International

The Ethiopian police officers raided the cathedral in Addis Ababa before sunrise, interrupting prayers and forcing a dozen ethnic Tigrayan priests and monks into a pickup truck. They gave no explanation for the July raid, but there was no need: The detained men knew right away they were joining the thousands of Tigrayans rounded up for allegedly supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group. For the past year, a mass campaign of arbitrary arrests targeting Tigrayans from all walks of life has played out in the capital Addis Ababa and elsewhere in Ethiopia -- a mostly hidden feature of the relentless war in the country's north. Law enforcement leaders portray it as a legitimate effort to stamp out the TPLF, which they consider a terrorist organisation. Yet AFP interviews with dozens of detainees, lawyers, justice officials and human rights activists reveal a more indiscriminate operation, ensnaring everyone from high-ranking military officers to ordinary day labourers. Victims told AFP their experiences smacked of ethnic profiling, with cases built on threadbare evidence. In the case of the detained clergymen, police held them for more than two weeks, accusing them of fundraising for the TPLF, burning Ethiopian flags and even plotting terrorist attacks themselves. One of the monks said he could not help but laugh when an investigator asked where they hid their pistols. "We told them we are men of faith, not politicians," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. "I don't know where they get this information. But they are using it to kick Tigrayans' legs out from under us, to make us live in fear." The detentions began soon after war broke out in Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region in early November 2020, the culmination of months of rancour between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF, which dominated national politics before Abiy took office in 2018. At first, officials mainly targeted military personnel. Two weeks after the first shots were fired, dozens of Tigrayan officers were summoned for a televised meeting in Addis Ababa, with state media airing the footage as evidence of the participants' support for the government. Yet later, at least three of the officers were arrested and had their homes searched for weapons before being locked up for allegedly conspiring to overthrow Abiy, family members told AFP. Michael, whose father was among those arrested, said he was mystified by the move. "He didn't like to talk about politics," Michael said of his father, a mid-level officer with a three-decade record of service. "In fact, he used to scold us when we talked about politics." After a state media report in August said a military court had handed down death sentences to some "traitorous" officers, Michael's worries deepened. "I fear very much that they may apply the death sentence or life sentence to my father and the people around him," he told AFP. A military spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Nearly a year on, Michael's father remains in custody at a military camp west of Addis Ababa. With the right to receive visitors three times a week, he is one of the lucky ones, as thousands of others have been held incommunicado. As the war dragged on into 2021, the detentions steadily climbed, albeit slowly. But they kicked back into high gear in late June after the TPLF mounted a stunning comeback, retaking control of most of the region including its capital Mekele and prompting the military to largely withdraw. Three nights after Mekele was recaptured, five federal police officers and three plainclothes officers knocked at the Addis Ababa home of Alula, a Tigrayan activist who had been using his Facebook page to highlight massacres and gang rapes in Tigray. They held him overnight at a police station in the capital, after which soldiers drove him to a military camp 200 kilometres east, in the Afar region. For the next seven weeks, Alula -- not his real name -- lived off one piece of bread and two cups of water each day. The camp's more than 1,000 detainees included journalists and politicians who had spoken out about the horrors of a conflict that has killed thousands and, according to the UN, pushed hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions. Alula was released, but he no longer feels safe discussing the war. "If I do, I'll get arrested again or maybe killed," he told AFP. Along with detentions, officials have closed thousands of "TPLF-supporting" businesses, something a trade ministry official boasted about to state media in September. On a single block in Addis Ababa, seven bars and two hotels were closed in July because of "noise pollution", a claim their owners dismiss as baseless. "Basically they are imagining that Tigrayans were celebrating the TPLF's advance," bar owner Michael told AFP. The closures, he added, are further evidence that officials are targeting all Tigrayans, not just active TPLF backers. Given its secretive nature, the full scale of the crackdown is impossible to determine, said Fisseha Tekle, a researcher for Amnesty International who has investigated arbitrary arrests of Tigrayans. Yet he noted that Amnesty has "received multiple reports" of more than 1,000 people held at one camp alone in "squalid" conditions. Many detainees remain unaccounted for. "Family members have travelled hundreds of kilometres in search of detained relatives. Others went round police stations in Addis searching for relatives," he told AFP. The arrests have also drawn criticism from some government officials. In late September, Abraha Desta, a senior official in the Abiy-appointed Tigray interim administration, wrote on Facebook that the authorities had created an environment in which speaking Tigrinya, the Tigrayan language, "is considered a crime". The following day Abraha too was arrested, accused of a firearms violation and incitement. Other officials have reportedly spoken out privately. During a retreat in September in the city of Adama, Attorney General Gedion Timothewos scolded members of his office's asset recovery directorate for being overzealous in going after Tigrayan business owners, according to several officials who attended. At one point he accused the directorate of engaging in an "abuse of power" and called for an end to "ethnic profiling", the officials told AFP. Gedion, now the justice minister, did not respond to a request for comment. Even if the arrests were to stop tomorrow, victims fear they have already severely corroded Ethiopia's social fabric, especially in Addis Ababa, where Tigrayans once lived freely. "It's obvious that every person is uncertain... they don't know what will happen tomorrow," said one Tigrayan lawyer currently representing 90 fellow Tigrayans who are detained. "Even myself, I am not confident. At any time they can detain me."

