Across Africa in five minutes or less

BURKINA FASO

The Burkinabe government has welcomed the decision by France to extradite Francois Compaore, the brother of Burkina Faso’s former longtime president, to his home country where he is wanted in connection with the murder of prominent investigative journalist Norbert Zongo more than 20 years ago. The Council of State, France’s highest court for cases involving public administration, rejected an appeal by Compaore’s lawyers against a previous ruling for his extradition, saying there were no constitutional or other grounds to overturn the decision.

SIERRA LEONE

During the Ebola outbreak, students were out of school for the larger part of nine months. These were the years before Zoom calls and online learning platforms for schools. Besides, very few households had access to internet technology in Sierra Leone. It was decided that radio programming would be the most efficient method to deliver lessons as it was cost-effective, engaging, and could easily be adapted to local languages.

NIGERIA

Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare has been provisionally suspended for doping just hours before the former World Championships silver medallist was due to run in Saturday’s semi-finals of the women’s 100 metres at the Olympics. Okagbare tested positive for human growth hormone in an out-of-competition test on July 19, four days before the Olympics opened, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said, prompting a mandatory provisional suspension.

RWANDA/TANZANIA

Tanzanian President Samia Suhulu will on Monday arrive in Kigali for her first visit state to Rwanda. During the two-day visit, she is expected to hold private talks with President Paul Kagame. President Suluhu’s visit follows recent high-level meetings between top officials from the two countries. The most recent meeting occurred on July 16, when Rwanda’s Minister of ICT, Paula Ingabire, met her Tanzanian counterpart, Faustine Ndugulile, to review submarine cable infrastructures in Tanzania that support communication services to Rwanda.

EGYPT

Egyptian authorities have summoned at least five prominent human rights defenders during July 2021 for questioning as part of a decade-old criminal investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities have used Case 173 of 2011 to arbitrarily prosecute leading rights defenders and organizations over allegations of receiving foreign funds. Since 2016, authorities have summoned for interrogation dozens of members of nongovernment groups, mostly human rights organizations, and placed over 30 of them on arbitrary travel ban lists, and frozen the assets of over a dozen organizations and individuals. Three of the five people summoned in July had not been questioned previously. The case has had a chilling impact on civic space in Egypt.

ZIMBABWE

Fishing in the calm waters at night is full of hidden dangers, including threats of attacks by hippos or drowning when the lake suddenly gets rough due to a change in weather. But these are rare. The worst nightmare for fishermen is being arrested and detained in Uganda or Tanzania. It is a horror they have had to contend with for the past two decades. Once their nets are full, fishermen hope to get back to the shore before sunrise to sell their catch. But only a few of them make it back safely.

ETHIOPIA

Addis Abeba — Ahead of the planned visit by Samantha Power, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, the US has announced additional $149 million to support the humanitarian response in Tigray state, where the UN said more than 90% of the population are in need of emergency food assistance. The latest announcement ahead of this weekend visit by Administrator Power bring the US’ humanitarian aid to the Tigray to nearly $637 million since the conflict began in November last year.

TUNISIA

Days of pRisk of new mass unrestolitical turmoil in Tunisia over a crippled economy and surging coronavirus infections have unnerved allies in Europe and the United States, while garnering the support of key Mideast partners watching to see if Islamists and Tunisia’s fragile democracy will survive. European countries — most notably nearby Italy — worry about a flood of migrants should Tunisia slide further into chaos. Autocratic leaders from Egypt to Saudi Arabia hope this week’s power grab by Tunisian President Kais Saied spells doom for the region’s Islamists. But they also fear a reignited Arab Spring, like the region-wide uprisings kindled by Tunisia a decade ago.

UGANDA

There was a lot to celebrate yesterday as Uganda won her first medals at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo clinched Silver and Bronze respectively in the 10,000m final. Those were the eighth and ninth medals won by the Pearl of Africa since her first participation in the quadrennial games in 1956 in Melbourne,Australia. Uganda had last won an Olympic medal in 2012 with Stephen Kiprotich’s Gold in the Marathon on the streets of London. In addition, these were the first medals on the track since Davis Kamoga’s sprint got him 400m Bronze at Atlanta 1996.e region-wide uprisings kindled by Tunisia a decade ago.

KENYA

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has asked ODM leader Raila Odinga to join him as his presidential running mate in next year’s General Election. Speaking at Akamba Handcraft in Changamwe, Mombasa County, Mr Musyoka said that ODM’s announcement on Thursday that it was leaving the National Super Alliance (Nasa) marked the end of the coalition and that parties should unite and fight those who are seeking leadership despite having a history of corruption. “I welcome my big brother Odinga who I have supported immensely in his political career for more than a decade. What I am saying is that there is no political debt, but I want him to use his wisdom and join me as my running mate and move this country forward,” said Mr Musyoka.

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