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☆ EU executive says aid payments for Somalia 'temporarily suspended'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsUNITED NATIONS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Tuesday that disbursements of humanitarian aid in Somalia were "temporarily suspended" after a U.N. probe found widespread theft and misuse of support meant to avert famine. Quoting senior EU officials, Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that the European Commission had temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia because of the U.N. findings. Donors boosted funding to Somalia last year as humanitarian officials warned of a looming famine due to the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades. The U.N. humanitarian aid budget for Somalia is envisaged at 72 million euros ($77 million), of which 10 million euros ($10.68 million) are earmarked for the WFP. Three months ago the WFP and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended food aid to neighboring Ethiopia in response to a widespread diversion of donations.

Persons: Ayenat, Balazs Ujvari, Gabriela Baczynska, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, European, Reuters, European Commission, Food Programme, WFP, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Thomson Locations: Dollow, Somalia, Muri, Mogadishu, United States, Ethiopia

The second senior EU official confirmed that. A third source, also an EU official, said the Commission was "cooperating actively with WFP to resolve systemic defects" but said no aid was suspended at this stage. Last year, it contributed more than half of the $2.2 billion of funding that went to the humanitarian response there. The U.N. report did not attempt to quantify the amount of aid that was diverted but said its findings "suggest that post-delivery aid diversion in Somalia is widespread and systemic". In all, investigators collected data from 55 IDP sites in Somalia and found aid diversion in all of them, the report said.

Persons: Ayenat, Balazs Ujvari, Antonio Guterres, Devex, Jessica Jennings, gatekeepers, Gabriela Baczynska, Michelle Nichols, Aaron Ross, Emma Farge, Daphne Psaledakis, Joe Bavier, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, European Union, Food Programme, Reuters, European Commission, EU, WFP, U.N, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, European, Somali Disaster Management Office, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Dollow, Somalia, NAIROBI, GENEVA, Ethiopia, United States, Nairobi, Geneva

[1/5] Participants react with Pride rainbow flags as they attend the Badilika festival to celebrate the LGBT rights in Nairobi, Kenya, June 11, 2023. Some regional lawmakers frame the issue as an almost existential battle to save African values and sovereignty, which they say have been battered by Western pressure to capitulate on gay rights. Spokespeople for the Kenyan presidency and government didn't respond to requests for comment about the proposed bill. Several called for legislation to strengthen penalties for same-sex acts, including the deputy majority leader, who said gay sex could be punished by hanging. President William Ruto, an evangelical Christian, has criticized a February supreme court decision allowing an LGBT rights group to register as a non-governmental organization.

Persons: Mohamed Ali doesn't, Ali, Weeks, Bill, Yoweri Museveni, Annette Atieno, John Agany, Jacqueline Ngonyani, Ngonyani, Damas Ndumbaro, William Ruto, Peter Kaluma, Uganda's, Kaluma, U.S . State Department didn't, Stella Kachina, Marylize Biubwa, Lorna Dias, Dias, Nuzulack Dausen, Waakhe Simon Wudu, Daphne Psaledakis, Estelle Shirbon, Aaron Ross, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Kenyan, National Gay, Human Rights Commission, U.S . State Department, East, NAIROBI PRIDE, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of, Thomson Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, NAIROBI, East Africa, Juba, United, Africa, Entebbe, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, Ruto, Dar es, Washington

Now, according to an internal U.N. estimate obtained by Reuters, 5 million additional people in Sudan will require emergency assistance, half of them children. Even before the latest crisis, U.N. humanitarian appeals for Africa faced a $17-billion funding gap this year, risking leaving millions without lifesaving assistance. Last year, it spent a third of its overseas aid budget housing refugees inside the UK, a British aid watchdog said in March. Sudan was hosting over 1 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Syria, before the outbreak of fighting last month. Aid workers have been killed, food aid looted, and WFP says it's running out of stocks.

