Across the 54 Countries in Africa, these are the 5 top stories you may have missed:
Benin: President Talon toughens tone after election
Benin Republic’s President Patrice Talon on Wednesday, 14th April, promised to prosecute and punish those responsible for the pre-election violence that erupted in the country’s central region during the election which he won – Africa News reports
The nation woke up to little or no celebration on Wednesday after a very calm night, with no violence. The re-election of Patrice Talon, who faced two other bidders unknown to the general public, did not surprise many people in this West African country.
Zuma: I’m prepared to go to jail
Jacob Zuma, former South Africa president, has written to the Chief Justice saying he’s prepared to go to prison – eNCA reports
Zuma, in a strongly worded letter, states that he has a duty to protect his constitutional rights, even at the risk of being imprisoned. The former president also accused the Apex Court of abusing its power, by taking away his constitutional rights and he claims that the Zondo Commission of Inquiry has become a complex project controlled by his political foes.
Report shows wave of LGBT+ arrests in Cameroon
Campaign group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has disclosed that there has been an increase in the number of people jailed for being LGBT+ in Cameroon – BBC Africa reports
The campaign group is also calling on the government to release them.
African Union to boost vaccine-making with five new centres
The African Union (AU) has the launch announced a partnership that will boost the manufacturing of vaccines at five research centres to be built on the continent within the next 15 years – Aljazeera Africa reports
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which run the global COVAX coronavirus vaccine-sharing programme with the public-private alliance Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), signed the memorandum of understanding to boost African vaccine research and development as well as manufacturing.
COVID-19 Update
As of April 14, confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 4,370,173 while over 9,100,781 vaccinations have been administered across the continent – All Africa reports
Reported deaths in Africa reached 116,378 and 3,925,211 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases – 1,559,960 – and 53,423 people died. Other most-affected countries are Morocco ( 502,961 ), Tunisia ( 274,604 ), Ethiopia ( 232,512 ), Egypt ( 212,130 ), Libya ( 169,504 ) and Nigeria ( 163,911 ).
