Month: August 2024

KAMPALA — The death toll from a mountain of rubbish that collapsed in the Ugandan capital rose to 24 on Monday as rescuers with excavators continued searching for victims, according to the city authority.

At least four children are among those killed by the collapse at the Kiteezi landfill Friday, police told reporters.

The collapse is believed to have been triggered by heavy rainfall. The precise details of what happened were unclear, but the city authority said there was a “structural failure in waste mass.”

Irene Nakasiita, a spokesperson for the Uganda Red Cross, said there was no hope of rescuing more people alive.

It was not clear how many people were unaccounted for. The Kiteezi landfill is a vast rubbish dumpsite in an impoverished hillside area that receives hundreds of garbage trucks daily. The city authority has been aiming to decommission it since declaring it full years ago. 

It’s also a kind of no-man’s land in the city of 3 million, attractive to women and children who scavenge plastic waste they aim to sell. Others have built permanent homes nearby.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered an investigation into the disaster, asking in a series of posts on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, why people were living in close proximity to an unstable heap of garbage.

“Who allowed people to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap?” Museveni said, adding that effluent or liquid waste from the site is hazardous enough that people should not be living there. 
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Abuja, Nigeria — The United Nations and Nigerian police Monday held a youth summit in the capital to commemorate International Youth Day and discuss the role of youths in national security intelligence.

The summit came days after Nigerian youths led nationwide protests calling for a reversal of government policies that they say cause severe hardships.

More than 400 delegates – including government officials, security agencies and youth representatives – cheered as the Nigerian police chief, Kayode Egbetokun, took the stage at the summit.

The one-day event with the theme “Enhancing the Nigerian Youth’s Value for National Security Intelligence” was a partnership between the police and UNESCO and was part of the International Youth Day commemoration.

Authorities said the summit was designed to examine the role of youths in national security matters and create room to enhance youth participation.

“Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to our youths,” Egbetokun told the gathering. “Together we must pledge to support, empower and create a brighter future for all. The task before us is indeed significant, but I am confident that with the collective strength, creativity and enthusiasm of our youth, coupled with the support of our partners, we’ll rise up to the challenge and make a meaningful impact.”

The summit featured interactive sessions between the police and youths on crime prevention, conflict resolution, social media and community engagement.

The summit followed recent protests in several cities, by mostly young people, over the spiraling cost of living.

The “Ten Days of Rage” protests began on August 1. Protesters blame Nigeria’s worsening economic situation on government policies, including the scrapping of fuel subsidies introduced last year.

At the summit, police authorities said that while the protesters might have had good intentions, the protests gave rise to criminal elements with ulterior motives.

Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu, president of UNESCO’s Read and Earn Federation, said Nigeria’s youth are a valuable asset.

“Our focus today is on youths recognizing themselves as change agents,” he said. “It is imperative that our young people understand their potential to influence and drive positive change. They are the ones who can bridge the gap between innovative approaches to national security because of their familiarity with technology, social media and contemporary communication tools. This will strategically lead to more effective community policing, improve intelligence gathering and enhance crisis response.”

The protests ebbed earlier than scheduled because of security crackdowns, but Amnesty International said at least 22 protesters were killed, mostly in northern Nigeria.

On Saturday, Nigeria’s minister of industry, trade and investment, Doris Nkiruka, said the country lost about $325 million per day during the protests.

Olanrewaju Fagbohun, a former professor and the co-founder of the RouQ and Company law firm, delivered a keynote address during the summit.

“There’s a trust gap in terms of security agencies and the youth,” he said. “When that protest was brewing and when it eventually happened, there were two forces at play — those with genuine grievances who wanted the nation to listen to them, and there where those who had mischievous purposes who wanted to use it for other agenda, and that is why this kind of conversation is very important.”

Authorities at the summit pledged to improve youth participation in national security matters.
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Harare — Zimbabwean authorities recently declared the end of a cholera outbreak which lasted nearly 18 months, but public health experts say the conditions which caused the waterborne disease still exist and need urgent attention.

After battling a cholera outbreak which began in February of last year, Zimbabwe gave the ‘all clear’ after saying no new cases were recorded in July. The last reported case was in June. During the outbreak, the country recorded 34,549 suspected cases and more than 700 deaths.  

Dr. Douglas Mombeshora is Zimbabwe’s health minister.

“What it means really is to say the interventions that we undertook as government have yielded [the] results that we wanted, that is to make sure that we suppress cholera. There are other issues that we have to continue working on. Because the bug is still in the community,” he said.

Itai Rusike, the executive director of Community Working Group on Health in Zimbabwe, said while his organization welcomed the news of a cholera-free country, more work needs to be done.

“We had major concerns about the illness and the unnecessary loss of lives from avoidable and preventable deaths. … As a country that experienced the devastation of the 2008-2009 cholera outbreak, we seem not to have derived learning from that and subsequent ones. The cholera outbreaks of 2008-2009 were a marker of the need for investment in water and sanitation infrastructure,” said Rusike.

The government and World Health Organization say Zimbabwe had 98,592 cases and 4,288 deaths during the 2008-2009 outbreak.

