TIG Post

Tag: East Africa

  • Bawku residents accuse military of assault with guns, stones, and metal

    Bawku residents accuse military of assault with guns, stones, and metal

    Residents of Bawku in the Upper East Region have recounted terrifying encounters with military personnel, accusing them of using guns, stones, and metal objects to assault civilians during a late-night operation.

    On the night of Tuesday, March 18, heavily armed soldiers reportedly stormed homes in Bawku, conducting forced searches and physically assaulting residents.

    This military action is said to have been triggered by the fatal shooting of a Ghana Armed Forces officer on Monday, March 17.

    Reports indicate that the officer was ambushed and killed by unidentified gunmen while walking on foot.

    Several victims have shared their traumatic experiences. One woman revealed that soldiers broke into her house and subjected her to a brutal beating without explanation.

    “When I opened the door, they started beating me and asked me, ‘Where are the men of this house?’ I told them I have no mother, father, or husband and that I live alone. But they continued beating me, hitting my ears and jaw, and injuring my hands,” she narrated.

    “They didn’t even ask us what happened. They just started beating us, destroying our properties, and taking our phones, belongings, and money,” he said.

    He added that some of the soldiers repeatedly asked, “Do you want to kill a soldier? Do you want to beat a soldier?” before assaulting them with guns, stones, and metallic objects.

    “We were in the house, we didn’t go out for them to say we have broken rules or boundaries by going outside around curfew hours,” he lamented.

    A resident recounted how soldiers burst into his home around 8:30 p.m., assaulting him and his brothers without any warning or explanation.

    Reports suggest that civilians, including women, were subjected to severe physical abuse during the operation. Many men were left with deep bruises and lash marks on their backs, while others had visible bloodstains on their bodies.

    Videos from the aftermath reveal widespread destruction, with soldiers ransacking homes and damaging personal belongings.

    Residents are now appealing to the government to step in and implement measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

    They lamented that instead of providing security during curfew hours, the military has become a source of further distress and suffering.

    “We are suffering in Bawku. The military is supposed to protect us, not beat us,” one resident pleaded.

  • Sudan opposes regional bloc’s attempts for mediation

    Sudan opposes regional bloc’s attempts for mediation

    The government of Sudan has stopped taking part in peace talks led by a group called Igad from East Africa.

    It had been trying to get the army and the rival paramilitary RSF to talk and stop the nine-month civil war.

    The foreign ministry said it stopped working with Igad because they added Sudan to a meeting without permission and invited the RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to come.

    He recently went to many African countries to get more people to support him politically.

    Since the war started in April, about 7. 5 million people had to leave their homes.

  • East African troops withdraw from Democratic Republic of Congo over criticism

    East African troops withdraw from Democratic Republic of Congo over criticism

    Soldiers from East African countries went to Congo to fight against M23 rebels one year ago. The Congolese government does not think they have been successful, and their mission will end on Friday.

    Soldiers from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, and South Sudan are returning home because President Félix Tshisekedi did not want them to stay any longer and officials were not happy with how they were doing their job.

    Soldiers from the South African region are going to replace the soldiers from East Africa, but we don’t know when they will come.

    In other news, the rebel group M23 took over the town of Mushaki, which is 40km (25 miles) from Goma, the main city in Nord Kivu province, known for its valuable minerals.

    The rebels took control of the town on 7 December by fighting with the Congolese army. Mushaki is an important place for moving things around in the area. The M23 group and the army have fought over control of it many times.

    Democratic Republic of Congo will have a big vote on December 20th.

  • Somalia bombing: Country hit ahead of East Africa leaders’ meeting

    Somalia bombing: Country hit ahead of East Africa leaders’ meeting

    While regional leaders are gathered in the city to discuss their coordinated offensive against the al-Shabab militant group, mortar shells have exploded in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

    The presidential palace is closely guarded, and the four shells struck nearby areas.

    There have been no reported casualties.

    Following recent military successes by the Somali government against the Islamist militants, the leaders of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti will meet there on Wednesday.

    Al-Shabab still controls large areas of Somalia and is continuing to carry out regular attacks.

    But they have lost territory since the government, backed by US and African troops, launched a new offensive last August.

  • Minister: Kenya’s drought killed 205 elephants in 10 months

    East Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, and Kenyan wildlife is suffering as well.Drought killed 205 elephants and numerous other wildlife in Kenya between February and October, according to tourism minister Peninah Malonza, as much of East Africa experiences its worst drought in 40 years.

    Although sporadic rain has begun in the region, Kenya’s meteorological department predicts below-average rainfall for much of the country in the coming months, raising concerns that the threat to Kenya’s wildlife is not over.

    “The drought has caused mortality of wildlife … because of the depletion of food resources as well as water shortages,” Malonza, the cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, told a news conference.

    Fourteen species have been affected by the drought, she said.

    In addition to the dead elephants, 512 wildebeest, 381 common zebra, 12 giraffes, and 51 buffalo have also succumbed to the drought over the same period – some in the national parks that are a major tourist draw for the country.

    There have also been 49 deaths of the rare and endangered Grevy’s zebra.

    In September, conservation group Grevy’s Zebra Trust said that 40 Grevy’s had died in just a three-month period because of the drought, representing nearly 2 percent of the species’ population.

    The figures released on Friday are likely far from comprehensive, the ministry warned in a report, saying carnivores could have devoured some carcasses.

    “Thus, there is a possibility of higher mortality,” the report said.

    News of the toll on wildlife in Kenya, where tourism contributes about 10 percent of economic output and employs over 2 million people, comes just days before the start of the UN climate conference, COP27.

