'J&J Covid booster highly effective against severe Omicron' - study

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

A preliminary South African government study published Thursday showed a booster of the Johns JOHANNESBURG on & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing hospitalization from the Omicron variant, a finding that helps revive the shot’s reputation.

The South African Medical Research Council compared 69,000 health care workers who received two doses of the vaccine, based on viral vector technology, against a group of people who were unvaccinated.

The research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was conducted from November 15 to December 20, a time when the heavily-mutated Omicron variant increased from 82 to 98 percent of Covid-19 cases in the country.

When a booster shot was given six to nine months after the first dose, vaccine efficacy against hospitalization increased over time, from 63 percent at 0-13 days to 85 percent one to two months post-boost.

“This data is important given the increased reliance on the Ad26.COV.2 vaccine in Africa,” wrote the authors, using the formal name for the J&J shot.

The result was also hailed by the company. In a statement, J&J scientist Mathai Mammen said it showed the vaccine “remains strong and stable over time, including against circulating variants such as Omicron and Delta.”

Around half a million South African health staff have received Johnson jabs as part of clinical trials.

Africa’s hardest-hit country, South Africa has recorded more than 3.4 million cases and 90,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Jailed former South Korea President is pardoned

SEOUL, South Korea

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was set free under a presidential pardon, according to the Yonhap news agency. The news comes after a pledge made last Friday by the ex-leader’s center-left successor, current President Moon Jae-in, to order her release. 

She received the formal certificate of pardon at a hospital in Seoul, where she has been receiving treatment for a series of ailments and is expected to remain there until early February.

The 69-year-old has been serving a combined 22-year prison sentence since March 2017 after being impeached and removed from office over far-reaching corruption and an influence-peddling scandal involving a close friend accused of manipulating her.

Moon granted Park a pardon as part of a special amnesty for the new year and due to her health deterioration, saying the move was meant to promote national unity in the face of difficulties brought by the pandemic. Some observers say Moon may want to ease conservative criticism stemming from Park’s health problems, or even use her to split the opposition ahead of a presidential election in March.

"We should move into a new era by getting over the pains of the past. It’s time to boldly pull together all our strengths for the future rather than fighting against each other while being preoccupied with the past,” Moon said in remarks released by his office last week.

"In the case of former President Park, we considered the fact that her health condition has deteriorated a lot after serving nearly five years in prison,” he said.

South Korea’s eleventh president was not alone in receiving amnesty for her crimes in time for the new year.  The Justice Ministry said the 69-year-old Park is among 3,094 people who are to be pardoned on December 31. South Korea often grants special pardons to mark New Year’s Day or national holidays.

Park’s health was cited as a major motivator behind the decision to order her release. Officials refused to elaborate on the former leader’s physical condition, but local media reports that she has been suffering from a lumbar disc, a shoulder injury and dental problems as well as mental stress

IIn comments released by lawyer Yoo Young-ha late last week, Park thanked Moon for pardoning her and said she will focus on treating her illnesses. She said she wants to offer her greetings to the people at an early date.

Park, a daughter of assassinated dictator Park Chung-hee, was once the darling of conservatives in South Korea. Dubbed by local media as “the queen of elections,” she won election as South Korea’s first female president in late 2012 by beating Moon, then a unified liberal candidate, by a million votes. Park was propelled by conservatives who celebrate her father as a hero that pulled the country up from postwar poverty despite his suppression of human rights.

She was impeached by lawmakers in late 2016, and was formally removed from office and arrested the following year over an explosive corruption scandal that prompted months of massive street protests.

In January, the Supreme Court upheld her 20-year prison term. Park has described herself as a victim of political revenge. She has refused to attend her trials since October 2017.

Among the main charges she faced was collusion with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from some of the country’s largest business groups, including Samsung, while she was in office.

Park’s scandal led to the arrests, indictments and convictions of dozens of high-profile figures. Choi is serving an 18-year term. Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong was initially sentenced to five years in prison before his term was reduced and was eventually released on parole in August.

Park was succeeded by Moon, who easily won a special presidential by-election while the conservatives were in disarray amid fierce internal feuding over Park’s ouster.

Moon’s single five-year term ends in May and he is barred by law from seeking reelection. Recent public support surveys show candidates from the governing and conservative opposition parties running neck and neck.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Park’s pardon will affect voter sentiment. It could cause a backlash from the liberals, but some observers say it may also rekindle a division in the opposition camp.

“Even if the presidential Blue House may have impure intentions to influence the results of the presidential election with the pardon of ex-President Park Geun-hye, it’s something that we opposition forces should address,” Kim Jae-won, a senior member of the People Power Party, wrote on Facebook. “United we stand and divided we fall.”