The decision by Sudan's Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to dissolve the country's government this week sparked angry street protests but he is also facing mounting opposition on multiple other fronts. Top civil servants, including Sudanese ambassadors, as well as other groups and institutions have riled against the top general's move. And it started even before Burhan -- Sudan's de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir -- made plain his power grab in a state television address on Monday. The ministry of culture and information appears to be the first institution to rebel, making use of its Facebook page. As the day of the coup went on it published information on the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, cabinet ministers and other officials. Each update was accompanied by the hashtag: "no going back is possible". That phrase has long been the rallying cry of supporters of civilian rule in Sudan, which has been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council as part of a planned transition to full civilian control. On Wednesday, the Khartoum governorate added its voice to those opposing the coup even as the governor was among those ordered detained by Burhan. A statement signed by "director generals" and other officials at the governorate "condemns General Burhan's military coup" and said there would be "no return" to the autocracy of the past. It also voiced support for "civil disobedience" and demanded that "essential goods" such as flour and emergency medical supplies be made available to protesters. Diplomats also joined the fray to declare their opposition to the takeover, among them Noureddine Sati, Sudan's ambassador to the United States since 2020. Some Sudanese ambassadors spoke openly in front of members of their community saying they back the "revolution" and "oppose the coup", while some put their views down in writing. Burhan hit back by sacking six of the country's ambassadors -- including to the US, EU, China, France and Switzerland. Ali Ibn Abi Taleb Abderrahman Mahmoud al-Gendi, Sudan's envoy to Switzerland, was not fazed. He shot back at Burhan in a video posted on social media, calling the top general "the chief of putschist authorities" and refusing "this illegitimate and unconstitutional sacking". Gendi also accused Sudanese security forces of carrying out "the worst ever repression" against the protesters. Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi -- whose father was the prime minister ousted by Bashir's 1989 coup -- has praised the diplomats for rejecting the coup, saying their position was "a victory for the revolution". Mahdi is one of the few civilian leaders not in detention and has become a leading critic of Burhan. Even before the coup, Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh had joined a mass protest demanding a speedy transfer to civilian rule. Now he is among government ministers arrested by the army. Some of his colleagues from the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) -- the civilian umbrella group which spearheaded demonstrations that led to the army's overthrow and jailing of Bashir -- are still free. On Thursday, those FFC cabinet ministers urged citizens to continue to oppose the military with "peaceful protests" and campaigns of "civil disobedience", including a general strike declared by members of oil sector syndicates. A statement by these ministers posted on the Facebook page of the culture and information ministry said "resistance" against the military must continue "until the end of the putsch and the return of constitutional legitimacy". Meanwhile Sudan's state media has remained mum on the violence and political instability wracking the country. The military has taken over the state broadcaster and ordered journalists working for state news agency SUNA off the premises.

Ethiopia’s military yesterday carried out an air strike on the capital of the war-torn Tigray region that a hospital official said killed 10 people. The government said the strike, the latest in a campaign of air bombardments, hit a factory in Mekele used by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The air force “destroyed the second part of Mesfin Industrial Engineering. The facility was used by TPLF terrorist group for maintaining its military equipments,” said government spokeswoman Selamawit Kassa. Dr Hayelom Kebede, research director at Mekele’s Ayder Referral Hospital, said a residential area was hit and casualties were inflicted. “The death toll reaches 10,” he said, up from his earlier count that put the number of dead at six and listed 21 people as injured.The Tigrai Communications Affairs Bureau, a TPLF-linked information channel, also reported casualties and said the strike had hit a residential area. Earlier, TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda confirmed the strike on Mekele and said the rebels’ air defence units were engaging an enemy jet. Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to independently verify. Tigray was pounded by near-daily aerial bombardments last week as the military stepped up its use of air power in the year-long war against the TPLF. The government said the facilities bombed in northern and western Tigray were military in nature and aiding the TPLF, the former ruling party in the region. The UN said two strikes on Mekele on October 18 killed three children and wounded several other people. Another person died in a later strike. Control of the skies, along with superior manpower, is one of the few remaining areas where the federal government holds a military advantage over the rebels. The bombings have drawn international censure, and disrupted UN access to the region where an estimated 400,000 people face famine-like conditions under a de-facto aid blockade. Meanwhile, residents reported hearing shelling yesterday in Dessie, a major town in the Amhara region that borders Tigray. Residents had reported a heavy military build-up in the area, as civilians fleeing conflict-hit towns further north poured into Dessie seeking refuge. “They fired heavy artillery from a distance. It fell behind our neighbourhood, and did not cause any casualties,” said one Dessie resident who declined to be named. Another reported hearing “at least four rounds” of artillery being fired toward the town. The TPLF on October 20 claimed the rebels were “within artillery range” of Dessie, which sits about 400 kilometres north (250 miles) of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The following day, Amhara regional president Yilkal Kefale called for armed Amharas to converge on Dessie to defend it. Tigray erupted in conflict in November 2020 after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the TPLF. The 2019 Nobel Peace laureate said the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps and promised a swift victory.

A Cambridge University college will hand over to Nigeria an African bronze looted over a century ago, in the first return of its kind by a British institution. The elaborately carved cockerel, known as "Okukor", was one of thousands of African artefacts taken from the continent during the colonial period.  Students protested for it to be returned, prompting its eventual handover to Nigerian officials Wednesday.  "We're excited, very happy to see that this artefact, which has been away from Nigeria for decades, is in good shape," said Abba Isa Tijani, the head of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Speaking at a ceremony to hand over the treasure, he said it was the first time a UK institution had given back a Benin bronze.   The bronze was taken from the kingdom of Benin -- now part of Nigeria -- in 1897 when Britain had a foothold on the continent. The head of the college Sonita Alleyne told AFP she was "proud" of the move to give it back, saying it was a "moral imperative" to return it. "It's absolutely right. This belongs to the people of Nigeria," she said.  Cambridge's Jesus college removed the cockerel from public display in 2016 after a campaign by students arguing it was a symbol of Britain's colonial past. Several other Western institutions have said they too plan to hand looted African treasures back.  The British Museum, which has the world's largest collection of Benin bronzes, has however not done so. Many are facing mounting pressure to give back colonial-era treasures, a movement given momentum in part thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement. This week, the Quai Branly museum in Paris is exhibiting a trove of Benin treasures for a final time before they are handed back to the West African nation.  Tijani was set to travel to Scotland to receive another Benin bronze from the University of Aberdeen.

