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☆ Tanzania Arrests 520 People in Mass Opposition Crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Tanzanian police said on Tuesday they had arrested more than 500 people, including top opposition leaders, as they planned to attend a youth rally, a stunning development in the East African nation where a pathbreaking female president had once promised to restore political freedoms. Some 520 people were arrested across the country ahead of a Monday rally in the southwestern city of Mbeya, Awadh J. Haji, the police commissioner for operations and training, said in a statement. The police, he said, also seized 25 vehicles that had been transporting people going to the rally and officials from different regions in the country. The rally was organized by the opposition Chadema party, which said it wanted to mark International Youth Day. “Their goal is not to celebrate International Youth Day, but to initiate and commit violence to cause disruption of peace in the country,” Mr. Haji said.

Persons: Awadh J, Haji, “, Mr Locations: East, Mbeya, Awadh, Kenya

☆ First Famine Declared in War-Torn Darfur Region of Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Famine has officially been declared in a city in Sudan’s Darfur region that has been under siege in the midst of the country’s 15-month long civil war, two organizations that monitor world hunger announced on Thursday. People who fled to a camp known as Zamzam near the city of El Fasher, in North Darfur state, have been facing famine since June, and no food aid is reaching them, prompting the official declaration, the agencies said. The Zamzam camp has grown recently and now holds about half a million people. An official declaration of famine is rare, and is intended to prompt a response from donor governments and aid groups. This one shows how the war between rival military factions has plunged a fertile nation once considered a global breadbasket into a deepening hunger and humanitarian crisis.

Locations: Sudan’s Darfur, El Fasher, North Darfur

☆ Drones Target Sudan Army Base During Top General’s Visit
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Sudanese army spokesman, Nabil Abdallah, told the BBC that General al-Burhan had survived an assassination attempt, and blamed it on the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that has been battling the army for power for 15 months. A military spokesman could not be reached for comment. In statements posted on social media, the military did not say whether General al-Burhan had been hurt or where he was during the attack. But it posted videos showing him interacting with the soldiers and members of the public before and after the graduation ceremony. The paramilitary group’s media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Nabil Abdallah, al Organizations: Sudanese, BBC, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Gebeit, Port Sudan

☆ Their Parents Fled War. Now South Sudan’s Young Team Is in the Olympics.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When South Sudan’s young basketball team took to the court for an exhibition game against America’s basketball royalty, there were few expectations that they could hold on against the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Then they lost by just one point, 101-100, stunning not only their loyal followers, but also the team’s players, who had grown up revering the N.B.A. The South Sudanese will face the United States again Wednesday, this time at the Paris Olympics, and with the Americans now on notice, the odds are distinctly against the African team. But for many of their fans in Africa and elsewhere, that is beside the point. Despite having no place of their own to train, the team won the only slot open to Africa for men’s basketball.

Persons: LeBron James, Stephen Curry, — James Organizations: America’s, South, Paris Olympics, men’s, Puerto Rico, Games Locations: South Sudanese, United States, Africa, Puerto, Paris

☆ Did Police in Kenya Catch a Serial Killer or Coerce a Confession?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Brian Otieno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A 26-year-old hair braider named Josephine Owino disappeared one morning last month in the sprawling shantytown of Mukuru Kwa Njenga in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after going out suddenly to see someone who had just phoned. Ms. Owino’s younger sister, Peris Keya, was desperate to find her, and went to three police stations pleading for help. But nothing happened until Ms. Keya said she had a startling dream one night: Her sister appeared, led her up a hill and begged her to search in a pool of water. The dump was searched only because Ms. Keya, 24, beseeched some local men to help, paying them for the grisly task. On Monday, the Kenyan police announced that they had arrested a suspected serial killer, who they said had confessed to killing 42 women, including his own wife, in the past two years, and throwing them into the dump.

