AFRICANA FAMILY
News from Africa brought under one roof as well as ongoing open discussion of the lifestyle, values, culture, beliefs, challenges and triumphs of the contemporary African family in Africa and in Diaspora.
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Ebola cases on the rise for the first time
The number of new weekly Ebola cases rose for first time in 2015 in
all three of the hard-hit countries of West Africa, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
Sierra Leone accounted for 80 of the 124 new cases of the disease confirmed in the week to Feb. 1, it said. Guinea recorded 39 cases while Liberia had just five.
“Weekly case incidence increased in all three countries for the first time this year,” the WHO said in its latest update. Community resistance to aid workers, increasing geographical spread in Guinea and widespread transmission in Sierra Leone remain “significant challenges” to ending the epidemic, it said.
Reuters
Sierra Leone accounted for 80 of the 124 new cases of the disease confirmed in the week to Feb. 1, it said. Guinea recorded 39 cases while Liberia had just five.
“Weekly case incidence increased in all three countries for the first time this year,” the WHO said in its latest update. Community resistance to aid workers, increasing geographical spread in Guinea and widespread transmission in Sierra Leone remain “significant challenges” to ending the epidemic, it said.
Reuters
Eighteen killed in Ivory Coast's boat mishap
Eighteen people were killed after an overloaded boat capsized in western Ivory Coast, a local official said on Wednesday. Twenty-five people survived the accident that took place on Monday afternoon on the Sassandra river near the town of Guessabo, Florentine Banto told AFP.
The river is one of the main water routes in the country. The small motorboat, carrying 40 people and several bags of coffee, was "just too full", according to Elvis Achi, the police officer in charge of the area. Ivorian daily Inter reported that the victims were mainly fish sellers from the mountainous region of Guemon.
Guemon, near the border with Liberia, was one of the regions most affected by the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2010-2011 and cost more than 3 000 lives.
New African Union Chairman falls down at Harare International Airport
Photo: NewZimbabwe
ZANU PF's propaganda machinery was at pains Wednesday to manage
President Robert Mugabe's fall at the Harare International Airport with
the octogenarian leader's security detail ordering journalists to delete
images of the incident. Mugabe, 91 this month, tumbled down a staircase as he walked off a podium after addressing hundreds of supporters.
He had just returned from Ethiopia where he took over the rotating chairmanship of the African Union.
Boko haram attacks kill 70 in Cameroon
Boko
Haram militants have reportedly killed at least 70 people in an attack
on the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria. The Islamist militants attacked civilians in their homes and
in the town's mosque, local officials said, setting many buildings on
fire.
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Two Russian pilots go missing in Sudan
Two Russians working for UTair airline have been kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur region, Russian officials say. UTair has a contract to fly aircraft for the joint UN-African
Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (Unamid) which has been in Darfur
since 2007.
It said two of its employees had been taken in the town of Zalingei on 29 January.Darfur has been the scene of a deadly conflict between the government and three rebel movements since 2003.
Chad sends troops to Nigeria to help stem Boko haram
Chadian troops have entered Nigeria to join the battle against militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Armoured vehicles and infantry crossed a bridge from Cameroon
following air strikes and mortar attacks on Boko Haram positions,
officials say.
IMF offers Kenya $700m insurance loan
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to make loans of around $700m (£460m) available to Kenya. The money will be used as an insurance policy to protect
against any threats to the country's economy, considered a financial
powerhouse in East Africa.
Handsome South African TV presenter dies in a car crash
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Suicide bomber hits presidential rally venue in Northern Nigeria
A
female suicide bomber has blown up herself in northern Nigeria's Gombe
city, minutes after President Goodluck Jonathan left a campaign rally
there. At least one person was killed and 18 others were wounded in the blast, police and hospital sources said.
Mr Jonathan is standing for re-election on 14 February against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. Monday, 2 February 2015
South Sudan's factions set to agree an end to the conflict
South
Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel commander Riek Machar have
signed a deal, committing to end the conflict that has devastated the
country. The ceasefire agreement was signed at talks in Ethiopia.
But consultations will continue on the contentious issue of a future government and power-sharing. The conflict - which erupted in December 2013 - has displaced about 1.5 million people and earlier ceasefire deals have not lasted.
Nigerian themed dolls which are set to overtake barbie in the market
.
