Month: August 2024

Beni, DRC — The death toll of two attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has climbed to at least 18, with 14 people missing, local sources told AFP on Sunday. 

The attacks, which took place Saturday in the Beni territory in the troubled North Kivu province, were blamed on ADF rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group. 

The death toll of those killed “has been revised from 10 to 18 people,” Kinos Katuo, a civil society leader of the area where the attacks took place, told AFP. 

He added that 14 people are missing, with four houses and two motorcycles also burned. 

Another local leader, Charles Endukado, told AFP the number of people killed in the attacks is “more than 18.” 

“No one can go to recover the bodies that are still lying on the ground,” he said. 

The ADF, originally mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, have established a presence over the past three decades in eastern DRC, killing thousands of civilians. 

The group pledged allegiance in 2019 to the Islamic State group, which portrays them as its central African branch. 

The ADF was also blamed for an attack that killed 20 at the end of July. 

Local authorities in Beni told AFP in mid-June that since the beginning of the same month 150 people had been killed in attacks attributed to the ADF in eastern DRC. 

Since the end of 2021, the Congolese and Ugandan armies have been conducting joint operations against the ADF in North Kivu and the neighboring province of Ituri, but have so far failed to stop the deadly attacks on civilians.
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Kigali — Rwanda’s all-powerful President Paul Kagame was sworn in on Sunday for a fourth term after sweeping to victory in elections last month with more than 99% of the vote.  

Several dozen heads of state and other dignitaries from African nations joined the inauguration ceremony at a packed 45,000-seat stadium in Kigali, where crowds had started gathering from the early morning.  

Kagame took the oath of office before Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, pledging to “preserve peace and national sovereignty, consolidate national unity.”  

The outcome of the July 15 poll was never in doubt for the iron-fisted Kagame, who has ruled the small African nation since the 1994 genocide, as de facto leader and then president.  

He won 99.18% of ballots cast to secure another five years in power, according to the National Electoral Commission.  

Rights activists said the 66-year-old’s overwhelming victory was a stark reminder of the lack of democracy in Rwanda.  

Only two candidates were authorized to run against him out of eight applicants, with several prominent Kagame critics barred.  

Democratic Green Party leader Frank Habineza scraped into second place with 0.5 percent of the vote against 0.32 percent for independent Philippe Mpayimana.   

DRC cease-fire talks

Kagame is credited with rebuilding a ruined nation after the genocide, when Hutu extremists unleashed 100 days of vicious bloodletting targeting the Tutsi minority, killing around 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.   

But rights activists and opponents say he rules in a climate of fear, crushing any dissent with intimidation, arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.  

Kigali is also accused of stoking instability in the east of its much larger neighbor the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

Angola’s President Joao Lourenco, among those attending Sunday’s ceremony, was due to have private talks with Kagame on a DRC ceasefire deal, the Angolan presidency said.  

Luanda brokered the agreement last month after a meeting between the foreign ministers of DRC and Rwanda, which is accused of backing the M23 rebel group fighting Kinshasa’s armed forces.  

But on August 4, the day the deal was supposed to take effect, M23 rebels — who have seized territory in the east since launching a new offensive at the end of 2021 — captured a town on the border with Uganda.  

With 65 percent of the population aged under 30, Kagame is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.  

“I proudly cast my vote for president Kagame and made it a priority to be here today to witness this historic inauguration,” said Tania Iriza, a 27-year-old trader, one of the tens of thousands who turned out for the ceremony.  

“His leadership has been transformative for our nation. Under his leadership, Rwanda has risen from our tragic past and forged a path towards prosperity, unity and innovation.”  

Kagame has won every presidential election he has contested, each time with more than 93 percent of the ballot.  

In 2015, he oversaw controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms to five years from seven but reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034. 
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KAMPALA — The death toll from a landslide at a vast garbage dump in Uganda’s capital Kampala has risen to 13, police said on Sunday, as rescue personnel continued to dig for survivors. 

After torrential rain in recent weeks a chunk of garbage from the city’s only landfill site broke off late on Friday, crushing and burying homes on the edge of the site as residents slept. 

