By Rédaction Africanews The relatives of former Edgar Lungu have dismissed allegations that he was poisoned, as South African authorities pursue inquiries that have further delayed his burial months after his death. Lungu died in June last year at the age of 68 while receiving treatment in Pretoria, South Africa. His remains are still being held at a morgue amid a complex dispute involving his family, the Zambian government, and investigators. Lawyers representing the family said they have responded to multiple subpoenas issued by the South African Police Service, which is examining claims that the former president may have been…
Author: Montage Africa
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies The call came from Libya: pay $4,000 immediately, or the boy dies at sea. For Youssef Ibrahim, whose 18-year-old brother Hamdy had vanished after contacting smugglers online, there was no choice. “Returning meant death. There was no way back,” another relative told AFP. Weeks later, families learned their sons’ boat had capsized near Crete. Seventeen died, including six from this Nile Delta village. Fifteen remain missing—among them Hamdy and Mohamed Gouda, whose brother Abed pleads: “All we want to know where they are.” Why they risk everything With Egypt’s currency losing two-thirds of its…
By Dominic Wabwireh with other agencies Kenya will begin rolling out a revolutionary new HIV-prevention drug in March, offering near-complete protection with just two shots a year. The move comes as African nations scramble to adapt to shifting US foreign aid priorities. Lenacapavir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, reduces HIV transmission risk by over 99.9 percent. Kenya received its first batch of 21,000 doses on Tuesday through a deal with the Global Fund. “The first phase will begin early March, covering 15 counties,” Health Minister Aden Duale announced, with an additional 12,000 doses expected by April. Aid uncertainty looms The rollout…
By Rédaction Africanews Somalia’s government has announced it is making progress in its long-running fight against the Al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab militant group. Officials have announced they have reclaimed territory from the militants that had been under their control for years. Omar Ali Abdi, Somalia’s state minister for defense, said, “there are new locations and settlements that were liberated from these militants that were under their control for the last 18 years. They include several locations in Lower Shabelle including Jilib Marka, Gendershe, and Dhanaane. These places acted as their courts where they would call anyone they wanted to extort money from,…
By Rédaction Africanews and AP At least eight Nigerian soldiers have been killed and 23 others wounded after a deadly raid by jihadists linked to the Islamic State in the country’s northeast. Security sources say around 70 fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province stormed a military base in Cross Kauwa village in Borno State on Monday, arriving on motorcycles and launching a fierce gun battle. The attackers reportedly mobilized from a camp on Lake Chad, burning down the base, destroying 11 gun trucks and seizing mounted anti-aircraft weapons before retreating. The base lies just 24 kilometers from Baga,…
By Rédaction Africanews The Aboko teaching hospital is one of a string in South Sudan that are overwhelmed, as fighting in the country rages on. It has only one surgeon, and basic resources are running thin on the ground. Dozens of people are being treated for gunshot wounds. An anonymous injured victim said, “the regime guard targeted the civilians. So because we are civilian, we are not soldiers. So even me, I don’t know how to hold a gun. I’m just a civilian. I just came from Kenya recently. So I just go there to visit the family. We just…
At least 33 miners have died in a suspected carbon-monoxide leak at a lead and zinc mine in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, witnesses have told the BBC. The tragedy is believed to have happened just before sunrise at a site outside the town of Wase run by the mining company Solid Unity Nigeria Ltd. Toxic gas is believed to have built up underground in poorly ventilated tunnels, causing the workers to collapse just before the end of their night shift. They were discovered by those reporting to work in the morning – more than 20 other miners were rescued and…
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP Catholics in Nigeria’s largest city flocked to churches on Wednesday for Ash Wednesday, beginning the 40-day Lenten season with prayers and the traditional imposition of ashes. This year’s observance coincides with the start of Ramadan, creating a rare moment of simultaneous fasting for the country’s two major faiths. At the Church of Assumption in Lagos, priests marked faithful’s foreheads with ash crosses—a ritual symbolizing mortality and repentance. “If we go through life and we’re not reminded that we are dust and we’ll get back to ash, this day serves as that reminder,” said Patricia Ku-Eworo.…
If you ate a corn on the cob, green beans or some spring onions in the UK this winter, chances are it would have come from one of two farms at the edge of the Sahara, in the north of Senegal. The West African nation is becoming an important player in the UK’s food supply. Is that a good thing? Hidden behind green leaves and thick stalks you can hear Diarra at work before you see her. The cobs of corn she’s harvesting are so abundant and the plants so tall, she’s almost lost in a sea of maize. And…
Barbara Plett Usher A UN fact-finding mission has determined that evidence of atrocities carried out during the siege and takeover of the Sudanese city of el-Fasher points to genocide. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured el-Fasher, located in the western region of Darfur, at the end of October after an 18-month blockade. It was one of the most brutal chapters in Sudan’s nearly three-year civil war and triggered widespread international outrage. This is the closest the UN has come to declaring that genocide is being carried out by RSF fighters in Darfur during the current conflict. The RSF has…