* Hamdok unharmed, being held at Burhan's home * Western countries have denounced coup * Fresh protests in cities * Shops shut, streets blocked in Khartoum * Seven killed in clashes on Monday after takeover Sudan's top general defended the army's seizure of power, saying he had ousted the government to avoid civil war, while protesters returned to the streets on Tuesday to demonstrate against the takeover after a day of deadly clashes. Speaking at his first news conference since he announced Monday's takeover, military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army had no choice but to sideline politicians who were inciting against the armed forces. "The dangers we witnessed last week could have led the country into civil war," he said, an apparent reference to demonstrations against the prospect of a military takeover. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was arrested on Monday along with other members of his cabinet, had not been harmed and had been brought to Burhan's own home, the general said: "The prime minister was in his house. However, we were afraid that he’d be in danger so he has been placed with me at my home." Burhan had appeared on TV on Monday to announce the dissolution of the Sovereign Council, a body set up to share power between the military and civilians. The Facebook page for the office of the prime minister, apparently still under the control of Hamdok's loyalists, called for Hamdok's release and that of the other civilian leaders. Hamdok remains "the executive authority recognised by the Sudanese people and the world", it said. It added that there was no alternative other than protests, strikes and civil disobedience. 'CORRECT THE COURSE' Images on social media showed renewed street protests on Tuesday in the cities of Atbara, Dongola, Elobeid and Port Sudan. People chanted "Don't give your back to the army, the army won't protect you." Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman across the Nile were partly locked down, with shops shut and plumes of smoke rising from where protesters were burning tyres. Calls for a general strike were played over mosque loudspeakers. Streets and bridges were blocked by soldiers or protester barricades. The military takeover brought a halt to Sudan's transition to democracy, two years after a popular uprising toppled long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir. An official at the health ministry said seven people had been killed in clashes between protesters and the security forces on Monday. Burhan said the military's action did not amount to a coup, as the army had been trying to rectify the path of the political transition. "We only wanted to correct the course to a transition. We had promised the people of Sudan and the entire world. We will protect this transition," said Burhan. He said a new government would be formed which would not contain any typical politicians. Western countries have denounced the coup, called for the detained cabinet ministers to be freed and said they will cut off aid if the military does not restore power sharing with civilians. Sudan, for decades a pariah under Bashir, has depended on Western aid to pull through an economic crisis in the two years since Bashir was toppled. Banks and cash machines were shut on Tuesday, and mobile phone apps widely used for money transfers could not be accessed. "We are paying the price for this crisis," a man in his 50s looking for medicine at one of the pharmacies where stocks have been running low said angrily. "We can't work, we can't find bread, there are no services, no money." In the western city of El Geneina, resident Adam Haroun said there was complete civil disobedience, with schools, stores and gas stations closed.

Protesters were defiant on the streets of Sudan early Tuesday demonstrating against a military coup, as international condemnation of the country's security forces ramped up with the United Nations Security Council expected to meet later. "Returning to the past is not an option," chanted the crowds, who remained outside despite soldiers earlier opening fire and reportedly killing three people. On Monday soldiers detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, ministers in his government and civilian members of the ruling council, who have been heading a transition to full civilian rule following the April 2019 overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The subsequent declaration of a state of emergency and dissolution of the government provoked an immediate international backlash, with the United States, a key backer of Sudan's transition process, strongly condemning the military's actions and suspending millions of dollars in aid. The United Nations demanded Hamdok's "immediate release", whilst diplomats in New York told AFP the Security Council was expected to meet to discuss the crisis later on Tuesday. Announcing the state of emergency on Monday, Sudan's top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army had taken the actions it had "to rectify the revolution's course". Internet services were cut across the country and roads into Khartoum were shut, before soldiers stormed the headquarters of the state broadcaster in the capital's twin city of Omdurman. But clashes still erupted in the capital Khartoum after Burhan's speech. "Civilian rule is the people's choice," chanted the demonstrators, who waved flags and used tyres to create burning barricades. The information ministry said soldiers "fired live bullets on protestors... outside the army headquarters". Three demonstrators were killed and about 80 people wounded, according to the independent Central Committee of Sudan Doctors. Speaking late Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern over reports that security services had used live ammunition against protesters. "The United States strongly condemns the actions of the Sudanese military forces," said Blinken, calling for the restoration of the civilian-led transitional government. State Department spokesman Ned Price said US officials had not been able to contact the detained prime minister. The United States has suspended $700 million in aid. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that the detention of the civilian leaders was "unlawful" and condemned "the ongoing military coup d'etat". UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned Sudan risked returning to oppression. "It would be disastrous if Sudan goes backwards after finally bringing an end to decades of repressive dictatorship," Bachelet said. The European Union, African Union and Arab League also expressed concern. Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for three decades, is in jail in Khartoum following a corruption conviction. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of genocide over the civil war in Darfur. A 2019 power-sharing deal after his fall saw Sudan ruled by a Sovereign Council of civilian and military representatives tasked with overseeing a transition to a full civilian government. Jonas Horner from the International Crisis Group think tank called the coup an "existential moment for both sides". "This kind of intervention... really puts autocracy back on the menu," he said. In recent weeks, the cracks in the leadership had grown wide. Hamdok had previously described splits in the transitional government as the "worst and most dangerous crisis" facing the transition. In recent days, two factions of the movement that spearheaded demonstrations against Bashir have protested on opposite sides of the debate -- one group calling for military rule, the other for a full handover of power. Tensions have long simmered within the movement, known as Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), but divisions ratcheted up after what the government said was a failed coup on September 21 this year. One FFC leader warned of a "creeping coup" on the weekend at a news conference in Khartoum that was attacked by a mob. On Monday, the mainstream FFC appealed for nationwide "civil disobedience". "We will not accept military rule, and we are ready to give our lives for the democratic transition in Sudan," said one demonstrator, Haitham Mohamed. "We will not leave the streets until the civilian government is back," Sawsan Bashir, another protester, told AFP.