On Saturday, the Kampala Capital City Authority had put the death toll at eight. 

“The latest we have is 13 dead, but rescue services are continuing,” said police spokesperson Patrick Onyango.  

At least 14 people have been rescued so far, he said, adding that more could still be trapped but the number is unknown. 

Tents have been set up nearby for those displaced by the landslide, Uganda Red Cross said.  

The landfill site, known as Kiteezi, has served as Kampala’s sole garbage dump for decades and had turned into a big hill. Residents have long complained of hazardous waste polluting the environment and posing a danger to residents. 

Efforts by the city authority to procure a new landfill site have dragged on for years. 

There have been similar tragedies elsewhere in Africa from poorly managed mountains of municipal garbage.  

In 2017 at least 115 people were killed in Ethiopia, crushed by a landslide at a garbage dump in Addis Ababa. In Mozambique, at least 17 people died in a similar 2018 disaster in Maputo. 
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Paris — Egypt will bid to host the 2036 and 2040 Summer Olympics, with the country’s improving infrastructure and sports facilities key for a successful African bid, said the head of the African national Olympic committees association (ANOCA) on Sunday.

The continent has never staged an Olympic Games. Cairo last made an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Olympics.

The most populous country in the Arab world, Egypt has spent billions of dollars building facilities, stadiums and sports complexes in recent years as part of its plans to modernise the country.

The Egypt International Olympic City complex in the new administrative capital the country has been building east of Cairo since 2015 is expected to have a 93,900-capacity national stadium and 21 other sports facilities.

“Egypt will bid for 2036 and 2040,” Mustapha Berraf, head of ANOCA told a press conference on the day of the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

The Algerian sports administrator said another African bid could potentially materialize with South Africa’s Cape Town considering an Olympic candidacy. He did not say for which Games it would bid, though.

“Africa has the chance of organizing the Games. It will most likely organize the Games in 2040,” said Berraf, who is also an International Olympic Committee member.

“There is a need to look at infrastructure issues such as roads, airports. Egypt has important infrastructure potential.”

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Games while Australia’s Brisbane is preparing to stage the 2032 Olympics.

There are already several countries and cities interested in bidding for the 2036 Olympics including Indonesia, India, Turkey as well as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has said interest for 2036 has so far attracted cities in the double digits.
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KANYARUCHINYA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Children sit on the dirt, their clothes ragged and torn, their shoes punctured with holes, but their eyes bright and fixed on what’s playing out in front of them.

In a corner of a refugee camp in conflict-wracked eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, about a dozen chess games are going, each one with its own fascinated audience.

The Soga Chess Club for children doesn’t have enough tables and chairs. The “boards” are squares of paper with green and white blocks marked on them and are lined with plastic to protect them from the wear and tear coming their way. Irritatingly, the pieces sometimes topple over if players haven’t found a flat enough stretch of ground to lay their game out on.

But the chess club founders say it’s good enough to try to take these kids’ minds away from what they’ve seen and experienced so far: fighting and killing, hunger and fear. They’ve all lost their homes. Some have lost fathers, mothers or siblings in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Chess is “a therapeutic escape from the stress and horrors these children have endured,” said Gabriel Nzaji, one of the club’s instructors. He said the game encourages the children to be quiet and to focus, a way of calming their minds.

More than 5 million people have been displaced by decades of conflict in eastern Congo, where dozens of armed groups fight each other over land and control of areas rich in sought-after minerals. An increase in fighting in recent months has led to a new surge of refugees, and there’s no end in sight for a displacement disaster that dwarfs many others that get more global attention.

Hundreds of thousands of people forced to escape the attacks that destroy their towns and villages have ended up in vast displacement camps like Kanyaruchinya, where the Soga Chess Club operates. The United Nations Children’s Fund says around a quarter million children live in the camps, ripped away from their homes and their schools, and sometimes their families.

Soga has around 100 children signed up to its club. One of them is 9-year-old Heritier, who is still learning the game but confident enough already to hand out his own lesson.

