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US former President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother Sarah has been buried at her home in western Kenya in accordance to Muslim rites.
Mrs Obama died on Monday after a short undisclosed illness.
Former President Obama while eulogising her said she was a “bridge to the past” and that her stories helped “fill a void”.
Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper tweeted a video of Mrs Obama’s burial:
| Kenya joins The Canada-Africa of Business |
| The opportunities are immense and work toward realizing Canadian trade and investment in Kenya is already well-underway |
| Today, the Republic of Kenya has joined The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business (www.CanadaAfrica.ca) as a full member of the 27-year-old organization, committed to accelerating Canada-Africa trade and investment.
‘On behalf of the board, I am pleased to welcome an African hub and a leader on the continent,’ said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, Chair of the Board, speaking live from the organization’s offices in Ottawa. The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business is an independent, not-for-profit organization with strong working links with both Canadian and African businesses and governments. Leading CEOs and Heads of State – alongside investors, entrepreneurs and policy-makers – are among the hundreds of speakers and tens of thousands of delegates to in-person and virtual events. ‘We are excited by this new partnership with the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. We look forward to benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of over a quarter a century promoting trade and investment between Canada and Africa,’ underscored Mr. Stephen Lorete, the Charge d’Affaires at the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa. ‘Kenya is a leading and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with many attractive trade and investment opportunities, across many sectors, and we invite the Chamber’s membership and the general Canadian business community to take advantage.’ A packed program of action immediately accompanies the Republic of Kenya’s accession to The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. Over the next two months three (3) major events are scheduled to take place. These are:
‘Apart from my country of birth, there is no other nation on the continent in which I have spent more time than in the incredible country of Kenya,’ says Garreth Bloor, President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. ‘Today we are honoured to welcome a leading economy, comprised of some of the world’s top business leaders. The opportunities are immense and work toward realizing Canadian trade and investment in Kenya is already well-underway.’ |
African Union welcomes DRC to African Peer Review Mechanism |
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The African Union (AU) has welcomed the Democratic Republic of Congo as the newest member of its African Peer Review Mechanism. This took place during the AU’s 30th Forum of Heads of State and Government on Thursday. The meeting included presentations on ongoing or imminent reviews of governance and other spheres in a number of countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Kenya. The African Peer Review Mechanism is a voluntary mechanism that enables AU members to provide and submit to evaluation at local, national and continental levels. In his opening remarks, South African President and African Peer Review Mechanism Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the assembled heads of state for their political leadership. “I am certain that the mechanism will be a vital instrument for the achievement of Africa’s social and economic goals as enshrined in the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the UN’s Agenda 2030,” he said. Improving governance, tackling corruption and upholding human rights are central to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s governance program, said DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, adding that his government welcomed external review and support of its policies. “By joining the African Peer Review Mechanism, we hope to get the support of our peers in the review of our practices regarding good governance, which is a prerequisite for development.” The summit covered an upcoming peer review of Liberia; the discussion of a gap analysis of Sudan; two reviews of tourism and mineral resources governance in Zambia; a targeted review of Sierra Leone’s national response to the Covid-19 pandemic; and peer reviews of progress reports for Kenya and Mozambique. African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina joined heads of state at the virtual meeting. “Africa will recover, but that recovery will require much strengthened governance at all levels, including decisive actions to end illicit capital flows and ensure more transparent governance over the management of Africa’s vast natural resources,” he said. Adesina congratulated Felix Tshisekedi on his country’s decision to join the African Peer Review Mechanism and emphasized the Bank’s commitment to the mechanism. The African Development Bank recently approved a new economic governance strategy that will guide its engagements in the sustainable economic development of African countries. “Through our African Peer Review Mechanism institutional support project, the African Development Bank will continue to very strongly back efforts to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and relevance of the African Peer Review Mechanism,” Adesina said. Adesina also addressed the current challenges heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly vaccine inequality and Africa’s rising debt levels. He called for the establishment of an African Financial Stabilization Mechanism to ward off future exogenous shocks. The African Peer Review Mechanism, a specialized agency of the African Union, was established in 2003. It has five governing bodies: The African Peer Review Forum, made up of participating heads of state; the Africa Peer Review Panel, which is made up of academics and other high-level persons, and which oversees reviews; a committee of focal points; a national governance council; and a secretariat. Currently, 41 AU members have joined the African Peer Review Mechanism. AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat urged African countries that had not yet acceded to the mechanism to speedily join. “Achieving universality will strengthen the cause of governance for the continent, in its full manifestations of political governance, economic governance, corporate governance, and inclusive and general socioeconomic development,” he said. |
Islamist militants have ambushed a convoy that was trying to rescue civilians from a hotel amid fighting in northern Mozambique, reports say.