Members of Sudan's cabinet and a large number of pro-government party leaders were arrested on Monday in an apparent coup after weeks of tension between the military and a civilian government, political sources said.   Here is some background to the events.   Who is in charge in Sudan? Sudan began a transition to democracy after a popular uprising and the ouster in April 2019 of President Omar al-Bashir, an Islamist shunned by the West who had presided over the country for nearly three decades. Under an August 2019 agreement, the military is sharing power with officials appointed by civilian political groups in a ruling body known as the Sovereign Council, meant to lead the country to elections by the end of 2023.   Have there been tensions before? Although the military's role is supposed to be largely honorary, civilians have repeatedly complained of military overreach in foreign policy and peace negotiations. The military has accused civilian parties of mismanagement and monopolising power. A coalition of rebel groups and political parties have aligned themselves with the armed forces and have sought to dissolve the civilian cabinet. Authorities said in September they had foiled an attempted coup, accusing plotters loyal to Bashir.   What are the disagreements over? One point of tension is the pursuit of justice over allegations of war crimes by the military and its allies in the conflict in Darfur from 2003. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking trials for Bashir and other Sudanese suspects. The cabinet has signed off on handing over suspects, but the Sovereign Council has not. Another is an investigation into the killings of pro-democracy protesters on June 3, 2019, in which military forces are implicated. Activists and civilian groups have been angered by delays in making the investigation's findings public. Civilians have also pushed for oversight and restructuring of the military, particularly through the integration of the powerful, paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which military leaders have resisted.   What about the economy? A worsening economic crisis that sent the currency plunging and created frequent shortages of bread and fuel was the trigger for Bashir's downfall. The transitional government has implemented harsh, rapid reforms monitored by the International Monetary Fund in a successful bid for debt relief and to attract foreign financing. In the wake of the reforms, inflation rose to historic highs of more than 400% and many Sudanese complain of struggling to get by. There have been occasional protests over economic conditions.   How are relations with the neighbours? Sudan is in a volatile region, bordering the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa. Several of its neighbours, including Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan have been affected by political upheavals and conflict. Since late last year, conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region has pushed tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan and caused military tensions in disputed agricultural lands along the border. Sudan is pushing, with Egypt, for a binding deal over the operation of a giant hydropower dam that Ethiopia is building near the Sudanese border. Talks have stalled but Ethiopia has started filling the reservoir behind the dam, which Sudan says could put its citizens, dams and water facilities at risk.

Ugandan police said yesterday that a deadly explosion that killed one person and injured three others at a roadside eatery in the capital Kampala was an “act of domestic terror”. Police spokesman Fred Enanga said the attackers arrived at the popular grilled meat joint in northern Kampala at around 8:30pm (1730 GMT) on Saturday carrying a plastic shopping bag that they placed under a table. Shortly after leaving thirty minutes later, an explosion ripped through the eatery. “The suspects detonated the device after they left the scene,” Enanga told reporters, describing the explosive as “crude” and containing nails and metal fragments. “All indications suggest an act of domestic terror.” President Yoweri Museveni earlier said the blast “seems to be a terrorist act” and vowed to hunt down those responsible. “The public should not fear, we shall defeat this criminality like we have defeated all the other criminality committed by the pigs who don’t respect life,” he said. Enanga said the group appeared unsophisticated and investigators believed they could track their whereabouts using evidence found at the scene. They did not elaborate on the identity or motivation of the suspected attackers. Police said the blast killed 20-year-old Emily Nyinaneza, a waitress. Three others were in hospital, including two in a critical condition. Masked anti-terrorism police attended the scene yesterday as forensic officers in white overalls combed for evidence. The explosion occurred about two hours after the start of a nationwide dusk-to-dawn coronavirus curfew. Security forces rushed to the scene in Komamboga, a fast-growing suburb about eight kilometres north of Kampala city centre. Local mayor Emmanuel Sserunjogi said the bombing took place in an area popular with young revellers looking for roasted meat and drinks on a night out. “The community are frightened. It was such a terrible act. People were woken up by the sound of the bomb,” he said. It is the first such deadly attack in many years in Kampala, a bustling city of 2mn on the shores of Lake Victoria. But it followed an uptick in recent weeks of signs and warnings that a strike could be imminent.

Ethiopia's military launched an air strike on a rebel-held facility in Tigray's west on Sunday, a government official said, the seventh aerial bombardment in the war-hit region in a week. "Today the western front of (Mai Tsebri) which was serving as a training and military command post for the terrorist group TPLF has been the target of an air strike," government spokeswoman Selamawit Kassa said, referring to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government has been locked in a war against the TPLF since last November, though Tigray itself had seen little combat since late June, when the rebels seized control of much of Ethiopia's northernmost region and the military largely withdrew. But on Monday Ethiopia's air force launched two strikes on Tigray's capital Mekele that the UN said killed three children and wounded several other people. Since then there have been three more strikes on Mekele and another targeting what the government described as a weapons cache in the town of Agbe, about 80 kilometres to the west. The strikes coincide with ramped-up fighting in Amhara region, south of Tigray. They have drawn rebukes from Western powers, with the US last week condemning "the continuing escalation of violence, putting civilians in harm's way". A strike Friday on Mekele forced a UN flight carrying 11 humanitarian personnel to turn back to Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, and the UN subsequently announced it was suspending its twice-weekly flights to the region. The conflict has spurred fears of widespread starvation, as the UN estimates it has pushed 400,000 people in Tigray into famine-like conditions.

