Tag: africa

Unidentified Flu-Like Illness Infects 376 People, Killing Over 70 in the Past Few Weeks in the Congo

Just as Peter Hotez warns of multiple disease outbreaks beginning on January 21st, 2025…

…Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are investigating an outbreak of an unidentified disease in Kwango province. Since November, the illness has affected at least 376 people, with reported fatalities ranging from 67 to 143. Key symptoms include fever, headache, nasal congestion, respiratory difficulties, and anemia. According to health minister Roger Kamba, almost half of the cases were in children under the age of five. Dieudonne Mwamba, the head of the National Institute for Public Health, said that Panzi was already a “fragile” zone, with 40% of its residents experiencing malnutrition. Also, many residents of this remote area lack healthcare access. This is most definitely a cause for inflated mortality rates. “The Panzi health zone, located around 435 miles (700 kilometers) from the capital Kinshasa, is a remote area of the Kwango province, making it hard to access.”

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High Court of Kenya suspends Bill Gates’ special privileges and immunity

In October, the Kenyan government granted the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (“BMGF”) special privileges as part of an agreement for cooperation.  The privileges were also extended to the employees of the foundation.

On 4 October 2024, the Privileges and Immunities (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) Order, 2024, was gazetted in Kenya.  The order, made on 19 September under the authority of the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, recognised BMGF as a charitable trust and granted BMGF privileges and immunities status in Kenya under the Privileges and Immunities Act.

BMGF was granted privileges similar to those of diplomatic officials and allowed the BMGF “to engage in contracts, legal actions and property transactions within the country” and granted the foundation “tax exemptions and immunity from legal actions related to their official duties,” leaving many Kenyans “with raised eyebrows,” media outlet Kenyans reported.

“The decision to extend diplomatic immunity has sparked widespread debate over accountability. Critics argue that the privileges shield the Foundation from legal scrutiny, setting a dangerous precedent,” Capital News reported.

On 11 November, the Law Society of Kenya filed a legal challenge against the government to have the special privileges recalled arguing that it undermines public interest and constitutional principles.

“In a letter, Kenyan High Court Advocate Dr. Owiso through Dullo & Company Advocates argued that granting privileges and immunities to private foundations, including their officials and expatriate employees, had implications on Kenya’s sovereignty,” The Kenya Times wrote.

On 25 November the High Court temporarily suspended BMGF’s special privileges and immunities status while the court case is ongoing.

In his ruling, Justice Bahati Mwamuye prohibited BMGF and its directors, officers, staff, and agents acting under its authority from enjoying or continuing to enjoy any privileges and immunities under the Privileges and Immunities Act. He warned that failure to heed the court orders will attract legal consequences.

The Law Society of Kenya has until 26 November 2024, to serve the application and petition to all respondents, while responses are due by 10 December 2024.

Justice Mwamuye also directed the respondents to collect and preserve all documentation related to the privileges granted to BMGF, to be included in their court responses.

The case will be mentioned on 5 February 2025, to confirm compliance and set a priority hearing date for the hearing of written submissions, The Eastleigh Voice reported.

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As the World is Distracted Many Global Conflicts Go Ignored

As the world is distracted by an incoming Trump administration, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the conflicts between Israel and Iran, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, other equally, if not more, pressing tragedies are being ignored. 

Other countries are also experiencing severe crises characterized by escalating violence, political instability, and humanitarian emergencies. 

According to the AP, the United Nations warned Monday of rising food emergencies including starvation in Sudan due to the outbreak of war and in Haiti, Burkina Faso, and Mali due to restricted movements of people and goods. 

These four countries join Afghanistan and Myanmar at the highest alert levels, with communities that are already facing or projected to face starvation or otherwise risk a slide “towards catastrophic conditions.” 

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The UN Is Using Africa as a Testing Ground for Controversial Digital ID Systems

The United Nations (but not only) has clearly chosen to focus its push on introducing digital ID systems to some of the world’s developing countries, particularly in Africa.

What’s referred to in reports as “a comprehensive initiative” is now taking place across the continent, driven by the UN development agency UNDP, as well as the UN Innovation Network, and even UNESCO (Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). This is one of the components of what’s known as the UN’s Global Digital Compact.

Such initiatives are sold in those countries as a way to develop better access to services and improve “digital inclusion.”

