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SIERRA LEONE: Little New Year cheer for beggars

January 1, 2013 Image 2949

As in many African cities, beggars in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown face extremely difficult conditions. In a city wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and steep hills, beggars are engaged in a battle for survival, struggling to find food and shelter in an ever-expanding  city, whose population is now estimated to have gone over the one million mark. Many live out on the street, including amputees, who received hideous wounds during the civil war, and former combatants, struggling to find jobs in a city with a chronic unemployment problem.

SENEGAL: A Dakar trial for Hissène Habre?

December 30, 2012 Image 2946

After years of waiting, former Chadian President Hissène Habre now looks much closer to standing trial.

Addressing Senegal’s national assembly, Prime Minister, Abdul M’baye has said his country must respect the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and push ahead with the trial of Chad’s former head of state, Hissène  Habre. M’baye himself has faced accusations of helping to launder money on behalf of Habre when he was a senior banker in Dakar, accusations which M’Baye has firmly refuted.

GUINEA: Looking back at 2012

December 28, 2012 Image 2943

“I am convinced that Guinea can show before the eyes of the world that the ‘African Spring’ is not an abstract concept, but a political and economic reality”.

 

Those were the words of President Alpha Condé, delivered at the ceremony marking the 54th anniversary of Guinea’s independence, held in the town of Boké, 200 kilometres from Conakry.  This was the first time national independence celebrations had been held outside the capital, Conakry.

AU: Making solidarity count

December 28, 2012 Image 2942

In July 2012, Foreign Ministers from across the African Union, working with the AU Commission, launched the African Solidarity Initiative (ASI) in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The ministers called on African countries to lend a hand to post-conflict countries in urgent need of reconstruction.

MALI : President Traoré appeals for unity

December 27, 2012 Image 2941

Mali’s interim President has appealed for an end to division within the country’s armed forces, which could undermine the government’s efforts to recapture the north, which is currently occupied by Islamist armed groups.

World Bank Nods At Senegal Graft Probe

December 14, 2012 World Bank MD Sri Mulyanui Indrawati

An official of the World Bank has welcomed the Senegalese government’s quest to recover state resources allegedly siphoned by officials of the government of ex-President Abdoulaye Wade..

Those under investigation, including Wade’s son Karim, face accusations of amassing ill-gotten fortunes running into millions of dollars.

Ghana: Ruling, opposition parties in post-poll clash

December 14, 2012 Image 2938

As the leader of Ghana’s main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, continues to reject incumbent President John Mahama’s election victory, tension is running high and leading to violence on the streets.

The friction between the two political camps played out violently in two of the biggest markets in the Ghanaian capital Accra yesterday, with NPP and the ruling NDC party supporters clashing.

Nigerians React To State Governors’ $4bn Request

December 14, 2012 Nigerian Governors' Forum chairman Rotimi Amaechi

In Nigeria, the controversy surrounding attempts by Governors the country’s 36 States to obtain loans worth four billion US dollars have continued to trigger heated debate.

This comes hard on the heels of the escalating borrowings undertaken by the Nigerian Federal Government itself.

S. Leone suffers safe drinking water hiccup

December 14, 2012 An African child gets a drink of clean water

Most communities in Sierra Leone, including the capital, Freetown, are facing serious shortages of safe drinking water, with the most affected being children and women who become vulnerable to water-borne diseases.

According to the 2011 State of the World Children report, the lives of nearly 4,000 children could be saved in Sierra Leone, if it met the Millennium Development Goals to halve the proportion of people without safe drinking water by 2015.

Nigerian Governors Want Gov’t Approve $4bn for States

December 13, 2012 Nigerian Governors' Forum chairman Rotimi Amaechi

Governors of all 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory Administration are pressing the National Assembly to grant them permission to acquire a three billion US dollar loan.

The request is among the resolutions of the Nigeria Governors' Forum reached after a meeting on Tuesday in the capital Abuja.