☆ Sudan military faction chiefs agree May 4-11 truce in princple -South Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Mohamed Noureldin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The credibility of the reported May 4-11 deal ceasefire deal between Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support forces (RSF) leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was unclear, given the rampant violations that undermined previous agreements running from 24 to 72 hours. "The entire region could be affected," he said in an interview with a Japanese newspaper on Tuesday as an envoy from Sudan's army chief, who leads one of the warring sides, met Egyptian officials in Cairo. United Nations officials had said U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths aimed to visit Sudan on Tuesday but the timing was still to be confirmed. "The risk is that this is not just going to be a Sudan crisis, it's going to be a regional crisis," said Michael Dunford, the WFP's East Africa director. That has raised the spectre of a prolonged conflict that could draw in outside powers.

☆ Famine still stalks Somalia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Internally displaced Somali children gather outside their makeshift shelters at the Ladan camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Dollow, Somalia May 1, 2023. Five consecutive failed rainy seasons pushed the fragile nation to the brink of famine, and this year is unlikely to be much different. Somalia managed to avert an official famine declaration last year thanks to a massive influx of humanitarian aid, but tragedies like Omar's persist. Even without the famine declaration, there were 43,000 excess deaths in Somalia in 2022 linked to the drought, researchers found. 'KEEP FAMINE AT BAY'"We're not out of the woods with regards to famine.

☆ Airstrikes, artillery fire heard in Khartoum as Sudan fighting enters third week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, April 29 (Reuters) - The sounds of air strikes, anti-aircraft weaponry and artillery could be heard in Khartoum early on Saturday and dark smoke rose over parts of the city, as fighting in Sudan entered a third week. Fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force continued despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire extension on Friday, when strikes by air, tanks and artillery rocked Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Bahri and Ombdurman. The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week. More than 75,000 people were internally displaced within Sudan just in the first week of the fighting, according to the United Nations. The U.S. said several hundred Americans had departed Sudan by land, sea or air.

☆ Children account for majority of Kenyan cult deaths, interior minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Followers of the Good News International Church near the coastal town of Malindi reportedly believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves. "The reports we are getting are that many of the recoveries are of children... Children are the majority, followed by women. "The preliminary reports we are getting is that some of the victims may not have died of starvation. REUTERS/Joseph OkangaPASTORS ARRESTEDThe leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, has been in police custody since April 14. On Thursday, he did not respond to questions from journalists as he was escorted into a police station.

☆ Number of bodies exhumed from suspected Kenyan cult graves jumps to 47
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Humphrey Malalo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/StringerNAIROBI, April 23 (Reuters) - Kenyan police have now exhumed the bodies of 47 people thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. Police near the coastal town of Malindi started exhuming bodies on Friday from the Shakahola forest. "In total, 47 people have died at the Shakahola forest," detective Charles Kamau told Reuters on Sunday. The leader of the church, Paul Mackenzie, was arrested following a tip-off that suggested the existence of shallow graves belonging to at least 31 of Mackenzie's followers. Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the entire 800 acre forest had been sealed off and declared a scene of crime.

☆ Ethiopia to begin negotiations with OLA rebel group
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 23 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his government will begin negotiations with rebel group the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Tanzania on Tuesday. "A negotiation with Oneg Shene will start a day after tomorrow in Tanzania," Abiy said on Sunday, using another name for the OLA. The OLA is an outlawed splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front, a formerly banned opposition party that returned from exile after Abiy took office in 2018. In October, the OLA and another Oromo group blamed the Ethiopian government for airstrikes they said had killed a number of civilians. The fighting between the OLA and the federal government is separate to the fighting in Tigray, but the OLA forged an alliance with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in 2021.

☆ Court rules Meta can be sued in Kenya over alleged unlawful redundancies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In response, Judge Matthews Nduma issued an interim injunction against Meta and Sama preventing them from terminating the moderators' contracts, pending a judgment on the legality of their redundancy. "The court finds that this court has jurisdiction to determine the matter of alleged unlawful and unfair termination of employment on grounds of redundancy," Nduma said on Thursday. Meta, Sama and Majorel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. The cases could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The U.S. giant works with thousands of moderators around the world, tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform.

