African Peace/ Development TV

Laborers and street vendors in Mali find no respite as deadly heat wave surges through West Africa.

Street vendors in Mali’s capital of Bamako peddle water sachets, ubiquitous for this part of West Africa during the hottest months. This year, an unprecedented heat wave has led to a surge in deaths, experts say, warning of more scorching weather ahead as effects of climate change roil the continent.
The heat wave began in late March, as many in this Muslim majority country observed the holy Islamic month of Ramadan with dawn-to-dusk fasting.
On Thursday, temperatures in Bamako reached 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) and weather forecasts say it’s not letting up anytime soon.
The city’s Gabriel-Touré Hospital reported 102 deaths in the first four days of the month, compared to 130 deaths in all of April last year. It’s unknown how many of the fatalities were due to the extreme weather as such data cannot be made public under the regulations imposed by the country’s military rulers.
Cheikh A Traoré, Mali’s general director for health, said significantly more elderly people have died during this period although there were no statistics available due to the measures.
Mali has experienced two coups since 2020, leading a wave of political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa in recent years. Along with its political troubles, the country is also in the grip of a worsening insurgency by militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre says that a lack of data in Mali and other West Africa countries affected by this month’s heat wave makes it impossible to know how many heat-related deaths there were but estimated that the death toll was likely in the hundreds if not thousands.
The heat is also endangering already vulnerable children in Mali 1 million under the age of 5 were at risk of acute malnutrition at the end of 2023 due to protracted violence, internal displacement, and restricted access to humanitarian aid, according to the World Food Program.

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Tunisian journalist sentenced to 6 months in prison for insulting an official.

A judge in Tunisia sentenced a journalist and political commentator to six months in prison in the country’s latest assault on members of the media who criticize the government.
Mohamed Boughalleb, who had been charged with insulting a public official, was sentenced Wednesday and will remain behind bars, where he has been since his arrest last month after an official lodged a complaint against him.
The official alleged he was harmed by Boughalleb’s commentary linking him to corruption and misuse of public funds.
The complaint from a member of Tunisia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs came after Boughalleb on Facebook questioned trips abroad that the civil servant made with the minister and called them a “waste of public funds.”
He was subsequently charged with violating defamation laws in Tunisia’s penal and telecommunications code.
Lawyers for Boughalleb, 60, denounced the sentence as “an assault on freedom of expression” and raised questions about its political nature. He joined a chorus of Tunisians who have called into question the government’s pursuit of its critics as President Kais Saied prepares to compete for a second term leading the North African country.

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Homes are demolished in Ivory Coast’s main city over alleged health concerns. Thousands are homeless.

Dame Touré rushed to quickly gather what she could as bulldozers rolled into her neighborhood in Ivory Coast’s fast-growing economic hub of Abidjan. Her three children joined her, stuffing plastic bags with clothes and whatever other items they could grab, before their home was reduced to rubble as armed security forces looked on.
The Touré home was among hundreds crushed in a February wave of demolitions targeting Abidjan’s underdeveloped areas.
The government says it’s because of public health concerns as the poor areas built along a lagoon in this port city of 6.3 million on West Africa’s southern coast suffer deadly floods during the rainy season. More than 300 people have been killed since 2005 and officials say the deluges become breeding grounds for water-borne and other diseases.
“My children and I now sleep under the sun,” said Touré, 50. “We don’t know where to go.”
Demolitions in low-income neighborhoods are nothing new in Abidjan, where rapid urbanization has led to a population boom and housing shortages, with nearly one in five Ivorians residing in the city. It’s a challenge in many parts of Africa where economic woes pushed more people into cities in search of better opportunities, straining an already overstretched infrastructure.