Persons: Josephine Owino, Owino’s, Peris Keya, Keya Organizations: Kenyan police Locations: Kwa, Kenya’s, Nairobi

☆ With Rivals Restricted, Kagame Looks Set for Another Term in Rwanda
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The winding roads to this town in northern Rwanda were lined with election posters for the man who has been president for decades: Paul Kagame. Businesses were ordered shut and women swept the streets before the president’s convoy swooshed by, heading for a huge rally in a stadium bedecked with the governing party’s red, white and sky-blue colors. A day later, Mr. Kagame’s main challenger, Frank Habineza, arrived in the same town without a fanfare. His party’s colors — green, yellow and white — were absent from the now-busy streets. A few dozen people, many of them his own election workers, gathered under a tent by the street to listen to him.

Persons: Paul Kagame, Kagame’s, Frank Habineza Organizations: Security Locations: Rwanda

☆ Rwanda Says It Doesn’t Have to Repay U.K. for Scrapped Migration Plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rwanda does not have to repay the hundreds of millions of pounds it received from Britain as part of a contentious policy aimed at sending migrants on a one-way flight to the Central African nation, two senior Rwandan government officials say. As part of the deal, Britain was set to give Rwanda as much as about half a billion pounds in development funding in exchange for taking in the migrants. Britain’s independent public spending watchdog said in early March that the country had already paid Rwanda £220 million, about $280 million, even though no asylum seekers had been deported to the African nation. Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, scrapped the plan after taking over as the country’s leader last week. One of the Rwandan officials, Alain Mukuralinda, the government’s deputy spokesman, said on Wednesday that the agreement did not include a reimbursement clause.

Persons: Keir Starmer, Britain’s, Alain Mukuralinda Organizations: Central, Rwandan, Conservative Party, Channel Locations: Rwanda, Britain, Central African

☆ Scaled-Back but Determined Protests in Kenya Call for President to Resign
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Protesters returned to the streets of Kenya on Thursday, some of them demanding the resignation of President William Ruto, despite his announcement a day earlier that he was abandoning a tax bill that drew large-scale demonstrations in which nearly two dozen people were killed. On Thursday, a heavy police and military presence was visible across the capital, with officers in cars and trucks and on horseback guarding the roads leading to Parliament, the president’s official residence and several downtown streets. Much of the central business district remained closed as police officers chased and tear-gassed smaller crowds waving white roses. Some activists and opposition political leaders had urged demonstrators not to march toward the president’s official residence in Nairobi on Thursday for fear of more bloodshed. But others said the killings, shootings and abductions of those opposing the tax increases in recent days — which activists said were some of the bloodiest days in Kenya’s recent history — would not deter them from pushing Mr. Ruto to resign.

Persons: William Ruto, Ruto Locations: Kenya, Nairobi

☆ Tension and Tear Gas Linger in Kenya After Tax Protests Turn Deadly
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In downtown Nairobi, the capital, the strong smell of tear gas still wafted through the air after the clashes between protesters and the police. Large rocks and a burned car were strewed next to the City Hall offices that protesters had breached. Police officers also cordoned off the streets leading to Parliament and were not allowing pedestrians to pass. Although businesses were slowly reopening across Kenya, newspapers being sold on the streets of Nairobi captured the chaos of the previous day. “Pandemonium,” the front page of the Daily Nation newspaper said.

Persons: William Ruto Organizations: City Hall, Police, Daily Nation, The Star Locations: Kenya, East, Nairobi

☆ Obama’s Half Sister Is Among Those Tear-Gassed During Protests in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Auma Obama, an older half sister of former President Barack Obama, was tear-gassed on Tuesday while being interviewed live on CNN during protests in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. The protests were against the passage of a finance bill that raises taxes on many basic goods. They are demonstrating with flags and banners.”Ms. Obama then began choking in a spreading cloud of tear gas lobbed by the police. “We are being tear-gassed.”Ms. Obama grew up in Kenya and returned there as a community activist after studying and living in Germany and the United Kingdom. Her foundation in Kenya, Sauti Kuu, or Powerful Voices, serves children and young people, particularly from urban slums and rural communities.