Africa’s last absolute monarch yesterday called for calm and dialogue in the kingdom of Eswatini following a visit by regional mediators to try resolve a national crisis and deadly unrest. Formerly known as Swaziland, the country has been rocked by anti-monarchy demonstrations that broke out in June and have prompted authorities to deploy the army and shut down the Internet. The latest flare-up has run for more than two weeks, spearheaded by students, civil servants and transport workers. At least two people were killed and dozens injured as security forces fired tear gas, live rounds and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Themba Ginindza, a senior representative of the king, said via the government Twitter account that “King Mswati III has announced that a process of national dialogue will be initiated” after an annual ritual ceremony that starts in November and usually lasts several months. During the ceremony known as Incwala, the king goes into seclusion and does not engage in official government activities. Ginindza said the king wanted calm, and “an end to all violence as no dialogue can happen while tempers are this high”. “His majesty has sent us to pass our sincere condolences to all who have lost loved ones during the unrest,” said Ginindza. Police said 37 people have died since the violent anti-monarchy protests first flared in June, fuelled by discontent over living conditions and lack of political freedom in the tiny southern African kingdom. But local civic group Leftu Sonkhe Institute of Strategic Thinking and Development suggests the unrest has so far claimed around 80 lives. On Thursday, the government banned all protests. Mediators from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community concluded two-day mediation talks with the king, government and civil society groups on Friday. In a statement yesterday, SADC’s head of politics and defence, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, backed the idea of a national dialogue. “I appeal for calm, restraint, the respect for the rule of law and human rights on all sides to enable the process to commence,” said Ramaphosa. But political groups are not optimistic about the outcome of the proposed talks. The dialogues have “failed countless times before,” Sibongile Mazibuko, who heads the Ngwane National Liberation Congress political party, said. “The environment is not conducive” he said, alleging royalty controls who participates in the talks.

Africa's fabled eastern glaciers will vanish in two decades, 118 million poor people face immanent drought, floods or extreme heat, and climate change could also shave 3% off continental GDP by mid-century, the UN climate agency warned on Tuesday. The latest report on the state of Africa's climate by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), partnered with African Union agencies, paints a dire picture of the continent's ability to adapt to increasingly frequent weather disasters. According to one data set, 2020 was Africa's third warmest year on record, 0.86 degrees Celsius above the average temperature in the three decades leading to 2010. It has mostly warmed slower than high-latitude temperate zones, but the impact is still devastating. "The rapid shrinking of the last remaining glaciers in eastern Africa, which are expected to melt entirely in the near future, signals the threat of ... irreversible change to the Earth system," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a foreword to the report. It forecast that on current rates all three of Africa's tropical ice fields - Tanzania's Kilimanjaro, Kenya's Mount Kenya, and Uganda's Rwenzoris - would be gone by the 2040s. In addition, "By 2030, it is estimated that up to 118 million extremely poor people (living on less than $1.90 per day) will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat ... if adequate response measures are not put in place," the African Union's Agriculture Commissioner Josefa Sacko said. Africa, which accounts for less than 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, has long been expected to be severely impacted by climate change. Its croplands are already drought-prone, many of its major cities hug the coast, and widespread poverty makes it harder for people to adapt. Apart from worsening drought on a continent heavily reliant on agriculture, there was extensive flooding recorded in East and West Africa in 2020, the report noted, while a locust infestation of historic proportions, which began a year earlier, continued to wreak havoc. The report estimated that sub-Saharan Africa would need to spend $30-$50 billion, or 2-3% of GDP, each year on adaptation to avert even worse consequences. An estimated 1.2 million people were displaced by storms and floods in 2020, nearly two and half times as many people as fled their homes because of conflict in the same year.

Ethiopian forces hit the northern city of Mekele with air strikes on Monday, humanitarian officials and diplomats told AFP, the first reported bombing raids over the Tigrayan capital since the early stages of the year-long war. Air raids were reported inside and outside Mekele, the regional capital held by the Tigray People's Liberation Front since it was recaptured from government forces in June. "Air strike now in Mekele," one humanitarian official in the city said via SMS to AFP on condition of anonymity, describing attacks also confirmed by a second humanitarian source, two diplomats and a rebel spokesman. The first raid occurred in the morning on the outskirts of Mekele near a cement factory, the sources said.  The second took place around midday in the city centre near the Planet Hotel, often used by top officials from the TPLF, the region's former ruling party and the target of a government military operation since November 2020. The air strikes are the first on Mekele since the early days of the conflict, and come as the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared to be pressing a new offensive in the war.  The TPLF said government forces were "losing big" and the aerial assaults were designed to inflict civilian casualties as revenge. "Monday is market day in Mekelle & the intention is all too palpable," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter. The reports could not be independently verified and government officials could not be reached for comment. Medical officials in Mekele could not immediately be contacted to provide information on casualties. - Rebel push -   The aerial bombardment came as the TPLF appeared to be moving south of Tigray toward Dessie, a city in Amhara region where tens of thousands have sought refuge from the rebel advance since July. One resident told AFP that Dessie was "flooded" with displaced civilians arriving from Wuchale, another town to the north. At the weekend, Getachew said rebel forces had taken Wuchale and some surrounding territory, and would march all the way to Addis Ababa if necessary. "If that's what it takes to break the siege on Tigray, why not?" he told AFP in a text message. Government and military officials have so far offered little information about the latest surge in fighting, which comes shortly after Abiy was sworn in for a new term two weeks ago. However a military official in Amhara told AFP on Monday the TPLF's claim to have taken Wuchale was false.  The conflict erupted last November in Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region after Abiy sent troops to topple the TPLF, which dominated national politics before he took office in 2018. Government forces swiftly drove the TPLF from Tigray's cities and towns, but the rebels retook most of the region including Mekele by late June. In July the TPLF pushed into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, a move it said was intended to prevent government forces from regrouping and to break what it describes as a humanitarian siege of Tigray, where the UN estimates hundreds of thousands face famine-like conditions. There were reports last week of fresh clashes between government and rebel forces in Afar, a region bordering Tigray, after a month-long lull and in a further sign of a new offensive by government troops.