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Russia’s Veto Of The UNSC Resolution On Sudan Saved It From A Neocolonialist Plot

The text was ambiguous about the authorities’ legitimacy even though they represent their country at the UN, didn’t call for the RSF to cease its attacks against the SAF, could have led to more arms smuggling to the group under the cover of aid, eroded Sudan’s sovereignty via the ICC, and could have led to a disastrous military intervention.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy railed against Russia at the UNSC on Monday following the latter’s veto of a draft ceasefire resolution in Sudan, which Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy responded to right afterwards. His words can be read in full here and will be summarized in the present piece, but before doing so, here are five background briefings for readers to review if they forgot about the origins of this conflict or weren’t aware of them to begin with:

* 16 April 2023: “Sudan’s ‘Deep State’ War Could Have Far-Reaching Geostrategic Consequences If It Continues”

* 21 April 2023: “Here’s Why The US Is Trying To Pin The Blame For Sudan’s ‘Deep State’ War On Russia”

* 27 April 2023: “Russia Is Right: ‘Political Engineering’ From Abroad Is Responsible For The Sudanese Crisis”

* 4 May 2023: “The Mainstream Media’s Admissions That American Meddling Ruined Sudan Are Misleading”

* 15 July 2023: “Sudan’s Neighbors Signaled That They’re Disinterested In Fighting A Divide-And-Rule Proxy War”

To oversimplify, the rivalry between Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”) exploded in spring 2023, exacerbated as it was by foreign pressure to complete the political transition. Burhan didn’t believe the rumors that the RSF was backed by Wagner, which were spread to pressure him into scrapping Sudan’s plans to host a Russian naval facility in exchange for Western support.

The military dimension of the conflict has since stalemated even though the humanitarian consequences continue to worsen. An estimated 24.8 million people out of the country’s nearly 50 million total population are now in need of humanitarian assistance, there are over 8 million internally displaced people, and 3 million fled abroad as refugees. These startling facts are the reason why the UNSC tabled the latest draft resolution for a ceasefire, but as could have been expected, the West sought to exploit it.

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Like Biden, don’t expect Trump to pay much attention to Africa

As commentators assess the implications of Donald Trump’s election victory for the United States and the world, various publications have asked what Trump’s return will mean for their continent. In one well-informed analysis, the BBC’s Wedaeli Chibelushi highlights “trade, aid, and security” as key sectors. We can also ask what might change in terms of Washington’s political relationships with various African countries, and how such changes would affect the overall balance of U.S. primacy versus restraint.

An initial caveat is necessary – of all the world’s regions, Trump and his team will likely not be thinking much about Africa. When Professor Stephen Walt recently assessed “The 10 Foreign-Policy Implications of the 2024 U.S. Election,” for example, he did not mention Africa – and that’s because the Middle East, Ukraine, NATO, and China, among other issues, will likely consume much more of Trump’s attention than the African continent will.

If Trump ignores Africa, that would be in keeping with a bipartisan neglect of the continent from the time of Barack Obama through the present. Obama and Joe Biden each held a “U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit” (in 2014 and 2022, respectively), but across the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, Africa was approached mostly as a theater for counterterrorism, trade, and global influence, rather than as having intrinsic importance to Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris would likely have replicated the largely performative, status quo-friendly approach of Biden. Although Harris had a deep bench of Africa hands on her campaign, that depth more reflects the long line of aspirants who line up for foreign policy jobs in Democratic administrations, more than a now-dashed promise of transformation. Biden and Harris will leave office with little to show for their Africa policy beyond the summit and a slate of high-profile but low-substance trips, including Biden’s upcoming visit to Angola.

As Trump takes office, there will be something of an opportunity for diplomatic outreach and “reset” with Africa. So far, Trump’s picks for top foreign policy postings do not include anyone with a pronounced interest in African affairs and his victory has elicited more mixed reactions in Africa than one might expect. Despite his infamous “shithole countries” comment and his numerous racist and Islamophobic remarks, many ordinary Africans admire Trump’s entrepreneurial career, socially conservative platform, and outspokenness. Various African leaders were quick to congratulate the comeback candidate. Trump is, however, likely unaware of and relatively indifferent to whatever opportunity exists for engagement, and so it will probably slip by.