    Egypt, the conference host, has made the issue of “loss and damage”, compensation for losses from climate-related disasters, a focus of the talks. The issue has never been part of the UN talks’ formal agenda, despite being debated for years, as wealthy countries have resisted creating a funding mechanism that could suggest liability for historic climate damages.

    The areas most affected by the drought are to the north and south of Kenya, home to the bulk of Kenya’s elephant population.

    Last month, the charity Save the Elephants said one famed calf, well-known for being a twin, a rarity for elephants, died during the drought.

    The ministry recommended providing vulnerable wildlife groups with water, salt licks, and food and to increase monitoring and data collection.

  • Reports: Ten million East African children hit by malnutrition

    A new report says more than 10 million children across East Africa are suffering from malnutrition, and more than 300,000 people are at risk of dying from hunger.

    The study, commissioned by the regional bloc, Igad, warned the food crisis would get worse if rains failed for a fifth year running.

    Igad executive director Workneh Gebeyehu added that conflict across the region had disrupted food production, worsening the crisis further.

    He also appealed for help from the international community as East Africa experiences its longest dry spell in 40 years and its fourth drought in a decade.

     

  • Ten million East African children hit by malnutrition – report

    A new report says more than 10 million children across East Africa are suffering from malnutrition, and more than 300,000 people are at risk of dying from hunger.

    The study, commissioned by the regional bloc, Igad, warned the food crisis would get worse if rains failed for a fifth year running.

    Igad executive director Workneh Gebeyehu added that conflict across the region had disrupted food production, worsening the crisis further.

    He also appealed for help from the international community as East Africa experiences its longest dry spell in 40 years, and fourth drought in a decade.

    Source: BBC

  • East Africa hunger causing death ‘every 48 seconds’

    Humanitarian organisations have warned that across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, one person is dying every 48 seconds from acute hunger linked to conflict, the climate crisis and the rising cost of food.

    A report by Oxfam and Save the Children estimates that around the world, 181 million people will experience crisis levels of hunger this year, with women particularly affected.

    The organisations say starvation is a political failure.

    They criticise the international community for responding too late and with too little to prevent “cyclical and predictable” emergencies.

  • Borrowing goes through the roof as East Africa amasses $73b in external debt

    Countries in the region have seen increased borrowing over the past decade, amassing $73.8 billion in external debt.

    The International Debt Statistics 2021 report by the World Bank shows that between 2009 and 2019, countries in the region increased external borrowing by nearly four times, from $19.9 billion to $73.8 billion.

    During the period, Kenya was the biggest borrower raising the stock of external debt from $8.5 billion to $34.2 billion, followed by Tanzania, from $7.6 billion to $19.5 billion.

    Uganda and Rwanda accumulated $13.9 billion and $6.2 billion in external debt over the decade, from $2.7 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.

    Burundi, however, saw the stock of its external debt decline from $607.2 million in 2009 to $578.4 million in 2019.

    SLOW GROWTH

    “The overhang of debt may slow investment and growth for years to come, a burden on the poor that now needs to be addressed by creditors across the world taking prompt steps to permanently reduce unsustainable debt stocks for the poorest countries,” said David Malpass, the World Bank Group president.

    In the region, the report shows that in 2019 Kenya spent $3 billion in principal repayments and $1.2 billion in interest repayments, while Tanzania spent $1.1 billion and $200 million respectively.

    For Uganda, $166 million went into principal repayment and $115 million in interest repayment, with Rwanda spending $31.5 billion and $133.2 million respectively.

    The report states that with almost half of all low-income countries either already in debt distress or at a high risk of it, the burden of debt is bound to worsen with countries borrowing more to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Many countries applied for debt relief with the International Monetary Fund in October, which granted a six-month extension to 28 low income nations with Rwanda being among the beneficiaries.

    Total external debt stocks of low-income countries eligible for debt service suspension rose by nine per cent in 2019 to $744 billion, equivalent on average to one-third of their combined gross national income.

    “The risk is that too many poor countries will emerge from the Covid-19 crisis with a large debt overhang that could take years to manage,” said Mr. Malpass.

    He added that to build durable economic recoveries, countries will need to achieve long-term debt sustainability.

    The report shows that the external debt stock of 120 low and middle-income countries rose by 5.4 percent in 2019 to $8.1 trillion, a rate of accumulation almost identical to that in 2018, but close to half the 10.5 percent rise in external debt stock recorded in 2017.

    The increase in external debt stocks in 2019 was the outcome of net debt inflows of $383 billion.

    Countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for the largest share of net long-term inflows at 24 per cent, followed by the East Asia and Pacific region.

    Source: theeastafrican.co.ke

  • UN warns of hunger and malnutrition in East Africa

    The World Food Programme (WFP) has said serious hunger and malnutrition looms for millions of refugees across eastern Africa who depend on assistance from the food agency to survive.

    It said that the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced vital funding from donors.

    The WFP has already reduced food or cash transfers by up to 30% for more than 2.7 million refugees in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Djibouti, it said.

    “Refugees are especially vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 because they are crowded together in camps with weak or inadequate shelter, health services and access to clean water and sanitation,” the WFP Eastern Africa Regional Director Michael Dunford said.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Hunger ‘could double’ in East Africa because of virus

    The United Nations food agency has warned that the number of people who risk going hungry in East Africa could double in the next three months as a result of coronavirus.

    The World Food Programme said 43 million people risk lacking access to food in nine countries. They are Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan and Uganda.

    It said that, although the number of confirmed cases was relatively low compared with elsewhere in the world, the economic effect of the virus is already being felt.

    There have been more than 33,000 confirmed cases on the continent, and nearly 1,500 confirmed deaths.

    Source: bbc.com