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Sexual assaults rise in Central African Republic.Wagner, bandits and even peacekeepers are blamed

It was too late for the mother to shield her children when the two masked and armed Russian fighters burst into her home, held her at gunpoint and took turns ra**ng her. Her five children were forced to watch in the dark.
Seated in a restaurant in Central African Republic’s capital, where she has since fled, she wiped away tears. Two years on, the assault has “stayed with me in my core,” she said. The Associated Press does not identify survivors of sexual assault.
She blamed the Russians who are part of the Wagner mercenary group that operates alongside Central African Republic’s army and has been accused by locals and rights groups of abuses. She had seen them patrolling in her town of Bambari before. On the day of the assault, they were fighting rebels there.
Gender-based violence is rising in Central African Republic amid ongoing conflict, weak legal and care systems and the stigma of speaking up, locals and aid groups say.
Since 2020, incidents have jumped from about 9,200 reported cases to 25,500, according to cases tracked by the U.N. and partners.

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Mali’s junta bans the media from reporting on political activities in a deepening crackdown

In a deepening crackdown, Mali’s ruling junta on Thursday banned the media from reporting on activities of political parties and associations, a day after suspending all political activities in the country until further notice.
The order, issued by Mali’s high authority for communication, was distributed on social media. The notice said it applied to all forms of the media, including television, radio, online and print newspapers.
Mali has experienced two coups since 2020, leading a wave of political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa in recent years. Along with its political troubles, the country is also in the grip of a worsening insurgency by militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
The scope of the ban or how it would be applied in practice was not immediately clear. It was also not known if journalists would still be allowed to report on issues such as the economy, which are closely tied to politics and who would monitor their work
The umbrella organization that represents journalists in Mali responded with an unusually stern rebuttal.

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Senegal swears in Africa’s youngest elected leader as president in a dramatic prison-to-palace rise.

Senegal inaugurated Africa’s youngest elected leader as president on Tuesday, as the 44-year-old and previously little-known Bassirou Diomaye Faye completed a dramatic ascent from prison to palace within weeks.
Hours later, Ousmane Sonko, the popular opposition figure who helped catapult him to victory, was named as the country’s new prime minister.
Last month’s election tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked in recent years by coups and attempted coups. Both Faye and Sonko were released from prison less than two weeks before the vote following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Macky Sall.
Their arrests had sparked months of protests and concerns that Sall would seek a third term in office despite term limits. Rights groups said dozens were killed and about 1,000 were jailed. In his first speech as president, Faye remembered those killed and arrested during the protests and promised to deliver greater sovereignty for Senegal while working to build prosperity.
"I am aware that the results of the elections express a profound desire for systemic change,” he said. “Through my election, the Senegalese people have committed to building a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal in a progressing Africa.”

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Women farmers are invisible': A West African project helps them claim their rights — and land.

Mariama Sonko’s voice resounded through the circle of 40 women farmers sitting in the shade of a cashew tree. They scribbled notes, brows furrowed in concentration as her lecture was punctuated by the thud of falling fruit.
This quiet village in Senegal is the headquarters of a 115,000-strong rural women’s rights movement in West Africa, We Are the Solution. Sonko, its president, is training female farmers from cultures where women are often excluded from ownership of the land they work so closely.
Across Senegal, women farmers make up 70% of the agricultural workforce and produce 80% of the crops but have little access to land, education and finance compared to men, the United Nations says.
“We work from dawn until dusk, but with all that we do, what do we get out of it?” Sonko asked.
She believes that when rural women are given land, responsibilities and resources, it has a ripple effect through communities. Her movement is training women farmers who traditionally have no access to education, explaining their rights and financing women-led agricultural projects.
Across West Africa, women usually don’t own land because it is expected that when they marry, they leave the community. But when they move to their husbands’ homes, they are not given land because they are not related by blood.

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Senegal’s little-known opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye is named the next president.

Senegal’s little-known, 44-year-old opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye was named the country’s next president on Monday, less than two weeks after being released from prison to run in the election.
While official results of Sunday’s vote were not yet available, the former prime minister who was the other frontrunner, and who was backed by incumbent President Macky Sall, conceded defeat based on preliminary results. Sall followed with congratulations, also naming Faye as the winner.
Faye’s victory reflected frustration among youth with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation. In his first speech delivered as president-elect late Monday, the former tax inspector promised to a fresh chapter following the months of violence and many political arrests that led up to the election
"I pledge to govern with humility and transparency, and to fight corruption at all levels. I pledge to devote myself fully to rebuilding our institutions,” he said, restating promises made during his campaign.