If “personnel is policy,” Trump’s first term did not bring any shocking or unusual appointments for civilian posts related to Africa, and his second term may not either; the true ideologues and hawks are likely to gravitate towards Iran policy, for example. During his first term, Trump appointed veteran diplomat Tibor Nagy as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, think tanker J. Peter Pham as Special Envoy for the Sahel, and another veteran diplomat, Donald Booth, as Special Envoy for Sudan. The situation in the Sahel and Sudan was worse when Trump’s term ended than when it began: a massacre in Sudan in June 2019 brought no consequences for its perpetrators, and Mali witnessed a coup in 2020. Yet those outcomes cannot be laid solely at the feet of the Trump administration. Tellingly, the situation in the Sahel and Sudan in 2024 is also worse than it was when Biden took office, so neither administration earns high marks here.

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New survey says over 61 thousand dead in Sudan’s Khartoum state with death toll likely higher than reported

More than 61,000 people are estimated to have died in Khartoum state during the first 14 months of Sudan’s war, with evidence suggesting the toll from the devastating conflict is significantly higher than previously recorded, according to a new report by researchers in Britain and Sudan.

The estimate includes some 26,000 people who suffered violent deaths, a higher figure than one currently used by the United Nations for the entire country.

The preprint study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group, released on Wednesday before peer review, suggested that starvation and disease are increasingly becoming the leading causes of death reported across Sudan.

The estimated deaths from all causes in Khartoum state were at a rate 50 percent higher than the national average before the conflict between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023, researchers said.

The UN says the conflict has driven 11 million people from their homes and unleashed the world’s biggest hunger crisis. Nearly 25 million people – half of Sudan’s population – need aid as famine has taken hold in at least one displacement camp.

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Deep State Kicks Off 2024 Pandemic with Monkeypox “Scare” in Africa

It’s 2024, so it’s time for another global health panscamdemic.

The WHO has declared another “global health emergency,” according to the BBC.

Questions remain about exactly how Monkeypox is spreading, since the WHO and even NBC have indicated that Monkeypox is largely transmitted via promiscuous sexual behavior.

The WHO also recommended that homosexual males reduce the amount of intercourse they have to help prevent the rapid transmission of the virus.

Unfortunately, so-called “health” officials in the U.S. are still employed, and are likely to play along.

Texas was among the first states to report a Monkeypox-infected death back in 2022, the last time the Deep State tried to make Monkeypox happen.

Georgetown University, a supposedly Catholic institution, hopped aboard the God-hating globalist plan to impose medical tyranny citing Monkeypox in 2022 by bringing back mask mandates well after the COVID scam had run its course.

One case of K9 monkeypox in 2022 was attributed to the dog’s gay French owners.

Monkeypox has flown under the radar for most Americans.

But not for Anthony Fauci and Joe Biden.

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WHO Schedules Emergency Meeting Over Mpox Outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed it will hold an emergency meeting on mpox and whether to declare the virus as “a public health emergency of international concern,” its director-general confirmed over the weekend.

The emergency meeting will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 14, to see if mpox, a virus known as monkeypox that has been spreading in about 10 African nations, should prompt the international emergency, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media.

“If so, it will advise me on the temporary recommendations on how to better prevent and reduce the spread of the disease and manage the global public health response,” he said.

A public health emergency of international concern is the WHO’s highest alarm and allows the U.N. agency to use emergency responses under its international health regulations. Since 2005, there have been seven such declarations, including for COVID-19 in 2020, the zika virus epidemic in 2015, and previous mpox outbreaks in 2022 and 2023.

Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to people from infected animals but can be passed from person to person via close physical contact. Symptoms include boil-like skin lesions and rashes, a fever, and muscle aches.

Officials say that a different strain of the virus known as Clade I that is currently impacting several African countries may cause more severe illness than the variant that caused a worldwide outbreak in 2022, known as Clade II.

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Ukraine’s ‘terrorist nature’ on full display in Mali, where it supports rebels — MFA

Russia doesn’t want the world to forget that Kiev is supporting terrorism in Mali, so it will continue to shine a light on this in the international arena, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“On August 4, the transitional government of Mali published an official statement about the ‘immediate’ severing of diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Precipitating this move were statements from Ukrainian officials (the spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence, Andrey Yusov, and Ambassador to Senegal Yury Pivovarov) about Kiev aiding terrorist forces that carried out an attack on a convoy of Malian servicemen in northern Mali in late July,” the diplomat pointed out. “We will continue to direct the world community’s attention, including at multilateral platforms, to Kiev’s barbaric behavior,” she underscored.

Zakharova emphasized that the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime is becoming more and more apparent to the whole world. “Having failed to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the criminal regime of Vladimir Zelensky decided to open a ‘second front’ in Africa. He and his accomplices are pampering terrorist groups in Moscow-friendly states of the continent,” she stressed.

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