☆ For LGBTQ Kenyans, court win prompts backlash as threats escalate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NAIROBI, April 18 (Reuters) - For Kenya's lesbians and gays, a supreme court ruling allowing the rights body that represents their interests to register as a non-governmental organisation has turned out to be a mixed blessing. But, in a country where same-sex acts remain punishable by up to 14 years in prison, the ruling has also led to a menacing backlash. An LGBT activist wears a badge as he attends a court hearing in the Milimani high Court in Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya. For now, Kenya is still seen as a relative haven for LGBTQ people in a hostile region. For Kevin Mwachiro, an LGBTQ activist for 15 years, this is the most challenging time that the community inside Kenya has experienced.

☆ Kenyan opposition leader Odinga suspends anti-government protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, April 2 (Reuters) - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Sunday he was suspending anti-government protests and was ready for talks after an appeal from President William Ruto, though he warned that demonstrations could restart in days. Thousands have joined three marches over the past two weeks against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's vote. If there was "no meaningful engagement or response" from Ruto, the protests would begin again in one week, Odinga said. Odinga also said that the opposition would engage the government on the high cost of living, which had galvanized many protesters. "At times like this, we should go back to subsidies ... so that the cost of living can come down," Odinga said.

☆ Renewed protests in Kenya as authorities vow to 'halt the descent'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In Mathare, a low-income settlement in Nairobi, protesters used improvised catapults to launch stones at police in riot gear, footage on Kenyan television showed. Local television stations on Thursday showed tires ablaze in Kibera and in Kisumu, near Odinga's ancestral home. During the previous two protests, they have fired tear gas and water cannon. The government says two civilians have been killed and more than 130 people, including 51 police officers, injured in protests since last week. Reporting by Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Aaron Ross and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kenya police, crowds clash in third wave of price rise protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Thousands joined marches called by opposition leader Raila Odinga against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's vote. The government has said the vote was fair, defended its economic record and called for the protests to stop. "We are telling our elder Raila Odinga, the only way to get into government is through the ballot." Odinga's spokesperson Dennis Onyango accused Malala of "ethnic profiling", saying he had assumed the attackers were Odinga supporters because they were from his ethnic group. Odinga, who has run for president five times, challenged Ruto's victory in August's election, but the Supreme Court upheld the result unanimously.

REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaNAIROBI, March 20 (Reuters) - Kenyan police tear gassed the leader of the opposition on Monday and arrested senior lawmakers in his parliamentary faction, as protesters took to the streets to march against President William Ruto and the high cost of living. Police officers in riot gear fired tear gas at hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in the capital Nairobi's vast Kibera slum, who chanted: "Ruto must go." We've had enough," said one protester, who asked not to be identified, as tear gas swirled around her. Police used tear gas and a water cannon to prevent Odinga's convoy from driving towards the president's State House residence to deliver a petition. Tear gas engulfed the vehicle as he spoke, calling for protests every Monday until the cost of living comes down.

☆ Content moderators sue Meta over alleged 'union-busting' in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, March 20 (Reuters) - Facebook content moderators in Kenya are suing the social media site's parent company Meta (META.O) and two outsourcing companies for unlawful redundancy, a rights group said on Monday. The 43 applicants say they lost their jobs with Sama, a Kenya-based firm contracted to moderate Facebook content, for organising a union. They also say they were blacklisted from applying for the same roles at another outsourcing firm, Majorel, after Facebook switched contractors. The court cases could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The moderators accuse Meta of instructing Majorel not to hire any moderators previously employed by Sama, according to the court petition.

REUTERS/Monicah MwangiNAIROBI, March 20 (Reuters) - Kenyan police fired tear gas and arrested several senior opposition politicians as hundreds of people protested against President William Ruto, the high cost of living and claims of cheating in last year's election. Raila Odinga, who lost to Ruto in August's poll, has urged nationwide protests as he attempts to harness dissatisfaction with the president. Police officers in riot gear fired tear gas at hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in the capital Nairobi's vast Kibera slum, who chanted: "Ruto must go." They also used tear gas to disperse demonstrators trying to gather in the Central Business District, from where Odinga has called for a march toward the president's State House residence, Reuters reporters said. In the western city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold, police fired barrages of tear gas in the direction of protesters who had started fires in the road, footage on Citizen TV showed.