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Senegalese await the outcome of a peaceful presidential vote, following months of unrest.

Senegalese anxiously awaited the results of a presidential election Monday, following months of uncertainty and unrest that tested the country’s reputation as a stable democracy in a region rife with coups.
The vote Sunday was largely peaceful with a high turnout, observers said. Results from polling stations that had completed counting were posted overnight on social media with official announcements expected later this week.
More than 7 million people were registered to vote in a country of roughly 17 million. To win in the first round, a candidate must gain more than 50% or it goes to a runoff.
Analysts say a second round is likely, between opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, the candidate for the governing party.
Some opposition supporters Sunday night were adamant their candidate had already won. In the capital, Dakar, some people sat on car rooftops chanting, while others carried flags, banners and set off fireworks saying Faye would win outright.
The news is circulating ... there will be no second round,” said Dime Jueye, a local vendor.
This is Senegal’s fourth democratic transfer of power since gaining independence from France more than six decades ago. It took place one month later than initially scheduled after President Macky Sall tried to delay it until the end of the year. Sall is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term and is expected to step down on April 2 when his mandate ends.
After the polls closed Sunday, voters praised the peaceful outcome amid concerns after months of deadly protests ignited last summer by the jailing of the popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that the president wanted to stay in power. Rights groups said dozens were killed, while hundreds more were jailed.
In a move that defused tensions just ahead of the election, Sonko was released after months in prison along with Faye, to jubilant celebrations on the streets of Dakar. Sonko was barred from the race in January due to a prior conviction and Faye ran in his place.

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Some abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria’s north are freed after weeks in captivity

At least 137 of nearly 300 Nigerian children abducted more than two weeks ago from their school in the northwestern state of Kaduna were released on Sunday, the West African nation’s military said.
An earlier statement from the government suggested that all the students were freed.
Motorcycle-riding gunmen invaded the Kuriga school on March 7 and marched the children into the forests before security forces could arrive, as terrified families watched helplessly. School authorities said a total of 287 students were kidnapped during the attack, at least 100 of them are aged 12 or younger.
At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since 2014, when Boko Haram militants seized hundreds of schoolgirls from Borno state’s Chibok village. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the country’s northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travelers for ransom.
The 137 children were rescued in Zamfara state, an enclave notorious for kidnappings more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) away from their school, Nigerian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Edward Buba said in a statement.
Pictures released by the Nigerian military showed the children looking worn out as they were covered in dust, still wearing their blue-white-and-brown uniforms while being transported following their release. Kuriga town leaders joined other government officials in waiting for their arrival at the Kaduna State Government House.
Efforts would continue until other hostages are found and the terrorists arrested, tried, and brought to justice by Nigerian law,” Maj. Gen. Buba said.
At least 17 other schoolchildren in northern Sokoto state were also rescued two weeks after they were taken hostage, according to a statement issued Saturday by the Sokoto state government.
Kaduna state Gov. Uba Sani, who first announced the rescue, did not give details about the operation. His office could not be reached Sunday to clarify the discrepancy in the number of those freed. The Associated Press could not reach villagers in Kuriga town, where mobile network is not available.

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Senegal votes in a tightly contested presidential race after months of unrest

Senegalese lined up to vote Sunday in a tightly contested presidential race following months of uncertainty and unrest that has tested the West African nation’s reputation as a stable democracy in a region shaken by a wave of coups in recent years.
The election comes after President Macky Sall unsuccessfully tried to postpone the Feb. 25 vote until the end of the year, sparking violent protests. Sall is barred by the constitution from seeking a third term. As a result, the vote is taking place during Ramadan, the holy month when observant Muslims fast from dawn until dusk
Lines formed outside polling stations around the capital Dakar. Roads were quiet as the nation’s elite police force was deployed across the city in armored vehicles, checking voters’ cards. Official results are expected next week, but in previous elections candidates have announced their predictions on the same evening as the vote
Observers said turnout among the more than 7 million registered voters appeared to be high in the morning, though more precise figures would be available later Sunday. Babacar Gueye, who heads Senegal’s COSCE civil society network of observers, said participation was important to give the election legitimacy.
“At the opening of polling stations today, I have never in the past 15 years seen so many people going to vote,” he told the Associated
Press.

