National and International News Roundup – 17th March 2021

East Africa is set to have a first female president in the hours ahead. Samia Suluhu Hassan who is also muslim will be sworn in to complete the tenure of office of President John Magufuli of Tanzania who passed away this evening. Voted president in 2015, Magufuli died at the age of 61.

The Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms has announced that at least 8,000 public service workers are in line to face various disciplinary actions due to their work absenteeism. Thousands of civil servants have come under scrutiny in recent times for absconding their work places while at the same time receiving salaries for work they are not doing.

Coton Sport Football Club of Garoua this afternoon defeated Moroccan football side, RS Berkane, 2-0 at the Roumde Adja Stadium this afternoon in a CAF Confederation Cup game. The result places the Cameroonian club 2nd in their group with only JS Kabylie ahead of them. In their next game they will be facing the Napsa Stars of Zambia.

The murderers of the Cameroonian Medical Doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been slammed death sentences. Doctor Richard Valery Mouzoko who was killed in April 2019 during a working session in a hospital in Butembo North-Kivu. Amongst the sentenced individuals is another medical doctor.

Local Government authorities of the West Region have intensified preventive measures amidst a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon. The Governor of the West Region, Awah Fonka Augustine this Wednesday visited some secondary schools in the region to ensure that the barrier measures were still being followed. This campaign is expected to be extended to all Divisons and Subdivisions in the region to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus.

Some inhabitants of Mamfe, Manyu division in the South West of Cameroon are standing against the water distribution company for sharing high water bills when they go for weeks and months without potable water. Last month, two children drowned in River Manyu as they set out to fetch water.

Delays in the delivery of COVID-19 test results to people travelling out of Cameroon have caused some people to miss their flights. Officials in COVID-19 testing centres in Yaounde say sometimes they test twice to ensure authentic results therefore leading to the delay.

Former COVID-19 patients in Yaounde have embarked on a sensitization tour for people to respect barrier measures . Their action follows the rising cases of COVID-19 patients in Camrroon.

There are increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients in the West Region . More than 213 patients were diagnosed in Nde Division alone in less than two months. To curb this, Fonka Awah Augustine, governor of the West Region visited schools to ensure the respect of COVID-19 measures.

Local and elected officials in Buea say wearing the face mask is not to avoid administrative sanctions but to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Led by governor Bernard OKalia Bilai, authorities visited different places sensitising and distributing face masks.

Cameroon military men deployed to help in a rescue mission in Equatorial Guinea have started work in Bata. The minister of defence says they will be there until their host country will demand for their departure. On March 7th, a military Base in Bata exploded killing over a hundred people and leading to massive material destruction.

A leading Egyptian activist has been sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of spreading false news. Sanaa Seif has been held in jail since June when she was taken into detention as she was trying to deliver a letter to the prison where her brother Alaa Abdel Fattah was being held. He was a key figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, while other members of her family are also prominent human rights campaigners.

A group of 39 Cuban intensive care health experts have arrived in Mozambique to help the country respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the doctors and nurses joined another group of 14 healthcare workers who had arrived in the country in January. Mozambique has reported more than 64,000 Covid-19 cases and 732 deaths but the authorities are worried about a new surge stretching its ability to cope.

The High Court in Kenya has dismissed an application to decriminalise female genital mutilation (FGM) for adult women. Judges ruled that the practice violated the right to health, dignity and in some instances the right to life. “[The] court holds that one cannot choose harm on themselves,” the ruling said.

Egypt’s military has demolished thousands of buildings in the last eight years in the Sinai Peninsula, which could amount to war crimes, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. “Between late 2013 and July 2020, the army destroyed at least 12,350 buildings, mostly homes, most recently in the al-Arish area,” the rights body said in a report. HRW said the demolitions and forced eviction of people “are violations of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war.”

Niger is starting three days of national mourning after 58 people were killed by gunmen in two separate attacks near the border with Mali. Residents of the Western Tillaberi region said suspected militants targeted vehicles carrying traders returning from local markets on Monday. It’s not clear who carried out the killings, but the region has suffered frequent attacks by armed groups linked to the Islamic State group and al Qaeda.

Foreign news: BBC