Sudan: 800,000 Still Trapped in El Fasher Where Supplies Running Out, Warns WHO
Hunger and fear of famine stalk Sudan where a staggering 800,000 people still remain trapped in the North Darfur capital El Fasher without enough food, water or medical support, the World Health Organization, WHO, said on Tuesday. In an alert, Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative to Sudan, said that heavy fighting between Sudan’s rival militaries had made access to El Fasher “completely impossible”, as the country’s warring parties continue to hold talks in Geneva. The latest warning about the emergency comes 15 months since heavy conflict erupted between rival militaries in Sudan over a proposed transition to civilian rule, following a military coup in 2021 and the 2019 ousting of long-time President Omar Al-Bashir. “The Darfurs, Kordofans, Khartoum and Al Jazira states are all but cut off from humanitarian and health assistance due to the relentless fighting,” the WHO official told journalists in Geneva. “The situation in Darfur is particularly alarming, where in places like El Fasher…the wounded cannot get the urgent care they need; children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are weak due to acute hunger.” UN News
A Third of Those Wounded in Sudan Conflict are Women or Young Children, MSF Says
After more than a year of civil war in Sudan, nearly a third of those wounded have been women or children under the age of 10, Doctors Without Borders medical aid group said on Tuesday. The UN calls the situation in Sudan “one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory”. United Nations agencies and international aid groups must “come back and do more for the people of Sudan”, the head of medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Tuesday. … Many groups report severe “financial challenges”, the veteran medic said, a result of chronic underfunding of Sudan that UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has called “historically shameful”. Sudanese first responders—routinely targeted by both sides in the conflict—say they have been abandoned, and humanitarian workers complain that operating has become all but impossible. France24
Interpol Arrests 300 People in a Global Crackdown on West African Crime Groups
In a global operation targeting West African organized crime groups across five continents, police arrested 300 people, seized $3 million and blocked 720 bank accounts, Interpol said Tuesday. Operation Jackal III, which ran from 10 April to 3 July in 21 countries, aimed to fight online financial fraud and the West African syndicates behind it, the agency said in a statement. “The volume of financial fraud stemming from West Africa is alarming and increasing,” said Isaac Oginni, director of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre. “This operation’s results underscore the critical need for international law enforcement collaboration to combat these extensive criminal networks.” One of the targeted groups was Black Axe, one of the most prominent criminal networks in West Africa. Black Axe operates in cyber fraud, human trafficking, and drug smuggling, and is responsible for violent crimes both within Africa and globally, the agency added. Black Axe used money mules to open bank accounts worldwide and is now under investigation in over 40 countries for related money laundering activities, the agency said. The suspects include citizens from Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria and Venezuela. AfricaNews/AP
Guinea Lawyers on Strike over Military Crackdown
Lawyers in Guinea are on strike to protest against a crackdown on dissent by the military regime. On Tuesday, the country’s bar association denounced what it described as “arbitrary arrests” and the secret detention of citizens. Lawyers would boycott court sessions until 31 July, it said. Court activities are said to be “paralysed” by the strike, which could disrupt a landmark trial over a 2009 massacre that is regarded as one of the darkest moments in the West African nation’s history. … The strike follows the arrest on 9 July of Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Bah, the leaders of a citizens’ movement that has been critical of the junta-led government and called for a return to civilian rule. … For months now, the Guinean authorities have been cracking down on peaceful dissent, including attempts to mobilise people towards a return to democratic rule. The junta has been criticised for suspending media outlets, restricting internet access and brutally repressing demonstrations. BBC
Kenyans Protest on ‘Total Shutdown Tuesday’
Police confronted protesters across Kenya on what activists dubbed “Total Shutdown Tuesday.” The unrest was characterized by clouds of tear gas, reports of gunshot wounds and multiple injuries, particularly in central Nairobi. The capital’s Moi Avenue was the epicenter of the chaos. Some business owners, armed with sticks, stood guard outside their shops to prevent looting. The protests, led primarily by Gen Z youth, have been recurring across Kenya over the past month. It started with a protest over a draft law that would hike taxes and escalated in deadly clashes with police and calls for President William Ruto to step down. Ruto scrapped the controversial bill, fired his Cabinet and cut public spending in an effort to appease the protesters. But their campaign has continued. The unrest being driven by widespread outrage over the state of the economy and the country. … “What the president did was address just a few of our grievances,” Habib Omar, a human rights activist who is part of the protest movement, told DW. “There is a lot that we as Kenyans are facing. … That is fueling this unrest.” “Protesting is our right protected in our constitution,” Omar said. “I don’t get why even today, on Tuesday, people are getting arrested.” DW
IMF Should Work with Kenya to Account for Public Funds, Says Rights Group
Advocacy group Human Rights Watch called Tuesday for greater accountability of public funds in Kenya, framing it partially as a human rights issue. Kenyans have taken to the streets for four consecutive weeks to protest the high cost of living, corruption and misuse of the country’s finances. What began as a tax protest has morphed into a demand for the end of President William Ruto’s government, with demonstrators saying they do not trust it to solve the country’s political and economic problems. Human Rights Watch called on the International Monetary Fund to work with the Kenyan government to ensure that IMF’s support for the country is aligned with human rights—and that corruption doesn’t take funds meant to improve the lives of ordinary people. Allan Ngari, the Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Our greatest concern is that the outrage sparked by the proposed taxes is something that is endemic in Kenya in the sense that corporate tax evasion, for example, is one of the issues that haven’t been taken into consideration, in addition to the opulent lifestyle that we have seen among the Kenyan executive.” VOA
Congo/IMF: Civil Society Criticizes Fund Management