Persons: Auma Obama, Barack Obama, Obama, “, ”, “ Young, Ms, Sauti Organizations: CNN, Kenyan Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Germany, United Kingdom

☆ Foreign Police Officers Land on the Ground in Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Frances Robles | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Foreign law enforcement officers began arriving in Haiti on Tuesday, more than year and a half after the prime minister there issued a plea to other countries for help to stop the rampant gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation. Footage shared on social media showed dozens of armed men in military fatigues filing out of a Kenya Airways plane at Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The officers are part of a deployment of police officers from eight nations who will fan out across the capital in an effort to wrest control of the city from dozens of armed groups that have attacked police stations, freed prisoners and killed with impunity. Since the appeal for international help went out in October 2022, more than 7,500 people have been killed by violence — more than 2,500 people so far this year alone, the United Nations said.

Persons: Haiti’s Toussaint Organizations: Kenya Airways, United Nations Locations: Haiti, Caribbean, Port

☆ Live Updates: Casualties Reported as Police Fire on Protesters in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The police used live fire and tear gas on protesters who marched on the Parliament building in an attempt to stop a vote on a contentious finance bill. The police used tear gas in an attempt to keep the protesters from approaching Parliament, and the sound of live fire rang out. Before Tuesday’s demonstration, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. But protesters have denounced other taxes, including on imported goods, and have urged the government to abandon the draft legislation. Image President William Ruto promised to be a champion of the poor, but critics say his administration has been marred by extravagant spending.

Persons: Faith Odhiambo, Odhiambo, Martha Koome, ”, Kasmuel McOure, William Ruto, Urs Flueeler, Ruto, Instagram, Mike, “, Kimani Ichung’wah, It’s, Anita Barasa, McOure, Mr Organizations: Amnesty International, Law Society of Kenya, Mr, Kenyan, Observers, KFC, Protesters Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, East, reneging, ”

☆ Anti-Tax Riots Rock Kenya, as President Vows Crackdown on ‘Treasonous’ Protesters
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and some broke into Parliament and briefly set fire to the entrance on Tuesday, after lawmakers approved tax increases that critics said would drive up the cost of living for millions. During the protests, the police fired tear gas and guns, plunging the capital into turmoil. At least five people were fatally shot and 31 others injured, according to Amnesty International and several prominent Kenyan civic organizations. The independent Kenya Human Rights Commission posted a video that showed police officers firing as protesters marched toward them. As tear gas wafted through the streets, some protesters climbed through the windows of Parliament after lawmakers voted 195 to 106 in favor of the tax bill on Tuesday, with supporters saying it would raise revenue for education and other essential services.

Persons: William Ruto, Ruto, ” Organizations: Amnesty International, Kenyan, Kenya Human Rights Locations: Kenya’s, Nairobi, Kenya

☆ Protests Driven by Younger People Aim to Push Kenya to Scrap Tax Rises
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before Tuesday’s demonstration, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Lawmakers in Parliament are set to debate and vote on proposed amendments to the bill on Tuesday. President William Ruto’s governing alliance has enough votes to pass it, although opposition leaders have rejected the measure in its totality. Once the bill has parliamentary approval, Mr. Ruto can sign it into law or send it back for amendments.

Persons: Faith Odhiambo, William Ruto’s, Ruto Organizations: Amnesty International, Law Society of Kenya Locations: Kenya, East

☆ Former Colonies Want France Out. This African Nation Says, Bienvenue!
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Guillem Sartorio | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After decades of wielding political, military and economic power across Africa, France is scaling back its presence on the continent as it faces significant resentment in many of its former colonies. Yet one nation has emerged as an exception: Rwanda. In return, French companies are scaling up their investments in Rwanda. The détente, which is being championed by Rwanda’s longtime leader, Paul Kagame, has garnered France a much-needed security partner in Africa and secured Rwanda millions of dollars in development and trade funds. “We have a partner in Kagame,” Hervé Berville, a French minister of state, said in an interview in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Persons: Rwanda’s, Paul Kagame, Emmanuel Macron, Kagame, ” Hervé Organizations: France Locations: Africa, France, Rwanda, Paris, French, Rwandan, Kigali

☆ Heavy Rains and Floods Sweep Cities Across East Africa
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least 200 people were killed and dozens more were injured across East Africa in recent days, officials and aid groups said, as torrential rains, floods and landslides pummeled towns and cities in a region already grappling with the devastating effects of the climate change crisis. The extreme rains unleashed a wave of destruction across Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi, flooding homes, demolishing businesses and leaving many people stranded on rooftops. The downpours exposed yet again the bad roads and poor drainage systems in some of the region’s biggest cities, which residents have persistently complained about. They also revealed how poor people, who live in sprawling shantytowns without access to proper roads, water or power, bear the biggest brunt of destructive floods.