Cynthia Makokha was a 17-year-old student and volleyball player. Agnes Tirop was a 25-year-old rising athletics star, who finished fourth in the 5,000m race at the Tokyo Olympics and had won two World Championship bronze medals. Both women were found dead in Kenya this week, and while their murders are not linked they have shone a spotlight on violence against women, which the government says has grown worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tirop was found in her bed at her home in the town of Iten, with multiple stab wounds to the neck. Police on Thursday arrested a man they described as her husband, whom they called "the main suspect."  Makokha, who was a student at the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Nairobi, was raped, killed and then dumped in a river. She had been on her way to visit family in Western Kenya on Oct. 4 when she disappeared. Her body was found days later. One suspect is in custody, Mumias East sub-county police commander Stephen Mwoni told Reuters. Nearly half of women in Kenya experience gender-based violence over the course of their lifetimes, and a third of Kenyan girls experience some form of sexual violence before turning 18, according to the Gender Violence Recovery Centre at the Nairobi Women's Hospital. "I'm scared," said 17-year-old Latifah Shaban, who shared a bunk bed with Makokha. She said Makokha often woke up at 3am, cracked the hallway door open, and used that light to study. "I've heard a lot of rape cases. I'm just always scared about men… it's worse ," she said. The school's dorms are only a few months old, created to help protect the girls, many of whom come from vulnerable living situations, administrators said. "As much as we are trying to ensure that the girls are safe, outside they…. are not safe," said Claris Akinyi, the school's principal. STAR WHO LOVED FAMILY Tirop's family told Kenya Television Network that she had separated from the man suspected of killing her because she suspected he had cheated on her when she was competing in Japan. Police say that after Tirop's murder, they found a new athletics trophy, still carefully wrapped, in her living room. On social media, fellow athletes and politicians shared messages of condolence, as did sportswear manufacturer Adidas and the World Athletics governing body. "Agnes was an incredible person, a record breaking athlete and a beloved member of our family," Adidas posted on Twitter. At Makokha's school, rows of seated girls passed around tissues to wipe their tears as they remembered their fellow student. One girl untied her sweatshirt from around the waist to cry into it; another clutched a poster saying: "STOP KILLING."

In northern Kenya, the ribs of dead sheep stretch towards the blazing sun as parched herders trudge past, a day’s march from water. The value of their skinny goats is falling as fast as the prices scrawled on the sacks in the market are shooting up. More than 465,000 children under five and more than 93,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished in Kenya’s northern region, the UN says. Food prices are climbing. In Marsabit County, food prices are 16% above average, data from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) shows. “Goats are unsellable, cows are even worse to sell, and our children are starving,” Moses Loloju, a herder from Isiolo county who volunteered to help distribute food donations from the county government. This is the second consecutive season that the rains have failed in northern Kenya, a semi-arid part of the country, unlike the more fertile and greener south. The lack of rain means 2.4mn people in the region will struggle to find enough to eat by November, the United Nations World Food Programme says. “The past droughts were largely predictable. We had longer cycles of 5-10 years (between them). And this meant that the pasture and water bodies would regenerate very quickly,” said Maurice Onyango, the Regional Head for Disaster risk Management for charity Plan International. “(Now), we are seeing droughts coming every two years, sometimes every year.” Temperatures in northern Kenya have climbed by 0.34° Celsius per decade from 1985-2015, based on data from the US government. They are expected to climb further, with heatwaves in the coming five decades likely to increase in length by between nine and 30 days, the US government data says, making it harder to grow crops or keep livestock as more water evaporates. Much of northern Kenya is forecast to be sunny and receive below-average rainfall this month, Kenya Meteorological Department says. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts in the region. In much of the north, this year’s long rains provided about 25-50% of normal rainfall, the NDMA, a Kenyan government agency, said.

The husband of Kenyan record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in a killing that has shocked her home country and the world of athletics, was due in court Friday after a dramatic late-night arrest. Emmanuel Rotich was detained in the coastal city of Mombasa on Thursday over the death of the 25-year-old double world championships medallist and Olympian. A senior police official in Mombasa told AFP that Rotich would appear in court and prosecutors were likely to ask for more time "to firm up a case against him" during hearing. "Given how tense the ground is in Iten, it is unlikely we will have him charged there," the official said referring to the western town where the couple lived. Police cornered Rotich in Mombasa, using his mobile number to track him down after he used his old SIM card in his new phone after spending days offline, one of the investigating officers told AFP. Tributes have poured in for Tirop since her body was found with stab wounds in the bedroom of their home in Iten, a high-altitude training hub for many top-class athletes. Athletics Kenya said it was postponing events for two weeks in honour of Tirop and another runner who was found dead at the weekend of an apparent suicide. Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei said Tirop's death was a "huge blow" to athletics, describing her as "one of the fastest rising stars" and voicing hope for speedy justice. Tirop was killed just a month after she smashed the women's 10,000 metres world record at an event in Germany. She had previously won world championship medals, finished fourth in the 5,000 metres at the Tokyo Olympics this year and became the second-youngest gold medallist in the women's cross country championships in 2015. - Family breadwinner -Her family told reporters she was their breadwinner, paying for children's school fees and clothes. President Uhuru Kenyatta paid tribute to Tirop, who would have turned 26 later this month, saying she had "brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage". Her killing came days after another long-distance athlete Hosea Mwok Macharinyang, a member of Kenya's record-breaking world cross country team, died of what athletics officials said was suicide. Macharinyang, 35, had competed for Kenya in both cross country and 5,000 metre and 10,000 metre races. He won three consecutive titles in the World Cross Country Championships from 2006 to 2008. Kenya is the most successful nation in the cross country championships, having won 49 team and 27 individual titles.