☆ Fleeing drought, Somalis face malnutrition and cholera in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a ward for severely malnourished children, Ismael said her baby's condition had not improved since arriving at Dadaab. Severe malnourishment had made the baby's head swell with liquid - a common effect of malnutrition in children. In the past two years, the drought has displaced one million Somalis and about 100,000 have fled to Kenya, according to the United Nations. In the past year, 32 children have died of malnutrition in the section of the camp run by the IRC, Ngao said. "This was the worst drought I have ever seen," he said.

☆ Meta appeals Kenyan court's decision it can be sued in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Facebook parent company Meta (META.O) has filed an appeal in Kenya challenging a ruling that said the company could be sued in the East African country even though it has no official presence there. A Kenyan labour court earlier this month ruled that Meta could be sued in the country after a former content moderator filed a lawsuit alleging poor working conditions. In the appeal, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, the U.S. company disputed the court's finding that Kenyan courts had jurisdiction over Meta. Meta outsourced its content moderation work via Sama, a U.S.-headquartered company with operations in Kenya. The lawsuit was filed by former content moderator Daniel Motaung on behalf of a group of former Sama employees.

☆ Eritrea president says rights violations by Eritrean troops in Ethiopia "a fantasy"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki said on Thursday that reports of Eritrean troops committing human rights violations during the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region were "a fantasy" and "misinformation". Eritrean troops fought alongside the Ethiopian military and allied militias in the bloody two-year conflict that pitted the Ethiopian government against rebellious forces in the northern region of Tigray. In November, the Ethiopia government and the Tigray forces signed an agreement to end the hostilities. During the war, Eritrean troops were accused by residents and human rights groups of various abuses, including the killing of hundreds of civilians in Axum during a 24-hour period in November 2020. At a news conference in Nairobi Afwerki called the allegations of human rights abuses by Eritrean troops "a fantasy of those who went to derail the peace process... a factory of fabricating misinformation."

☆ Meta can be sued in Kenya by ex-content moderator, the country's court rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Stringer/File PhotoNAIROBI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A labour court in Kenya ruled on Monday that Meta (META.O), the parent company of Facebook, can be sued in the East African country after a former content moderator filed a lawsuit against it alleging poor working conditions. The lawsuit was filed by one person on behalf of a group and was also filed against Meta's local outsourcing company Sama. The decision from Kenya's employment and labour relations court could have implications for how Meta works with content moderators globally. The U.S. company works with thousands of moderators around the world, tasked with reviewing graphic content posted on its platform. Meta is also facing another lawsuit in Kenya.

☆ South Sudan's displaced hope pope's visit will bring peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Waakhe Simon Wudu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy, January 25, 2023. Pope Francis is due to go to Congo from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 and then spend two days in South Sudan. South Sudan gained independence in 2011. There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan and another 2.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to the UN. The UN said 7.76 million people - about two-thirds of South Sudan - are likely to face acute food insecurity this year.

☆ Gabon's foreign minister dies of heart attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Gabonese Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo poses for a picture during a Reuters interview at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie/File PhotoLIBREVILLE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Gabon's Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo died on Friday of a heart attack, President Ali Bongo said in a statement. Three government sources said that he was in a council of ministers meeting when he suffered the cardiac attack. He was rushed to the hospital and died shortly after midday despite specialist treatment, said a government statement. Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome Writing by Nellie Peyton Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Journalists detained over footage appearing to show South Sudan president wet himself
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, Jan 7 - Six journalists in South Sudan have been detained over the circulation of footage showing President Salva Kiir appearing to wet himself at an official event, the national journalists union said on Saturday. The journalists, who work with the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, were detained on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Patrick Oyet, president of the South Sudan Union of Journalists. South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei and National Security Service spokesperson David Kumuri did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kiir has been president since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. The detained journalists are camera operators Joseph Oliver and Mustafa Osman; video editor Victor Lado; contributor Jacob Benjamin; and Cherbek Ruben and Joval Toombe from the control room, Oyet said.

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