Ethiopia’s Housing Allocation Causes Ire
Thousands
of people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region took to the streets in major towns to
protest the manner in which the Addis Ababa city administration allotted
condominium buildings. Reports indicate that over a dozen locations across
Oromia – the largest and most populous region – were hit by the protests. Among
other places Jimma, Ambo, Awaday, Bale and Adama were all affected by the
action. The deputy mayor said farmers who were displaced from the sites were
included in the transfer without lottery. The issue of uprooting local farmers
to make way for the housing project has long been a divisive issue. The project
which dates back to 2016 forms part of plans to deal with rapid population
growth and an acute shortage of affordable housing. Authorities in Addis Ababa
and in smaller cities across the country have been building condominium units
targeting low and middle-income groups, financed entirely with public money.
SOURCES: AFRICA
NEWS
Mali’s Bold Moves in Maternal and Child Care
After decades of suffering some of the highest maternal and
child mortality rates in the world, Mali has vowed to provide free healthcare
for pregnant women and children under five in a “brave and bold” move to revamp
its dismal healthcare system. Following a raft of reforms announced by
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, free contraceptives will also be provided
across the country as tens of thousands of community health workers are
introduced in a bid to provide more localised healthcare to Mali’s population
of 18 million people. Healthcare experts, international aid agencies and Malian
citizens alike have heralded the announcement as a “tremendous” moment for a
country that has long struggled to contain preventable infectious diseases such
as malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea, and where one in 10 children die before
their fifth birthday.
SOURCES: THE
GUARDIAN
Issuing Title Deeds Will Continue to Increase Young Investors Preference for Real Estate
A survey done last year by Enwealth Financial Services in
partnership with Strathmore University revealed that 62.8 per cent of Kenyans
opt for land and real estate when it comes to securing future investments. The
survey sampled out average Kenyans from the top and middle income earners who
are majorly professionals and self-employed people who have savings and are
planning to invest. As the year begins, investors continue to look out for the
best places to invest in land, however, preference will be given to real estate
companies who have been keen on ensuring that clients sign the legal documents
involved in land transfer. Signing of legal documents assures clients that they
will receive their title deeds at the end of their investment. A title deed
empowers individuals to develop their property without any legal constraints.
SOURCES: AFRICA.COM
The Rising Party in South African Politics
The Economic Freedom Fighters launched their far-left, radical
political party in 2013. This year, as they approach their second national
election, they stand a chance of making real gains in strongholds once
controlled by the powerful African National Congress. The nation votes May 8.
Already the party, which appeals to South Africa’s black youth, has come to
dominate university politics, winning student elections late last year at
several prominent institutions, including the University of Johannesburg, the
University of Cape Town and the University of Zululand. In adult politics, the
party also won key municipalities in the 2016 vote. Critics of the party have
pointed to its leaders’ fiery, sometimes race-baiting, rhetoric; at its
far-left policies; at parliamentarians’ insistence on wearing bright red
workman’s uniforms for official appearances; and its habit, in its early days,
of getting into violent scuffles in parliament. But in the past year, the party
has grown in ambition and maturity.
SOURCES: VOA
Who’s Really in Charge in Algeria?
The biggest protests in years against Algeria’s president are
gaining strength. Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating for nearly
two weeks, calling for Abdelaziz Bouteflika to pull out of next month’s
election. The 82-year-old has been in power for two decades but has
rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. In a letter on
Monday, Bouteflika promised that he won’t serve a full time if re-elected in
April’s presidential elections and will call for early elections. Now, the
country’s army chief is trying to quell the protests by evoking memories of
Algeria’s 1991-2002 civil war, which killed at least 200,000 people.
SOURCES: AL
JAZEERA
[WATCH] Ghana’s Emphasis on a Reading Nation
As the world observes World Book Day, a team from the Accra
Central Library loads a van with books to reach communities around the capital
without libraries, stopping at schools, prisons and children’s homes. The Accra
Central Library, once described as the most beautiful edifice in Gold Coast,
was opened in 1956 by the Governor, Sir Charles Arden Clarke and this was the
formative years of public library system. Last year, management of the Ghana
Library Authority evicted traders occupying its premises to create a serene and
safe environment for library users. This year measures have been put in place
to improve the existing library facilities around the country including
stocking it with new books, computers and internet access. Outreach programmes
has ensured that nobody gets left behind.
SOURCES: CNN
Reviving the Legacy of Sankara
More than three decades after his assassination, Burkina Faso is
celebrating Thomas Sankara with a new monument. Two years ago the revolutionary
leader once again became the face of a popular movement, and the new statue
unveiled over the weekend in Ouagadougou formalizes his place in a new
political era. The five-meter bronze statue, which stands on a four-meter base,
depicts Sankara in his army fatigues, ready to take a step forward with his arm
raised and his face to the horizon. It is exactly the kind of leadership Sankara
has come to represent to a new generation of Burkinabé and across Africa.
Sankara is memorialized along with the busts of 12 of his comrades who were
also killed in the 1987 coup. The monument was designed by Burkinabé sculptors
who answered a public call to artists and architects to contribute to the
project and was led by renowned artist Jean-Luc Bambara.
SOURCES: QUARTZ
AFRICA
Why South Africa’s Poorer Communities are at Risk of Obesity
Obesity related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and
diabetes are rapidly overtaking HIV as the top causes of death in South Africa.
A bad diet is a major contributor to this epidemic because people increasingly
opt for unhealthier, processed and fast foods. Recent research from the Wits
School of Public Health, the Health Systems Trust and the University of
KwaZulu-Natal sheds fresh light on the problem, showing a proliferation of
unhealthy food, particularly in poorer communities. Strikingly, the
distributions of these outlets are income-based. Most of the poorer wards had
only fast-food retailers with no healthy food outlets. Conversely, grocery
stores are concentrated in wealthy areas.
SOURCES: THE CONVERSATION
Namibian Tribes to Challenge Court Ruling
Namibian tribes seeking damages over genocide and property
seizures by Germany more than a century ago say they will appeal a U.S. court’s
dismissal of their suit. A judge in New York said on Wednesday claims by
descendants of the Herero and Nama tribes over Germany’s role in what some
historians call the 20th century’s first genocide could not proceed in her
jurisdiction. According to the plaintiffs, thousands of Herero and Nama were
slaughtered, left to starve or died at concentration camps from 1904 to 1908,
when Namibia was known as South-West Africa, after the tribes rebelled against
German rule. A 1985 United Nations report called it a massacre and genocide,
and Germany has in recent years negotiated with Namibia’s government over the
claims.
SOURCES: REUTERS
AFRICA
[WATCH] This Grade 1 Learner Packs a Mean Punch
A seven-year-old Nigerian girl has revealed she is determined to
become a world-boxing champion. Sekinat Quadri’s father encouraged her to
pursue her dream of fighting in the ring after her mother said boxing was only
for men. Sekinat tells the BBC that said she has been inspired by boxing stars
like Muhammad Ali and Claressa Shields. She also added she wants to encourage
girls like her to embrace the sport.
SOURCES: BBC