A South African man has been confirmed as dead, but many details are unclear.
Hundreds of people fled the fighting, which began on Wednesday in the town of Palma. Evacuees included foreign gas workers.
French energy giant Total said it was forced to suspend operations at a huge gas project nearby.
The company had only just announced it would restart work on the $20bn (£14.5bn) project which it had halted in January over security concerns.
In a statement, the company said none of its staff were killed in the incident, but the “remobilisation of the project that was envisaged at the beginning of the week” had been halted.
Total added that it trusted the Mozambican security forces, who were working to regain control of the area.
Human Rights Watch said that witnesses described seeing “bodies on the streets and residents fleeing after the… fighters fired indiscriminately at people and buildings”.
Northern Mozambique has been torn apart by an insurgency since 2017.
Militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group are behind the conflict in the predominantly Muslim region of Cabo Delgado. The fighting has left more than 2,500 people dead and 700,000 displaced.
There are unconfirmed reports of British citizens being caught up in the hotel siege.
A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson told the BBC: “Our High Commission in Maputo is in direct contact with authorities in Cabo Delgado to urgently seek further information on these reports.”
Insurgents launched a surprise assault on Palma earlier in the week, attacking shops, banks and a military barracks.
Hundreds of people fled the fighting, running into forests, mangroves or nearby villages. About 180 foreign and local gas workers took refuge in the Amarula Palma hotel.
Some tried to escape the hotel in a convoy of vehicles on Friday, aiming for a nearby beach, Reuters news agency quoted Lionel Dyck as saying. Mr Dyck runs a South African private security company that works with the Mozambique government.
But they were ambushed outside the hotel, Mr Dyck said, adding that at least 20 people were initially flown to safety in helicopters.
The South African man confirmed to have been killed was thought to have been driving one of the escape vehicles.
One source told the BBC several people were successfully evacuated and reached the city of Pemba, 420km (260 miles) south of Palma.
Nigeria is leveraging on Taxpayers’ information contained in the National Identification Number (NIN) to gather tax related information about the taxpayer.
Recently, the West African country made it mandatory for all phone users to update their Identification information with the country’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
More than a 60% of the country’s 200 million population are expected to submit their personal information to the NIMC, out of which about 60 million persons have updated their NIN.
Consequently, tax authorities headed by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS), Muhammad Nami, are making efforts to extract the NIN information for the purpose of tax administration.
Nami, who is the Chairman of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) said on Thursday, that the board is considering the National Identification Number (NIN) for Tax Initiative, to boost internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the country.
Nami said at the opening of the 147th meeting of the JTB in Kaduna, that the move would ensure synergy in the tax administration system.
He said that the NIN database would provide the most robust, accurate and comprehensive database of current, potential, and future taxpayers in the country. “We must, therefore, think of how best to explore this unique opportunity to ramp up taxpayer registration, validation of taxpayer identification, collection of data, profiling and analysing data collected.
This will ensure that every citizen and other taxable persons in the country are compelled to declare and pay their taxes honestly as provided under Section 24 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
“By linking NIN to all key economic activities of individuals and businesses, this initiative will provide reliable, easy to access information to determine the correctness of the information declared for tax purposes by all taxpayers.
“It is also expected to streamline various regulatory processes for businesses and individuals leading to increased administrative efficiency and ease of doing business,” he said.
Nami stressed that the initiative, if properly implemented, was capable of expanding Nigeria’s tax net to cover at least 90 per cent of all eligible taxable persons against the estimated less than 30 per cent captured so far.
He added that the initiative also has the prospect of increasing the country’s tax contribution to GDP ratio from the current six per cent to about 20 per cent over the next five years.
The chairman said that as custodian of the Nigerian tax system, tax administrators have the responsibility of implementing all tax policies and laws and ensuring equity and optimal benefit to the nation.
Nami said that tax administrators were faced with the daunting challenge of finding innovative and effective ways of preventing, detecting and remediating tax evasion, illicit financial flows and loopholes that facilitate aggressive tax avoidance.
According to him, to deliver the mandate of revenue generation, tax administrators must be innovative and employ the use of technology and tax intelligence to counter the alarming trend of tax evasion.
“It has been demonstrated worldwide that access to data and intelligence to determine accuracy of taxpayer information is key towards driving voluntary compliance and minimising tax evasion.
