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NAIROBI — Kenya’s deputy president, who faces impeachment, pleaded not guilty in a senate hearing Wednesday to all allegations including corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests that saw demonstrators storm the country’s parliament. 

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has called the allegations politically motivated, could be the first sitting deputy president impeached in Kenya. 

The case highlights the friction between him and President William Ruto — something that Ruto once vowed to avoid after his past troubled relationship as deputy to Kenya’s previous president, Uhuru Kenyatta. 

Gachagua has said he believes the impeachment process has Ruto’s blessing, and has asked legislators to make their decision “without intimidation and coercion.” 

The tensions risk introducing more uncertainty for investors and others in East Africa’s commercial hub. 

Court rulings this week allowed the parliament and senate to proceed with the impeachment debate, despite concerns over irregularities raised by the deputy president’s lawyers. 

The impeachment motion was approved in parliament last week and forwarded to the senate. Gachagua’s legal team will have Wednesday and Thursday to cross-examine witnesses, and the senate will vote Thursday evening. 

The senate requires a two-thirds majority to approve the impeachment motion. 

Under the Kenyan Constitution, the removal from office is automatic if approved by both chambers, though Gachagua can challenge the action in court — something he has said he would do. 

Kenya’s president has yet to publicly comment on the impeachment process. Early in his presidency, he said he wouldn’t publicly humiliate his deputy. 

Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism for his efforts to raise taxes in an effort to find ways to pay off foreign creditors. But the public opposition led him to shake up his cabinet and back off certain proposals. 
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