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Some 40 groups of farmers in the South West Region of Cameroon have benefited farm inputs and equipments from South West Development Authority,SOWEDA during an open doors' day to kick start the planting season.This is expected to go along way to boost production in the region.

In their request,more farm to market roads should be rehabilitated inorder to ease transportation and the goods to reach the final consumers

Farmers in SWR benefits farm inputs to start the planting season during "Open doors day"with SOWEDA

Algeria scolds television stations for Ramadan advertising blitz and immoral programming.

Officials in Algeria are chiding television stations over the content choices they’ve made since the start of Ramadan last week, injecting religion into broader discussions about how the country regulates content and advertising in media.
Their criticisms come amid broader struggles facing journalists and broadcasters, where television stations and newspapers have historically relied heavily on advertising from the government and large state-aligned enterprises in the oil-rich nation.
After meeting with station directors on Sunday, Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Lagab accused networks of not respecting ethical and professional lines, calling their programmatic choices “out of keeping with the social traditions of our society and especially the sacredness of the month of Ramadan.”
Lagab, a former journalism school professor, preemptively rebuffed accusations of censorship, arguing that his ministry’s push didn’t run counter to Algeria’s constitutional press freedom guarantees
“Television stations have the right to criticize, but not by attacking our society’s moral values,” he said.

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The first woman to run for president in years inspires hope in Senegal.

Senegal’s only female presidential candidate may stand little to no chance of winning in Sunday’s election, but activists say her presence alone is helping to advance a decadeslong campaign to achieve gender equality in the West African nation.
Anta Babacar Ngom, a 40-year-old business executive, is a voice for both women and young people groups hit hard by the country’s economic troubles, widespread unemployment and rising prices. She has promised to create millions of jobs and a bank for women to support their economic independence.
“Our country has enormous potential. The natural resources are there, and they can be developed,” she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “The young girls I meet ask for my support. They do so because they know that when a woman comes to power, she will put an end to their suffering. I’m not going to forget them.”
Few expect Ngom to emerge among the leading candidates for the presidency, but activists say the fact that a woman has made it to the presidential race for the first time in years reflects how women are inching ahead in the struggle for equality.

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Congolese journalist convicted of spreading false information expected to be freed soon.

Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera was set to be freed soon after a court found him guilty and sentenced him Monday to six months in prison for spreading false information among other charges, according to media freedom group Reporters Without Borders.
He was expected to be released hours or days after the verdict, having already served more than six months while waiting for trial. A court in Kinshasa also fined him 1 million Congolese francs ($360.)
Bujakera worked for Actualité.CD, a Congolese online news site, and Jeune Afrique, a Paris-based magazine, among others.
Bujakera, who has denied all charges, had faced up to 20 years in prison. He was accused of fabricating a memo that implicated a Congolese intelligence official in the murder of an opposition spokesman.
“He should never have been arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned and convicted on the basis of a case that was clearly fabricated against him,” Reporters without Borders said in a statement.
Actualité.CD said in a statement that it stood behind Bujakera’s reporting and called on his lawyers to appeal the guilty verdict.
Bujakera’s imprisonment drew widespread condemnation from international rights organization.

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Gambia lawmakers refer the debate on female ge***al cutting to more committee discussions

Lawmakers in Gambia referred an attempted repeal of the 2015 ban on female ge***al cutting for further committee discussions on Monday.
Gambian activists fear a repeal would overturn years of work to better protect girls and women. The legislation was referred to a national committee for further debate and could return to a vote in the weeks and months ahead.
Activists in the largely Muslim country had warned that lifting the ban would hurt years of work against a procedure often performed on girls younger than 5 in the mistaken belief that it would control their sexuality.
The procedure, which also has been called female ge***al mutilation, includes the partial or full removal of external ge***alia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers. It can cause serious bleeding, death and childbirth complications but remains a widespread practice in parts of Africa.
Jaha Dukureh, the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, a local group that aims to end the practice, told The Associated Press she worried that other laws safeguarding women’s rights could be repealed next. Dukureh underwent the procedure and watched her sister bleed to death.

