Author: Amnewsworld

Félix Tshisekedi has taken the helm of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) during the 42nd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of this organization which is being held in Kinshasa from August 17 and 18, 2022. He succeeds Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi. The outgoing SADC president called upon member countries to be independent of external influence especially the Democratic Republic of Kenya. “The plunder that we have allowed the West to conduct in the DRC is a sin we must repent on, resolve and refuse to see repeated anywhere else in our…

A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, as the one millionth person displaced by the drought was registered this week. More than 755,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia because of the severe drought this year, bringing the total figure to 1 million people since January 2021 when the drought began, according to displacement figures released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). “This one million milestone serves as a massive alarm bell for Somalia,” said Mohamed Abdi, NRC’s Country Director in Somalia. “Starvation is now haunting the entire country. We…

A section of Malians is not convinced enough that their country’s security element will change. After the last French soldiers completed their withdrawal from Mali more than nine years, some Malians believe their country’s military can handle the security issues in the west African state. France pulled out of the country in the face of deep hostility after falling out with colonels who seized power nearly two years ago. “I, like many other Malians, have been waiting impatiently for the departure of the foreign troops, but after this departure that we are all waiting for, there are many things to…

The just concluded Kenya election has elicited mixed reactions following the chaotic declaration of the former Deputy President William Ruto. Ruto promised to work with everyone and admitted that he will not seek revenge against anyone in his government. “There is no room for vengeance. There is no room for looking back, we are looking forward to the future. I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck to move it forward,” said William Ruto, the president-elect of Kenya. Nairobi was quiet last night, people in the street appear hopeful of a…

Kenya’s electoral commission chairman has declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the close presidential election over five-time contender Raila Odinga, a triumph for the man who shook up politics by appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not on traditional ethnic ones. However, chaos emerged just before the declaration when the electoral commission’s vice chair and three other commissioners told journalists they could not support the “opaque nature” of the final phase. “We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced,” vice chair Juliana Cherera said. At the declaration venue, police surged to…

The United Nations Mission in Mali (UNMIS), which has been suspended for the past month, will resume troop rotations on Monday with a new approval mechanism amid diplomatic tensions between Bamako and its partners. “UNMISMA has agreed to the new procedures and has communicated them to all troop-contributing countries. There will be no exceptions,” Minister Abdoulaye Diop told AFP. “It is planned that the rotations will start again this Monday,” confirmed Myriam Dessables, spokeswoman for the 12,261-strong Minusma and 1,718 police officers. Before, “they (the contingents) would contact us directly. We have put an end to that. All requests must…

Kholoud Massaed of the Hadaria tribe in Sudan vividly recalls the day her face was scarred with a sharp blade, an ancient practice that was once common. Now in her 80s, she still carries on each cheek the three lesion lines that have since darkened over time. “They took me to a man who was known to carry out this practice. He did it with a small knife,” Massaed told AFP in her village of Om Maghad, some 66 kilometres (40 miles) south of Khartoum. “I was seven years old and I cried. They told me I should have these…

Kenyans prayed for peace Sunday as they waited anxiously for the final outcome of a tight presidential race, with the two frontrunners neck and neck, according to partial official results. As of Sunday morning, Deputy President William Ruto had scored 51.25 percent of the vote, reversing earlier gains for his main rival Raila Odinga, who had 48.09 percent, according to data from the election commission covering nearly 50 percent of constituencies. Tuesday’s vote passed off largely peacefully but after previous elections sparked deadly violence and rigging claims, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is under intense pressure to deliver…

Kenya has postponed the reopening of school to next Monday as vote counting continues across the country following Tuesday’s (August 9) elections. The schools were scheduled to reopen on Thursday. Hundreds of primary and secondary schools are normally used as polling stations in Kenya. In a statement, education minister, Prof George Magoha apologized to the public for any inconveniences that may have been caused by the delay, but said the government was keen on “ensuring the safety and comfort of learners through this period”. Last week’s decision to close schools abruptly caught many schools and parents unawares leading to chaotic…

The threat from the Islamic State extremist group is growing by the day in Africa and the continent could be “the future of the caliphate,” an African security expert warned the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. Martin Ewi said the Islamic State “has expanded its influence beyond measure” in Africa, with at least 20 countries directly experiencing the extremist group’s activity and more than 20 others “being used for logistics and to mobilize funds and other resources.” “They are now regional hubs, which have become corridors of instability in Africa,” said Ewi, who coordinates a transnational organized crime project at…