“So far, no country has been able to achieve a high level of tax compliance without having a robust system of personal identification.”
In a keynote address, Gov. Nasir El-Rufai, noted that only those in the formal sector pay tax, while many rich and high-profile Nigerians do not pay tax.
El-Rufai said that this could change if NIN would be linked with the banking and tax system to expose bank account details of high-profile citizens.
He said that the future of Nigeria will no longer depend on oil, but on every citizen of the country if everyone would see the need to pay tax.
He advised the JTB to deepen the deployment of technology to generate and collect tax and consider linking NIN to bank accounts of citizens.
“You should also consider moving away from income tax to consumption tax, because with consumption tax, it will be difficult to avoid paying tax except if people will stop spending,” a local newspaper quoted the governor.
Kenya has run out of ICU beds as the country deals with a surge in Covid-19 cases, the doctors’ union has said.
Healthcare workers were among those admitted at various hospitals across the country, Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) said in a statement.
Several doctors have been sharing their experiences on social media, describing heart-breaking scenes they are witnessing in hospitals across the country.
Kenya’s Director General for Health, Patrick Amoth, told a media briefing on Tuesday that a national study had found the presence of coronavirus variants first detected in South Africa and the UK.
“Most [cases] of the South African variant have been picked from our border with Tanzania, especially in people with a history of travel from Tanzania,” Dr Amoth said.
Citizen TV tweeted part of his briefing:
A recent study found Kenya has about 537 ICU beds and just under 300 ventilators.
The country has reported 122,000 Covid-19 cases and 2,000 deaths.
Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, the leading opposition presidential candidate in Congo-Brazzaville, , has died hours after polls closed.
The candidate reported to had been seriously ill with Covid-19 died on a plane taking him to France for treatment, his campaign director said.
Hours earlier the 61-year-old had appeared in a video shared on social media, where he removed his oxygen mask and told his supporters that he was “fighting death”.
He urged them to vote in Sunday’s poll. The electoral law doesn’t annul the election if one of the candidates dies.
Mr Kolélas, who was diabetic, was one of six candidates running against President Denis Sassou Nguesso, 77, who has been in power since 1979, except for a five-year period after losing elections in 1992.
Congo-Brazzavile has officially recorded more than 9,000 cases of Covid-19 and 130 deaths.
The country has imposed a night-time curfew in the two main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire and closed its borders due to the pandemic.
However, campaign rallies were allowed, with not much sign of people respecting social distancing or wearing masks.
Mr Kolélas had missed his final campaign event on Friday after saying a day earlier that he feared he had malaria, the Associated Press news agency reports.
He was admitted to a private hospital in the capital, Brazzaville, and it was later confirmed that he had Covid-19.
Speaking in French from his hospital bed, Mr Kolélas said: “My dear compatriots, I am in trouble. I am fighting death. However, I ask you to stand up and vote for change. I would not have fought for nothing.”
“Rise up as one person… I’m fighting on my deathbed, you too fight for your change,” he urged his supporters, saying the election was “about the future of your children.”
The head of the government’s Covid-19 response team, Elira Dokekias, said that Mr Kolélas’ condition had been serious on Saturday, the Associated Press reports.
After casting his ballot in the capital, Mr Sassou Nguesso had wished the former fisheries minister and son of former Prime Minister Benard Kolélas, a swift recovery.
A large crowd gathered on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the president, with many people not wearing masks and failing to adhere to social distancing rules.
Mr Sasou Nguessou beat Mr Kolélas in the last election in 2016, obtaining 60% of the vote compared with his rival’s 15%.
The watchdog group NetBlocks reported that the internet had been shut down ahead of Sunday’s voting.
The largest opposition party, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), is boycotting the election, saying it fears the poll could divide the nation.
Congo-Brazzaville’s Catholic Church episcopal conference has said it has “serious reservations” about the election’s transparency.
Analysis by Will Ross, BBC World Service Africa editor says it is hard to find anyone who thinks President Sassou Nguesso could lose this election.
After the last poll, two of his rivals were locked up. Some opposition parties argue the entire electoral system is run by the ruling party.
Suspicions of foul play will not have been helped when the internet was cut off.
Critics of the president say new leadership is needed in a country where more than half of the population is under-25. The economy, too, has been hit hard by a fall in the price of crude oil and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Today, Facebook (www.Facebook.com) has announced the launch of Instagram Lite to Sub-Saharan Africa, a new, lightweight version of the Instagram app for Android that uses less data and works well across all network conditions.