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Internet outage hits several African countries as undersea cables fail

A dozen countries across Africa suffered a major internet outage on Thursday as multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported failures, network operators and internet watch groups said.
The MTN Group, one of Africa’s largest network providers, said the ongoing disruptions were a result of failures in multiple major undersea cables. “Our operations are actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths,” the South African company said in a statement.
Network disruptions caused by cable damage have occurred in Africa in recent years. However, “today’s disruption points to something larger (and) this is amongst the most severe,” said Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, a group that documents internet disruptions around the world.
NetBlocks said data transmission and measurement shows a major disruption to international transits, “likely at or near the subsea network cable landing points.”
The cause of the failure was not immediately clear.
There were fears of disruption of essential services in worst-hit countries like Ivory Coast where the disruption was severe. Africa leads mobile device web traffic in the world, with many of the continent’s businesses relying on the internet to deliver services to their customers

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2 dead and 38 rescued from a migrant boat near Spain’s Canary Islands.

Spanish maritime rescuers said they pulled 38 people alive and recovered the remains of two others from a migrant boat that had set off from West Africa and was trying to reach the Canary Islands.
The boat was spotted by a merchant vessel 76 nautical miles (140 kilometers or 87 miles) south of Gran Canaria Monday evening.
Four people in critical condition were evacuated to a hospital in two helicopters while 34 others were taken to the port of Arguineguín by boat, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said. Among the survivors were seven women.
Spanish authorities have been grappling with a surge in migrants and refugees from West Africa reaching the archipelago, a stepping stone to continental Europe.
Nearly 12,000 people fleeing poverty, conflict and instability in West Africa arrived in the Canaries in the first two months of the year, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, more than six times the number for the same period last year.
Most migrants have been departing from the coast of Mauritania on artisanal fishing boats known as pirogues and navigating for several days against strong winds and Atlantic currents. While thousands have survived the risky journey, many die or disappear along the way with remains sometimes washing up on the other side of the Atlantic.

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Kenyan activists are on a mission to end gender-based violence as attacks on women surge.

Njeri Migwi’s phone buzzes incessantly. Phone calls and messages keep coming in from women seeking help to escape life-threatening situations. A mother and her remaining child are looking for a place to stay after her partner allegedly r***d and killed her two other children, including a 6-month old.
Moments later, someone calls looking to help a woman who has been nearly beaten to death.
“Sometimes I feel like I am the government, because I’m doing the work that they should be doing,” says Migwi, 43, the co-founder of a community-based organization called Usikimye, which means “Don’t be silent” in Swahili. The organization helps women escape violent relationships, puts them up in safe houses and counsels them on how to rebuild their lives.
Migwi is on the front lines of a war against a silent epidemic of gender-based violence in Kenya, where almost 60 women have been killed since the beginning of the year, according to the government.
She says her work supporting and protecting survivors of gender-based violence feels like a drop in the ocean compared to the floodgate of victims seeking help daily. Only in January of this year, Migwi says, 32 women were victims of femicide, defined by the United Nations as “the intentional killing with a gender-related motivation.”

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Muslims spot Ramadan crescent moon in Saudi Arabia, meaning month of fasting starts Monday for many.

Officials saw the crescent moon Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims.
The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset, marks a period of religious reflection, family get-togethers and giving across the Muslim world. Seeing the moon Sunday night means Monday is the first day of the fast.
Saudi state television reported that authorities there saw the crescent moon. Soon after, multiple Gulf Arab nations, as well as Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Yemen followed the announcement to confirm they as well would start fasting on Monday. North American Muslims also will begin their fast Monday.
Leaders shared messages of congratulations the month had begun.
However, there are some Asia-Pacific countries like Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that will begin Ramadan on Tuesday after failing to see the crescent moon. Oman, on the easternmost edge of the Arabian Peninsula, similarly announced Ramadan would begin Tuesday. Jordan will also begin Ramadan on Tuesday.

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