Speaking to VOA, Dr. Desta Tiruneh, the World Health Organization representative for Zimbabwe, said eradication means the country can now concentrate on other health concerns.

But he hastened to add, “The underlying factors that contributed to the transmission of cholera are still prevailing. These include access to safe water supply, sanitation facilities and hygiene, plus some other misconceptions among the communities that also fuel transmission. Therefore, we have to focus our priorities in addressing these issues, like provision of water supply should be prioritized for those communities where there is high risk of cholera transmission. … In addition, the government should prioritize in focusing in these high-risk communities to make sure this outbreak does not happen in near future.”

Separately, Doctors Without Borders noted that while eradicating cholera is a big win for Zimbabwe, it “believes more can be done to prevent future outbreaks.” The doctors’ group said there was a need for balance between having timely access to cholera vaccines and ensuring Zimbabwe invests in its water sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in both urban and rural communities.

The group, known by its acronym MSF, is one of the humanitarian organizations that worked with Zimbabwe’s government and U.N. agencies to control the spread of cholera.

Driving around Harare, people were seen walking through heaps of uncollected, fly-infested garbage, while sewage flowed in the streets in some places due to burst sewer pipes in need of repair. In some areas, people have complained of going for days without safe water for household chores and drinking. 
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Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Tanzanian police have detained leading opposition Chadema party figures including former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, and rounded up several hundred youth supporters, a Chadema official said on Monday.

The Chadema leaders were arrested in the southwestern city of Mbeya, where the party was due to hold a rally on Monday to mark International Youth Day, Chadema’s director of communications and foreign affairs, John Mrema, told AFP on Sunday.

He said that around 500 youth supporters had also been arrested by police as they were making their way to the Mbeya gathering and were being escorted back home.

Tanzanian police had announced Sunday a ban on the Chadema youth gathering, accusing the party of planning violent demonstrations.

The youth wing had said about 10,000 youngsters were expected to meet in Mbeya to mark International Youth Day under the slogan “Take charge of your future.”

Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe said he “strongly” condemned the arrests of his deputy Lissu, secretary general John Mnyika, zonal chair Joseph Mbilinyi and leaders of the youth council.

“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all our leaders, members, and supporters who were arrested in various parts of the country,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. 

“The party is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to inform the public of every development step by step.”

Chadema officials had on Sunday denounced the police ban and called on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to intervene.

Since taking the helm in 2021 after the sudden death of president John Magufuli, Hassan has moved away from her predecessor’s authoritarian policies and embarked on political reforms, including relaxing some restrictions on the media and the opposition.

In January 2023, she lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed in 2016 by Magufuli, in an overture to political rivals seeking the restoration of democratic traditions.

Lissu had returned to Tanzania soon after Hassan lifted the ban, ending five years spent largely in exile following a 2017 assassination bid.

In March 2022, Mbowe was freed about seven months after he and other Chadema leaders were arrested just hours before the party was to hold a public forum to demand constitutional reforms.

Announcing the ban on Sunday, Awadh Haji, Tanzania’s police chief in charge of operations and training, said the force had “clear indications that their aim is not to celebrate the International Youth Day but to initiate and engage in violence.”

Lissu had on Sunday vowed that the youth event would go ahead as planned.

“President Samia, don’t bring Magufuli’s strange ways. International Youth Day is celebrated globally. Why are your police blocking Chadema youth on the road and arresting them?” he said on X.

“This is not a time to stay silent, be afraid, or just talk. It’s a time to stand up and be counted. Let’s raise our voices with all our strength!”

Tanzania is due to hold presidential and parliamentary polls late next year.
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STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States will proceed with peace talks on Sudan in Geneva this week, even without confirmation of the Sudanese army’s attendance.

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said he has arrived in Geneva from Saudi Arabia to launch the “urgent international effort in Switzerland to end the crisis in Sudan.”

On Sunday, consultations between the Sudanese government and the U.S. in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ended without an agreement on whether a delegation from the army or the government would participate in the Geneva peace talks, casting doubt on the cease-fire negotiations set to begin on Aug. 14.

The United States has invited leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, to discuss a potential cease-fire. The RSF has confirmed its participation in the talks.

A State Department spokesperson told VOA on Sunday that the U.S. will continue discussions with SAF on preparations for the cease-fire negotiations.

“In addition to consultations with the parties, we have heard from tens of thousands of civilians inside and outside of Sudan. Their message is clear: they want an end to the daily terror of shelling, starvation, and sieges, and the United States and our partners stand committed to answering that call,” Perriello wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In Washington, U.S. officials have said that there is no military solution to the crisis in Sudan. They stressed that convening national cease-fire talks—backed by unified pressure from key international stakeholders—is the only way to end the conflict, prevent the spread of famine, and create space to restore the civilian political process.

More than a year of fighting between SAF and paramilitary RSF troops has displaced nearly 10 million people across the Greater Horn of Africa country and left 26 million facing crisis-level hunger.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep alarm over the evolving situation in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where fierce fighting between Sudan’s rival military factions, the SAF and RSF, has had devastating consequences for civilians.

“The fighting will further exacerbate humanitarian needs in and around El Fasher at a time when famine conditions have been confirmed in Zamzam camp south of El Fasher,” said U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.

Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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