Organizations: East Locations: East Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi

☆ Ugandan Court Upholds Draconian Anti-Gay Law
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday largely upheld a sweeping anti-gay law that President Yoweri Museveni signed last year, undermining the efforts of activists and rights groups to abolish legislation that drew worldwide condemnation and strained the East African nation’s relationship with the West. The legislation, which was signed into law by Mr. Museveni in May, calls for life imprisonment for anyone who engages in gay sex. But the law was popular in Uganda, a landlocked nation of over 48 million people, where religious and political leaders frequently inveigh against homosexuality. The fallout for Uganda will be watched closely in other African countries where anti-gay sentiment is on the rise and anti-gay legislation is under consideration, including Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania and South Sudan. In February, Ghana’s Parliament passed an anti-gay law, but the country’s president said that he would not sign it until the Supreme Court ruled on its constitutionality.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Museveni Organizations: East, West, World Bank Locations: Uganda’s, Uganda, United States, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Ghana’s

☆ Shabab Gunmen Penetrate Heavy Security to Besiege Hotel in Somalia
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five assailants with the terrorist group Al Shabab stormed a hotel in a highly fortified area close to Somalia’s presidential palace on Thursday night, engaging security forces for about 12 hours in sustained fighting that left three people dead and injured 27 — including members of parliament — before the militants were finally killed, according to Somali officials. The attack underscored Al Shabab’s enduring capacity to stage attacks on a high-profile target in the capital, despite an aggressive counteroffensive by the Somali government, backed by the U.S. military. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud promised to eliminate the group by fighting it militarily, ideologically and financially, when he came to power in mid-2022. The militants with Al Shabab, a Qaeda-linked group, stormed the SYL Hotel in central Mogadishu after 9:30 p.m. local time, a police spokesman, Kasim Ahmed Roble, said Friday. Video footage broadcast on local television showed mangled cars and widespread destruction near the hotel’s entrance, while debris and blood covered the hotel’s floors inside.

Persons: Al Shabab, —, Al, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Kasim Ahmed Roble Organizations: U.S . Locations: Somali, Mogadishu

☆ Somalia Faces ‘Pivotal Year’ as Crises Open on Several Fronts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | Brian Otieno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A 10-year defense and economic deal with Turkey to protect its seacoast and bolster its naval force. An agreement with the United States to construct five military bases for over $100 million. An enhanced defense cooperation accord with Uganda to boost the fight against the terrorist group Al Shabab. The three security pacts signed by Somalia in recent days underscore the increasing perils the Horn of Africa nation faces both internally and externally. Equally worrisome, tensions are growing between Somalia and its western neighbor, Ethiopia, over Somalia’s coastline — the longest in mainland Africa — threatening to set off a new conflict in a vital global shipping route in an increasingly volatile region.

Persons: Al Shabab Organizations: African Union Locations: Turkey, United States, Uganda, Somalia, of Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia’s, Africa

☆ Shaken by Grisly Killings of Women, Activists in Africa Demand Change
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A photograph of Grace Wangari Thuiya, a 24-year-old beautician who was killed in Nairobi, Kenya, in January. Her boyfriend assaulted and repeatedly stabbed her, police told her mother. Credit... Natalia Jidovanu for The New York Times

Persons: Grace Wangari Thuiya, Natalia Jidovanu Organizations: The New York Locations: Nairobi, Kenya

☆ ‘We’re Going to Stand Up’: Queer Literature is Booming in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As a queer teenager growing up in northern Nigeria, Arinze Ifeakandu often found himself searching for books that reflected what he felt. He scoured the book stands in Kano, the city where he lived, hoping to find stories that focused on L.G.B.T.Q. Ifeakandu wanted more. “I knew I wanted to write characters who are queer. That’s the only way I am going to show up on the page.”