The new version of Instagram Lite for Android is less than 2MB in size, making it fast to install and quick to load. It also has improved speed, performance, and responsiveness. Instagram Lite not only works similarly to the Instagram app for Android, but it allows the Instagram experience to remain fast and reliable for more people, no matter what device, platform and network they use.
Commenting on the rationale for introducing the app to Sub-Saharan Africa, Engineering Manager for Instagram Lite, Peter Shin said, “Connectivity in the region can be unstable, slow and expensive, making it challenging for people to have a high-quality Instagram experience. Many people were already familiar with the concept of a Lite app after the successful roll-out of Facebook Lite some years ago. We started testing the new version of Instagram Lite when people across the continent started asking for a Lite app for Android. The feedback was very positive and we are excited to launch it across the continent today”.
“Our team aims to leave no one behind, so today we are very excited to bring Instagram Lite to people in over 170 countries, including the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region,” he added.
Instagram Lite is similar to the core Instagram app experience, though some features are not currently supported, such as Reels creation, Shopping, and IGTV. Instagram Lite is likely to gain appeal to users in locations with limited bandwidth or high data costs, especially in the developing world.
Instagram Lite is currently rolling out in over 170 countries, and Facebook remains committed to building and improving the app to help everyone in the world connect to the people and things they love.
RES4Africa Foundation welcomes the three new members EDP Renewables, Schneider Electric and Vestas. The new membership of the three European companies, leading in the renewable energy sector at international level, was announced yesterday during the last Executive Committee of the Foundation, which has been involved in the promotion of green energy in Africa since 2012.
The three companies, respectively based in Spain, France and Denmark, were already part of the Foundation’s network as partners of renewAfrica, the initiative aimed at creating a package of European-led risk mitigation tools to encourage the international investments involvement, necessary for the development of the African energy market. In light of the fruitful collaboration that led to the presentation of the initiative to the European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, EDP Renewables, Schneider Electric and Vestas decided to expand their support to all the activities and programmes implemented by RES4Africa throughout the African continent, from the Mediterranean area to the sub-Saharan region.
“It is an honor for us at RES4Africa to welcome EDP Renewables, Schneider Electric and Vestas as new members of the Foundation.” commented Salvatore Bernabei, President of RES4Africa Foundation, CEO of Enel Green Power and Head of the Global Power Generation Division “The fact that three of the world leading companies in the renewable energy sector decided to expand their support to all the activities of the Foundation, not only means that we are doing a great job, but it also confirms our vision: the European private sector is increasingly willing and ready to support Africa on its path towards a just and sustainable energy transition.”
“From EDP Renewables we are pleased to join as a member of the RES4Africa Foundation and contribute to boost the African economy. As a company that is leading the energy transition, we are willing to support and be part of the path towards the sustainable development of the African continent, through the impulse of green energy. For our company social responsibility is a cornerstone of our business model, with the aim of achieving a more efficient society in the shaping of its own sustainability, and this is reflected in our commitment to initiatives such as this one”, noted Duarte Bello, COO Europe & Brasil of EDPR.
“The ultimate aim of RES4Africa is to help countries throughout Africa gain access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy,” said Caspar Herzberg, President, Middle East and Africa at Schneider Electric. “We have an opportunity to help Africa leapfrog the rest of the world when it comes to energy production and distribution. With access to energy comes more jobs, long-term economic development, and better living conditions for all. By providing communities with clean, reliable energy, we’re also providing a basis for countries to meet their commitments on the Sustainable Development Goals. And we at Schneider Electric are passionate about ensuring this happens.”
“As a pioneer in the expansion of wind energy across the African continent, Vestas is proud to become a full member of the RES4Africa Foundation. The proliferation of renewable energy projects in Africa over the next years will be key for the development of the continent. While fighting climate change, renewables will also allow African economies reducing their dependency on energy imports and their exposure to fuel prices fluctuations” concluded Pedro Huarte-Mendicoa, Vestas’ Head of Public Affairs for Africa and the Mediterranean.
The expertise of excellence of the three new members and the shared vision of the role that renewable energy sources play in achieving the full and inclusive development of African economies, add great value to the work of RES4Africa Foundation. These new memberships reconfirm the will of the international private sector to support the African energy transition process and its fundamental contribution in terms of global development and multilateral and multisectoral cooperation.