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board has approved the disbursement of approximately 43 million dollars to the Congolese government under the extended credit facility initiated in 2022. This approval comes after four reviews of the three-year program, highlighting the economic effectiveness of the structural reforms implemented. … However, this positive outlook is not universally shared. Several civil society members and political actors express concerns about governance issues. They argue that the ongoing crisis and current cash flow tensions in Congo highlight significant shortcomings. Clément Mierassa, President of the Congolese Social Democratic Party, voiced his concerns: “I regret that in terms of major reforms that could have helped Congo out of the crisis, very little has been done. With a corruption perception index of 22/100, which is truly mediocre, nothing has been achieved. Pensioners have 41 months of pension arrears, students have 3 or 4 years of scholarship arrears, and Marien Ngouabi University is on strike. I believe this is due to poor governance.” While the IMF forecasts a Congolese growth rate of around 3.5%, many Congolese citizens feel disconnected from these positive indicators. They argue that they are bearing the brunt of the IMF’s structural reforms. AfricaNews
DR Congo Conflict Fuels Forest Loss
Under the denuded slopes of Mount Nyiragongo volcano in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, traders in Kibati town bartered over sacks of charcoal, a product of deforestation that an ongoing conflict has pushed to unprecedented levels, the United Nations says. Motorbikes piled with freshly sawn planks zipped down the main road in Kibati, a community that has remained under Congolese army control even as a two-year insurgency by the M23 militia advanced in conflict-torn North Kivu province, displacing more than 1.7 million people. “In the camp, we’re dying of hunger. We’ve decided to make charcoal so we can feed our children,” said displaced vendor Jacques Muzayi at Kibati. The insecurity has worsened the pressure on the region’s once densely forested hillsides and its protected Virunga national park, home to many of the world’s last mountain gorillas. “There used to be a forest here,” said Bantu Lukambo, head of a local environmental organisation. … Each morning in Kibati, crowds of local residents and people displaced by the fighting enter the park’s territory in search of logs to burn to make charcoal for cooking. Others go deeper to cut trees for planks, or plant crops in the newly open land. Reuters
Libyan Authorities Discover Unidentified Bodies in a Former Stronghold of the IS Group
A mass grave containing two dozen unidentified bodies was discovered in the coastal city of Sirte, once controlled by the Islamic State group, a Libyan government agency said Monday. The National Authority for Searching and Identifying Missing People said its team recovered 17 of the 24 bodies found under destroyed buildings in the neighbourhood of al-Kambo in Sirte, about 450 kilometers (300 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli. No details were provided about the potential date when the mass grave was created. However, Sirte City was a stronghold for IS for several years until the militants were expelled in December 2016 by U.S.-backed forces in western Libya. IS has exploited the turmoil across Libya after the 2011 uprising that ended Moammar Gadhafi’s four-decade rule. … Mass graves have been discovered across over the past few years in Libya, a country that has experienced political turmoil and intense fighting among different armed groups. AfricaNews/AP
Former South African President Zuma Faces Expulsion from ANC after Joining a Rival Party
Former South African President Jacob Zuma was expected to face a disciplinary hearing with the African National Congress party on Wednesday, after campaigning against the organization he once led as head of a new political party in national elections in May. The hearing could lead to Zuma, 82, being expelled from the ANC, which he joined in the late 1950s when it was a liberation movement fighting against the apartheid system of white minority rule. Zuma was forced to step down as South African president in 2018 amid allegations of corruption and has been embroiled in a political feud since then with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who replaced him as the leader of the party and the country. Zuma’s split with the ANC was confirmed in December, when he appeared at a press conference and announced he would campaign for the recently-founded MK Party in the May 29 elections. He has been fiercely critical of Ramaphosa, even accusing him of treason at one point. While Zuma said he would retain his ANC membership despite becoming the leader of the MK Party, the ANC suspended him in January. It said he had attacked the integrity of the party. AP
Nigeria to Resume Crude Oil Refining in August, Industry Authorities Say
Nigeria plans to resume local refining of crude oil in early August, national petroleum authorities announced Monday. The resumption would end years of idleness at Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, and analysts say that if successfully implemented, it would lower fuel prices. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company made the announcement while addressing an emergency session at the National Assembly. Lawmakers called the session to interrogate central bank authorities, the national economic management team and the NNPC about the country’s economic standing. The chief executive officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, said one of the two Port Harcourt refineries in the oil-rich Niger Delta region will begin operations in about two weeks. He said the other one will come into operation by the end of the year and allow Nigeria to begin exporting refined oil. VOA
Ghana Cocoa Output is Half of Average with Harvest almost Complete
Ghana cocoa production reached 429,323 metric tons – or less than 55% of the average seasonal output – as harvesting neared completion at the end of June, data from marketing board Cocobod showed on Tuesday. Disastrous harvests in Ghana and Ivory Coast – the world’s biggest producer – have driven up global cocoa prices since the start of the year. Together, the countries account for around 60% of global supply. The bulk of Ghana’s cocoa harvest is usually completed by the end of June, and the Cocobod data roughly reflects this season’s main crop output for the world’s second largest producer. Both of the leading producers have been hit by adverse weather conditions and tree disease, while Ghana’s cocoa production has also been hobbled the impacts of informal mining and smuggling. The Cocobod data obtained by Reuters does not capture production that may have been trafficked out of the country illegally. … Ghana’s annual cocoa output averaged 800,000 tons over the last five seasons, according to International Cocoa Organization data, including a 2020/21 peak of over 1 million tons. But the Cocobod data reflects three successive seasons of decline. Reuters