Kenyan double world 10,000m bronze medallist and 2015 world cross county champion Agnes Tirop was found dead Wednesday with stab wounds to her stomach in a suspected homicide, athletics officials said.  Tirop, 25, who finished fourth in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics and was a fast-rising Kenyan female athlete, was found dead at her home in the high altitude training town of Iten in western Kenya.  "Kenya has lost a jewel who was one of the fastest rising athletics giants on the international stage, thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track," Athletics Kenya said in a statement.

The UN’s top court handed Somalia control of most of a potentially oil and gas-rich chunk of the Indian Ocean yesterday after a bitter legal battle with Kenya. Kenya got only a small slice of the disputed tract of sea off the East African coast in the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague. But with Kenya refusing to recognise the “biased” court’s authority, all eyes will be on what Nairobi does next in one of the world’s most troubled regions. Judges unanimously ruled there was “no agreed maritime boundary” in force and drew a new border close to the one claimed by Somalia after a long-running case. Chief judge Joan Donoghue, reading a summary of the judgment, said the “court is thus satisfied that the adjusted line... achieves an equitable solution.” Somalia had dragged Kenya to the court in 2014 after years of efforts to resolve a dispute over the 100,000 square-kilometre tract failed. The ICJ’s judgment is final and cannot be appealed, but the court, set up after World War II to rule in disputes between UN states, has no means of enforcing its rulings. States can however go to the UN Security Council if another country fails to obey a ruling. At the heart of the Somalia-Kenya dispute was the direction that their joint maritime boundary should take from the point where their land frontiers meet on the coast. Somalia insisted the boundary should follow the orientation of its land border and thus head out in a 200 nautical-mile line towards the southeast. But Kenya said its boundary runs in a straight line due east — a delineation that would have given it a big triangular slice of the sea. Nairobi says it has exercised sovereignty over the area since 1979. The contested area is believed to contain rich gas and oil deposits, and also has important fishing rights. Nairobi has already granted exploration permits to Italian energy giant ENI but Somalia is contesting the move. In its ruling yesterday, the ICJ threw out Kenya’s claims that Somalia had effectively consented to Nairobi’s border proposal. Judges also rejected the line Kenya wanted to draw from the coast, saying it would have had a “severe cut-off effect” for Somalia. But it also adjusted Mogadishu’s proposal slightly, saying Kenya risked having its own maritime rights sandwiched between Somalia to the north and Tanzania to the south. Finally, the court dismissed all of Somalia’s claims for damages over surveying and drilling by energy firms that Kenya had allowed. While UN states are in theory obliged to comply with ICJ judgments, enforcing rulings can be difficult. In a similar dispute to the Somalia-Kenya row, Nicaragua dragged Colombia back to court in September after accusing Bogota of flouting a 2012 maritime ruling in Nicaragua’s favour. Kenya pulled out of hearings in the Somalia case in March, then just over two weeks ago, Nairobi notified the UN secretary-general that it was withdrawing its 1965 declaration accepting the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction. The Kenyan foreign ministry accused the court of “obvious and inherent bias”. “As a sovereign nation, Kenya shall no longer be subjected to an international court or tribunal without its express consent,” it said. There was no immediate reaction from either country. Monday’s verdict may further sour diplomatic relations between the two countries after Kenya in 2019 recalled its ambassador and accused Somalia of selling off oil and gas blocks in the contested area. It tartly reminded Somalia of Kenya’s sacrifices in the battle against Al Shebaab militants, with Nairobi being a major contributor of troops to the African Union forces fighting the Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in Somalia. The International Crisis Group think tank called on Kenya and Somalia to “agree on a mutually accepted way to implement the judgment.” “The political stakes of this case are sky-high in both countries and there is a risk the court’s decision could be followed by a further slide in the relationship between Somalia and Kenya,” said Meron Elias, Horn of Africa Researcher at the group.