“Here,” he said, his fingers flicking across the board. “I’m doing everything to protect my king on the chessboard. I have to sacrifice this queen. You see that?

“I like this game,” Heritier said. “It relaxes me.”

The trauma suffered by children in eastern Congo is incalculable as aid agencies battle to provide food and shelter to as many of the millions that have been displaced as possible. Some of the children in the chess club have been living in the Kanyaruchinya camp for almost two years, their lives in limbo.

But in Heritier’s grin and his newfound delight in a game — a given for so many kids — the club organizers see a sign of hope.

“The perspective of these children has changed drastically,” said Nzaji. “[They] approach life with a different mindset.”

The organizers said they noticed that most of the children would spend their days engaged in rough, war-like games, sometimes involving sticks they’d swing at each other. They hope chess offers the children something other than a mimicking of the conflict they’ve grown up around.

Akili Bashige, president of the Soga Chess Club, said parts of the camp have been transformed into sites of optimism by children playing chess. “Despite their limited resources, their passion persists,” he said of his club’s recruits.

Soga has also taken the game to orphanages in the region, and Bashige said he wants to start clubs for children who live on the streets in nearby towns.

The club can also be uplifting to parents, who worry for their children and their future — which they see slipping away.

Arusi, a 13-year-old girl, recently won a tournament and with it a reputation for being a fierce competitor. Her mother beamed with pride as she recalled the feat.

“Before Soga chess, they were idle because of the war and a lack of schooling,” said Feza Twambaze, Arusi’s mom. “Seeing them engaged and thriving fills me with immense joy.”
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Windhoek, Namibia — Poverty, family dysfunction, hopelessness and learning challenges are among the reasons children, sometimes as young as 9, take their own lives. The Namibia Association of Occupational Therapists on Saturday brought together children, parents, and health care workers to teach children how to cope and adapt into adulthood.

When Samuel Njambali was 11 years old, he began drinking and smoking with his peers.

This destructive behavior led to fights and failing grades at school.

His grandmother helped him get his act together.

Now an intern occupational therapist, Njambali gave a peer talk at a #Be Free Youth Campus workshop Saturday on the impact of substance abuse on adolescent mental health and the role of occupational therapy in treating and correcting negative behavior patterns.

“Occupational therapy is a profession that helps people who are using substances to quit, and we help to rehabilitate them through activities,” he told VOA. “So, we will help them with restructuring their activities of their day so changing their routines providing more structure to their habits so that they don’t have free time and opportunities for them to use substances.”

Karlien Burger from the Namibia Association of Occupational Therapists organized the event, which attracted more than 150 students, parents, teachers and health care providers.

Given Namibia’s past of apartheid and colonization, she said, its citizens experienced inter-generational trauma that manifests in poor mental health outcomes.

As occupational therapists, she said, they want to reach families when their children are young to re-model their behavior into healthier lifestyles.

“There are a lot of difficulties with mental health, and because these difficulties are starting earlier and earlier, we wanted to take a pro-active and a preventative approach. And that’s why we are looking at adolescent mental health today at this event and different facets of it. The emotional development that happens and how to look after that, how to prevent substance use, how to support the adolescent learning processes and then lastly, we looked at spirituality and how we can foster health promoting spirituality in our everyday tasks.”

Monica Amukoto, a student at the event, said she now has a greater understanding of how her body works and how she can communicate her boundaries with her parents and her peers.

She said greater awareness in the community can help children like her avoid common substance abuse problems.

“I practically learnt about self-love and how as a young person I am supposed to control my emotions, and we encounter a lot of young people on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “On how I am supposed to control my anger and all these things.”

Occupational therapy is a branch of health care that helps people of all ages with physical, sensory or cognitive problems. It is relatively unknown in Namibia and Africa and the Occupational Therapy Association used the opportunity at the #Be Free Youth Campus to create awareness of its practice.

A first of its kind in Namibia, the #Be Free Youth Campus provides sexual and reproductive health services, counseling, sports and learning facilities in the underserved township of Katutura to teens and young adults.  
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