The West African nation of Togo has eliminated human African trypanosomiasis or “sleeping sickness” as a public health problem, becoming the first in the continent to achieve the milestone, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said. “Togo is a pathfinder in eliminating sleeping sickness, a disease which has threatened millions of Africans,” Dr. Matshidiso…
Ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir appeared in court on Tuesday at the start of a trial over the military coup in which he took power in 1989. Giving his profession as “former president of the republic”, Bashir seemed in good physical condition as he appeared in a metal courtroom cage wearing white prison-issue clothes and…
The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) on Monday said Paul Rusesabagina, a model for the starring role of the film Hotel Rwanda, was arrested for being suspected of founding and sponsoring “terror outfits.. operating out of various places in the region and abroad.” He is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of “violent,…
Ghana’s capital city Accra was selected as the venue of next year’s Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB). The announcement was made at the conclusion of this year’s event which was held virtually from Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, where the AfDB is headquartered, due to restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was…
Zimbabwe’s national drug procurer NatPharm has assured Zimbabweans on second-line regimen antiretroviral (ARV) treatment that the currently low stocks of medication will soon be replenished. The assurance came amid concerns among those who take second-line ARVs over the supply of drugs after the National AIDS Council last week said that stocks for the second-line regimen…
Work for the construction of the first wind power plant in Mozambique is currently underway in Namaacha district in the southern province of Maputo, the country’s national radio station RM reported on Monday. The private infrastructure, worth about 280 million U.S. dollars, is expected to have the capacity to produce an average of 120 megawatts…
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday called for the utilization of knowledge gained from the global and national response to COVID-19 in the national roll-out of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Kenyatta who opened a COVID-19 virtual conference organized by the Council of Governors on building resilience to deal with future pandemics said UHC, which is…
More than 27,700 Ethiopian migrants have been repatriated home since April this year, this is according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In its latest COVID-19 response update for Ethiopia on Saturday, the UN Migration agency said that Between April 1 and August 27, Ethiopia received over 27,700 returnees. The returnees include 6,944 from…
Egypt’s Giza Zoo, the largest in the country, has recently reopened its doors to the public after a six-month closure amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The move came after the government’s recent decision to reopen some parks with a limited daily number of tickets to be sold. “We currently receive up to 3,500 visitors (per day)…
Three hospitality establishments have been closed in the City of Kigali and owners arrested for breaching the government directives meant to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The establishments are Cuppa Coffee in Downtown in Nyarugenge District, Cincinnati and Miami Family in Niboyi and Gikondo, respectively, both in Kicukiro District. At Cuppa Coffee, authorities, on Friday,…
