Across the 54 Countries in Africa, these are the 5 top stories you may have missed:
Senegal refuse release of former Chad President
The Senegalese judicial system has denied a request for the release of former Chadian president Hissène Habré who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Dakar for crimes against humanity – Africa News reports
Habré, 79, was a leader in Chad from 1982 to 1990, He was convicted on May 30, 2016, to life imprisonment after an unusual trial in Dakar. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, executions, slavery and kidnapping.
Malawi fires Labour Minister over misuse of COVID funds
Malawian Labour Minister Ken Kandodo has been fired as fourteen others including senior officials, have been arrested over misuse of COVID-19 funds – Reuters Africa reports
President Lazarus Chakwera disclosed this on Sunday, 18th April.
“As I speak, over a dozen individuals suspected of committing the crimes exposed by this audit report have been arrested,” he said, adding this included an arrest at the office of the president and cabinet. There are no sacred cows. If the finger of evidence points to you… you are going to prison,” he said in a televised address.
Eritrea admits involvement in Tigray, pledges to withdraw troops
Eritrea, after several denials of its involvement in Ethiopia’s forces battle against Tigrayan soldiers, has finally admitted it provided support for its neighbours in the clashes – News Central Africa reports
Eritrea told the UN Security Council that its forces were present in Tigray in a letter addressed to the 15 members of the Security Council.
The country’s Ministry of Information also published the admission and stated that it had been present in Ethiopia since the clashes began in November.
Cape Verde holds parliamentary vote amid major recession
African Island country, Cape Verde, is holding parliamentary polls with no obvious winner in sight after a campaign overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the tourism-dependent economy – Aljazeera reports
According to the publication, neither of the two main parties is expected to emerge the outright winner in Sunday’s vote, giving four smaller parties a chance to have their say over the group of islands off the west coast of Africa.
Uganda: Economy to reopen after 4.4 Million people get COVID-19 Vaccination
Ugandan President, Museveni, has stated that the government will open up the remaining closed economies after vaccinating at least 80 per cent of the vulnerable groups – All Africa reports
The president said, “bars, discos… shall remain closed until the country attains a threshold of vaccination of over 80 per cent of the 3.5 million elderly. We want two million people below 50 years but with underlying conditions like blood pressure, diabetes and asthma to be vaccinated before we can say we are safe. While there is no timeline to this, the government is working hard to bring another five million doses of Astrazeneca vaccine before the end of May.”