Tributes have been rolling in with respect to the death of Tanzannia’s President, John Magafuli on Wednesday. Magafuli’s death from suspected COVID-19 complications has also caused a shift as his Vice, Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan will be sworn in as the new president and should serve the remainder of Mr Magufuli’s five-year team which he began last year, according to the constitution.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has eulogised President John Magufuli as a “pragmatic leader who believed in and worked for the economic empowerment of East Africans”.
“We join Tanzania in mourning the passing of a great son of Africa,” he tweeted.
Kenya called off football friendly with Tanzania. The country’s football federation cancelled a friendly match against Tanzania that was scheduled to be played on Thursday in the capital, Nairobi.
Coach Jacob Mulee, in a morning radio show, said the match was called off following the death of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli.
He did not indicate if it had been postponed to a later day.
The friendly match was part of Kenya’s preparation for Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Egypt and Togo scheduled for later this month.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his “deep sadness” on the death of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli.
In a statement, President Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Tanzanian Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan “to express condolences in his personal capacity and on behalf of all South Africans”.
“South Africa is united in grief with the government and people of Tanzania as they go through this difficult moment,” he said.
Meanwhile, a past video of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli telling people that they would remember him once he was gone has surfaced on social media.
“One day you will remember me… I know one day you will remember me, not for bad things but for the good deeds… because I have sacrificed my life for the poor in Tanzania,” President Magufuli says in the video.
The Tanzanian president died on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, according to an announcement by Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan on state television.
Ms Hassan will be the sixth president of Tanzania and the second from the country’s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar.
After taking the oath of office, she will consult with her ruling CCM party to nominate a vice-president.
According to the constitution, since she hails from Zanzibar, her deputy is required to come from the mainland.
The nominee must be confirmed by a minimum of 50% of MPs.
Should Ms Hassan stay on as president for three years or more, the law states that she will be allowed to run for the presidency only once.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says he’s learned “with profound sorrow” and sadness the death of Tanzania President John Magufuli.
He has conveyed his condolences to widow Janet Magufuli, the government and people of Tanzania.
President Kenyatta said Mr Magufuli was a champion of pan-Africanism.
“I have lost a friend, colleague and visionary ally,” he said.
Mr Kenyatta, who is the current chairman of the East African Community, has declared a seven-day period of national mourning in Kenya.
He said the flag of the East African Community and Kenya’s flag would be flown at half-mast throughout Kenya and all its diplomatic missions abroad until sunset on the day of Mr Magufuli’s funeral.
Tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu lives in exile in BelgiumImage caption: Tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu lives in exile in Belgium
Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu has said President John Magufuli’s death has offered an opportunity to “chart a new course and step back from the brink of disaster”.
Speaking to BBC Newsday programme on Thursday, Mr Lissu said Mr Magufuii’s “politics, policies and Covid denialism” had “driven the country towards disaster”.
Earlier, Mr Lissu told Kenya’s private television station KTN that President Magufuli’s death had not come as a surprise to him.
Mr Lissu, who lives in exile in Belgium, said he had known that Mr Magufuli was gravelly ill all along since he tweeted on 7 March asking about the whereabouts of the president.
He says he had learned from “very credible sources in government” that the president was ill with Covid-19.
“The only thing that surprises me is the fact they continued to lie, even now his government continues to lie.
“Magufuli died of corona, that’s one. Two, Magufuli did not die this [ Wednesday] evening…I have information from the same sources that Magufuli had [already] been dead,” Mr Lissu told KTN.
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Tanzania Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in an address on state television on Wednesday, said President Magufuli had died hours earlier from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam.
The president had not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and rumours have been circulating about his health.
Timeline of key events in President Magufuli’s life
Here is a timeline of the events in the life of Tanzania’s President John Maguifuli.
1959: Born in Chato in north-western Tanzania.
1995: Elected as an MP for the first time.
2000: Appointed to the cabinet for the first time as minister of works.
2015: Elected president for his first term.
2020: Elected for a second term as president.
2020: 5 November – sworn in for a second term.
2021: 6 March – admitted to Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute for cardiovascular problem.
2021: 7 March – rumours begin to circulate about his whereabouts after a week-long absence.
2021: 11 March – various opposition parties in Tanzania want to know the whereabouts of the president.
2021: 12 March – Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa denies that President Magufuli is ill and says he is “in good health and working”.
2021: 14 March – rushed to Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam for further treatment.
2021: 15 March – Vice-President Samia Suluhu gives Tanzanians “greetings” from President Magufuli amid growing fears about his condition and whereabouts.
2021: 17 March – dies at 18:00 local time.
2021: 17 March – Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan announces on television the death of President Magufuli. Fourteen days of mourning are declared.
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