Persons: Arinze Ifeakandu, Ifeakandu, “, ” Ifeakandu, ” Locations: Nigeria, Kano

☆ Kenyan Cult Leader Is Charged in the Deaths of 191 Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A doomsday cult leader whom the Kenyan authorities say ordered his congregants to starve themselves to death was charged on Tuesday, along with 29 others, with the murder of 191 children — in a case that has drawn global attention and brought widespread scrutiny over religious freedoms in the East African nation. The decision, by a court in the coastal town of Malindi, was handed down almost a month after a judge ordered that the cult leader, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, and his co-accused undergo mental health evaluations before facing any charges. Mr. Mackenzie, a pastor, and the other accused pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear before a court in early March. Since last April, hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from the 800-acre Shakahola Forest, where Mr. Mackenzie and his followers lived, with many buried in shallow graves. Dozens of other followers have been rescued, and hundreds more are missing, according to local officials.

Persons: Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, Mackenzie Locations: East, Malindi

☆ Kenya Plans to Bypass Court Order in Haiti Deployment
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kenya’s government will not await a court of appeal ruling before deploying its forces to Haiti, a senior government official said, further underscoring the government’s determination to move ahead with the proposed multinational force aimed at bringing stability to the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation. Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, the principal secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The New York Times in an interview that Kenya and Haiti were working to finalize a bilateral agreement in the next two weeks and that, once in place, Kenyan forces would immediately deploy. The declaration from Mr. Sing’Oei comes just a week after the country’s High Court blocked the deployment of 1,000 police officers, saying it could go ahead only if there was a “reciprocal arrangement” detailing the framework under which Kenyan forces can operate in Haiti. Mr. Sing’Oei said the High Court provided a legal pathway for the deployment, namely the bilateral reciprocal arrangement with Haiti. But he said the government was appealing the decision to a higher court anyway to seek clarifications on some findings the government “finds problematic.”

Persons: Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, Sing’Oei, Kenya’s Organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Kenyan Locations: Haiti, Caribbean, Kenya

The Kaunda suit has become a choice attire for African celebrities, elders and politicians in recent years, including one particularly high-profile convert — Kenya’s president, William Ruto. A single-breasted safari jacket with short or long sleeves and patch pockets — often worn with matching pants — it was initially made popular in the 1960s by Kenneth Kaunda, the first post-colonial president of Zambia. But the Kaunda suit was banned from the Kenyan Parliament this week, along with other forms of traditional African dress and tightly-fitted clothing for women. The Kenyan speaker of Parliament decreed that such attire violates the parliamentary dress code — which largely conforms to a modern Western working wardrobe. A fashion trend like the Kaunda suit “does not accord with the seriousness of the proceedings of the house and its committees,” Moses Wetangula, the speaker of the Parliament, said in a speech on Tuesday.

Persons: Kaunda, —, William Ruto, Kenneth Kaunda, “, ” Moses Wetangula Organizations: Kenyan Locations: Zambia

☆ Kenya’s Leader Lifts His Global Profile. At Home, the Public Fumes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He has taken dozens of trips abroad boosting his credentials on climate change, while raising taxes at home. He pledged to send his country’s police to quash gang violence in Haiti, though they stand accused of brutality at home. And he recently hosted an eight-course state dinner for King Charles III, amid skyrocketing food and fuel prices. Kenya’s president, William Ruto, is facing searing criticism and mounting public anger just over one year since he took power after a tightly contested election. Mr. Mwaniki, who had worked closely with Mr. Ruto and his allies, said he’s been apologizing to constituents he had convinced to vote for Mr. Ruto.

Persons: King Charles III, William Ruto, Ruto, ”, Antony Ikonya Mwaniki, Mwaniki, he’s Locations: Haiti, Kiambu County, Nairobi

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