*Abdulrazak Gurnah wins the 2021 Nobel prize for literature *First black African writer in 35 years to win prestigious award *The theme of the refugee’s disruption runs throughout his work   Abdulrazak Gurnah, who won this year's Nobel prize in literature, was awarded for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”, the Nobel committee has said. Gurnah grew up on one of the islands of Zanzibar before fleeing persecution of Arabs and arriving in England as a student in the 1960s. He has published 10 novels as well as a number of short stories. Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature, poses at his home in Canterbury, Britain, October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel committee, said that Gurnah’s novels – from his debut Memory of Departure, about a failed uprising, to his most recent, Afterlives – “recoil from stereotypical descriptions and open our gaze to a culturally diversified East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world”. No black African writer has won the prize since Wole Soyinka in 1986. Gurnah is the first black writer to win since Toni Morrison in 1993. “[Gurnah] has consistently and with great compassion penetrated the effects of colonialism in East Africa, and its effects on the lives of uprooted and migrating individuals,” Olsson told journalists in Stockholm. His longtime editor, Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsbury, said Gurnah’s win was “most deserved” for a writer who has not previously received due recognition. “He is one of the greatest living African writers, and no one has ever taken any notice of him and it’s just killed me. I did a podcast last week and in it I said that he was one of the people that has been just ignored. And now this has happened,” she said. Pringle said Gurnah had always written about displacement, “but in the most beautiful and haunting ways of what it is that uproots people and blows them across continents”. "In Gurnah’s literary universe, everything is shifting – memories, names, identities. This is probably because his project cannot reach completion in any definitive sense,” said Olsson. “An unending exploration driven by intellectual passion is present in all his books, and equally prominent now, in Afterlives, as when he began writing as a 21-year-old refugee.” Gurnah was born in 1948, growing up in Zanzibar. When Zanzibar went through a revolution in 1964, citizens of Arab origin were persecuted, and Gurnah was forced to flee the country when he was 18. He began to write as a 21-year-old refugee in England, choosing to write in English, although Swahili is his first language. His first novel, Memory of Departure, was published in 1987. He has until recently been professor of English and postcolonial literatures at the University of Kent, until his retirement. Gurnah’s Nobel Prize win sparked both joy and debate over identity in Tanzania.. Many in the country acknowledge the recognition of Gurnah’s work among the handful of African novelists to have won the prestigious prize, but others question whether Tanzanians can truly claim the England-based writer as their own. Both the presidents of Tanzania and semi-autonomous Zanzibar were swift in hailing Gurnah’s achievement. “The prize is an honor to you, our Tanzanian nation and Africa in general,” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan tweeted. For his part, Zanzibar leader Hussein Ali Mwinyi said, “We fondly recognise your writings that are centred on discourses related to colonialism. Such landmarks, bring honour not only to us but to all humankind.” Meanwhile Gurnah, in an interview with AFP news agency, stressed his close ties to Tanzania. “Yes, my family is still alive, my family still lives there,” the retired University of Kent professor said. “I go there when I can. I’m still connected there … I am from there. In my mind I live there.” Dual-citizenship has been a long-debated issue, with more and more Tanzanians – especially those in the diaspora – advocating for its implementation. Successive governments have steered clear of it, often citing constitutional restrictions. “One of the reasons Tanzania can’t allow dual citizenship is the fear that Abdulrazak Gurnah & his grandparents, who fled Zanzibar to escape the persecution of Arabs during the Zanzibar Revolution, would return and claim their stolen assets. And we’re shamelessly celebrating his victory?” Erick Kabendera, a journalist, wrote. But others believe his long time spent abroad should not deprive him of his roots. “Gurnah identifies himself as Tanzanian of Zanzibar origin. Living in diaspora, having been exiled or even feeling dislocated from his country does not take away his heritage and identity. That is part of who he is,” said Ida Hadjivayanis, lecturer of Swahili studies at School of Oriental and African Studies in London. A Zanzibari native herself, Hadjivayanis said she was thrilled beyond words about Gurnah’s win. “Gurnah is an author who speaks the truth,” she said, describing his work as honest. “Their (characters in the books) experiences are familiar, their link to home (Tanzania and especially Zanzibar) often hits a chord.”

After escaping, with hundreds of others, from an overcrowded Libyan detention centre where guards shot dead six migrants, Sudanese refugee Halima Mokhtar Bshara says she just wants to leave the country. “They attacked us, humiliated us, many of us were wounded,” said the 27-year-old from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. “We’re at the end of our tether.” The Al-Mabani facility in the capital Tripoli was at triple its capacity following police raids against migrants last week, when guards shot six people dead on Friday. The shooting was “related to overcrowding and the terrible, very tense situation,” the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. Some 2,000 migrants and refugees escaped in the chaos, including Bshara and her three children. She was among hundreds taking part in a sit-in in front of the office of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Tripoli yesterday. Dozens of destitute migrants and refugees, including young children, have been sleeping rough in front of the building for days, in the hope of receiving assistance. “We’re extremely tired. But we have nowhere to go, we are even being chased off the pavement,” Bshara said tearfully. “For our security, we ask to be evacuated,” one banner at the site says. “Libya is not a safe country for refugees,” reads another. In chaos since its 2011 revolution, Libya has long been a favoured departure point for migrants — many from sub-Saharan Africa — fleeing violence and poverty in their own countries and hoping to reach Europe.Hundreds die each year trying to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing in rickety, overcrowded boats, while NGOs say those waiting to leave are often subject to violence and abuse. Late last week, Libyan authorities raided multiple houses and makeshift shelters in a poor suburb of Tripoli, in what it said was an anti-drug operation. The UN said the raids, mostly targeting irregular migrants, left at least one person dead, 15 wounded and more than 5,000 detained. Doctors without Borders (MSF) decried “violent mass arrests”. “There were 39 of us living in the same building” before the raids, Bshara said. At first, she said she and her family evaded authorities by hiding in a well, but they were eventually found and placed in the Al-Mabani detention centre. There were so many people there that it was impossible to sleep, said Ismail Derrab, another of those who escaped the facility on Friday.

Over 100 people are dead or missing after nine interlocked canoes sank this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Saturday. It was the latest in a series of maritime accidents in the sprawling country where people often travel on overloaded and unsafe vessels on the Congo, one of Africa's biggest rivers.  Sixty-one bodies had been recovered from the sinking during the night of Monday to Tuesday, and another 60 are believed to be missing, Nestor Magbado, a spokesman for the governor of the northwestern province of Mongala, told AFP. He said there were 39 survivors. With no manifest of the passengers on board, the number missing is an estimate based on the capacity of the boat, he said. The vessel was actually nine traditional wooden canoes, known as pirogues, all tied together, Magbado said. He added that the accident may have been caused by "overcrowding aggravated by bad weather" during the night. The victims included hawkers and students travelling to the provincial capital Bumba, Magbado said. "There were all kinds of people". The scale of the accident was not clear until it was reported by media late on Friday, and confirmed on Saturday by provincial authorities. Magbado said the Mongala authorities had informed Kinshasa of the sinking just after it occurred, but had waited for more information about the number of casualties. Search and rescue operations are continuing, but hopes are fading of finding more survivors, he said, adding that rescue efforts were hamstrung by the limited resources available to the authorities. "We are struggling to make do with what we have," he said, adding that hopes of finding survivors were "fading with every passing day". Provincial authorities have declared three days of mourning from Monday. The vast country in central Africa, covering an area of 2.3 million square kilometres (900 million square miles), has very few passable roads and trips are often made on the Congo river and its tributaries as well as on the eastern lakes, Kivu and Tanganyika in particular.