Accoording to dailymail UK a Nigerian man who couldn't find a black doll in the shops as a gift for his niece decided to take matters into his own hands.
In 2007, Taofick Okoya, 43, created his own doll that Nigerian girls could identify with by recreating their skin colour and style - and it is now so successful that it is outselling Barbie. The doll, which is called Queens of Africa, comes with traditional outfits and accessories and costs around £4.50.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Former apatheid hitman on parole
Eugene
de Kock was the most notorious assassin of South Africa's apartheid
era, commanding a death squad that kidnapped, tortured and killed black
activists.
His nickname: Prime Evil.
After apartheid fell, he was put on trial and sentenced in 1996 to two life sentences plus 212 years in prison.
But
de Kock showed remorse, meeting with victims' families, some of whom
publicly forgave him, and helping the Missing Persons Task Force locate
bodies, a fact noted by South African Justice and Correctional Services
Minister Michael Masutha.
Controversial former African Bank executive
According to the Sunday Independent, family spokesperson, Saki Macozoma, said Sokutu had not been well for some time and died in his sleep at his house in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, on Friday night.
Macozoma said police did not suspect foul play but that a post mortem would be carried out.
The former bank executive landed in hot water last year after allegedly using the “f” word in August against the bank’s clientele – who were largely the poor that had borrowed from the embattled bank.
Sokutu finally apologised in September and reportedly said he was sorry for the hurt caused to all the bank’s stakeholders.
At the time, Fin24 reported that African Bank and its curator Tom Winterboer of PwC distanced themselves from remarks by Sokutu.
"Tami Sokutu resigned and officially left African Bank on February 6 2014. He is no longer an employee of African Bank," Winterboer said in an email to Sapa.
"The views of Mr Sokutu are not the views of African Bank or the curator. We deeply regret the tone in which he engaged with the media."
At the time, Winterboer said he was not in a position to answer further questions because his curatorship was in its early stages. The Sunday Times had earlier quoted Sokutu as saying: "F*** them, f*** them" in relation to people who had obtained loans but could not afford to repay them. These people had been listed as bad credit risks.
Sokutu said he lived lavishly with "no regrets" and that borrowers should not have taken loans if they knew they could not repay them.
Suicide bomber blows up self outside a legislator's home in Northern Nigeria
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of a legislator in the northeast Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, killing 10 people, two security sources told Reuters.
The bomber walked up to the house of Sabo Garbu, a member of the house of representatives in the federal government, before detonating the explosives.
Reuters
Robert Mugabe now Chairman of African Union
African
leaders meeting in Addis Ababa have chosen the continent's oldest head
of state, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, as AU chairman for the coming year.
Mr Mugabe, who is 90, drew applause when he denounced colonialism.He also spoke of the "scourge of terrorism" from Boko Haram and said there needed to be "lasting solutions" to the issue in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned of the dangers of leaders clinging to power.
Mr Mugabe has led his country since independence in 1980.
He is subject to travel bans imposed by the US and the EU because of political violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe.
Boko Haram attack on NIgerian village repelled
The
Nigerian army says it has repelled an assault by Boko Haram Islamist
militants on the strategic north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
Last week's assault by Boko Haram on the city was also stopped by the army.
Boko Haram began guerrilla operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state. It has taken control of many towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in the last year.
Friday, 30 January 2015
Major high way named after South Africa's previous leader amid opposition
Cape
Town's city council has voted to rename a street after South Africa's
last white ruler despite opposition from the national governing party. City mayor Patricia de Lille accused the African National
Council (ANC) of thuggish behaviour during a chaotic session of the
council.
It opposed renaming a major highway after FW de Klerk, saying he had the blood of black people on his hands. Cape Town is South Africa's only major city controlled by the opposition. Mr De Klerk handed power to then-ANC leader Nelson Mandela in South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. Backlash The BBC's Mohammed Allie in Cape Town says that the session was marred by councillors spitting, banging their fists on tables and pushing and shoving.
It opposed renaming a major highway after FW de Klerk, saying he had the blood of black people on his hands. Cape Town is South Africa's only major city controlled by the opposition. Mr De Klerk handed power to then-ANC leader Nelson Mandela in South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. Backlash The BBC's Mohammed Allie in Cape Town says that the session was marred by councillors spitting, banging their fists on tables and pushing and shoving.
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