Almost all South Korean former presidents, or their family members and key associates, have been mired in scandals near the end of their terms or after they left office.

Those to be pardoned with Park on December 31 include ex-Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, one of Moon’s former political allies, who served a two-year prison term on corruption charges. The government will reinstate her civil rights so she can run in elections or cast ballots.

Separately, former leftist lawmaker Lee Seok-ki, who has been serving a more-than nine-year prison term for plotting a pro-DPRK rebellion and other charges, was released Friday on parole. Lee was arrested when Park was in office. He was affiliated with the now-disbanded left-wing United Progressive Party.

Sudanese forces kill four, raid media house in Khartoum

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudanese security forces on Thursday raided Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television and its Al Hadath news channel in Khartoum and confiscated their equipment.

CCTV footage of the raid shows security personnel attacking employees.

The Dubai-based satellite television station announced that several of its journalists were injured in the attack.

The raid came moments after Sudanese forces had fired tear gas and live ammunition at protesters rallying against the October 25 military coup in the country's capital and elsewhere.

A demonstrator told the AFP that she was marching "for the fall of military power" and above all "against the political agreement", a text which recently allowed the civilian Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to leave house arrest but also General Burhane to remain at the head of the transitional authorities for two more years.

According to a pro-democracy doctors' union, four protesters were shot dead in Omdurman, a northwestern suburb of Khartoum during the protest.

The doctors added, the crackdown has now seen at least 52 people killed in protest related violence.

Asharq, another Saudi-funded channel, reported that one of its crews was prevented from covering the protest by security forces.

Authorities had earlier that day cut mobile internet and telephone calls but restored them in the evening, after the demonstrators had dispersed. 

To prevent as much as possible the gatherings, the police on Wednesday evening installed containers across the bridges linking Khartoum to its suburbs.

The U.N. mission in Sudan and the U.S. embassy condemned the deaths of the protesters and the attacks on the media.

On December 19, security forces were accused by the United Nations of raping female protesters in an attempt to break up the protest.

In an appeal relayed by Facebook pages maintained by Sudanese living abroad, the doctors claimed that law enforcement agencies "prevented ambulances from approaching" the victims and even forced a protester with a gunshot wound to the neck and on life support to get out of one of the vehicles.

"The coup plotters used live ammunition against the demonstrators," they said, reporting "dozens of injuries. The doctors called in reinforcements from the Arbain hospital in Omdurman.

North Mara Gold achieves tailings storage target

TARIME, Tanzania

Barrick’s North Mara mine today announced that it had achieved its commitment to bring the operation’s tailings storage facility’s (TSF) pond back within its permitted design capacity by the end of this year.

Barrick made the commitment to the Tanzanian government when it took over control of the mine in September 2019, at a time when the country’s National Environment Management Council (NEMC) had closed down the TSF, then holding significantly more water than it should.

The company’s chief operating officer for Africa and the Middle East, Willem Jacobs, described the achievement of the target as a huge milestone for North Mara and its team, who had made a herculean effort to bring the badly neglected TSF into line with international best practice as well as Barrick’s own tailings management standards.

Barrick spent over $65 million on the project, increasing the water treatment plant’s capacity 16-fold from 2.5 million litres per day to 40 million litres per day.  

The addition of a brine treatment plant has reduced the volume of salts in the effluent water, enabling it to be stored safely.  

North Mara will continue to monitor the TSF’s performance and will engage regularly with the relevant authorities to ensure that its high standards are maintained.  

This includes the analysis of drinking water wells and surface water sources surrounding the mine.

“When we took over the old Acacia assets in Tanzania, we formed a partnership with the government to oversee these mines.  The real benefits of this partnership included the swift resumption of operations at North Mara and the revitalization of the moribund Bulyanhulu, now both valuable members of the Barrick portfolio." Said Jacobs. 

He added that this latest development is further proof of our partnership philosophy’s capacity to deliver real benefits and our commitment to caring for the welfare and environment of our host communities.

The North Mara gold mine is located in north-west Tanzania in the Tarime district of the Mara region. 

It is around 100 kilometres east of Lake Victoria and 20 kilometres south of the Kenyan border. - Africa

Guinea goes to Africa Cup of Nations with 'stern warning' from military leader

CONAKRY, Guinea

Guinea President, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, has warned his players they must win the Africa Cup of Nations, or pay back the money used to help them prepare for the tournament.

Guinea President, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya (C)

The National Elephants, captained by Liverpool star Naby Keita - are in Group B alongside Malawi, Senegal, and Zimbabwe for the tournament that is set to begin on January 9 next year.

Their best ever finish at a Africa Cup of Nations came in 1976, when they finished runners-up to Morocco in the last edition of the tournament to feature a final group stage.

But military officer Doumbouya - who led a coup d'etat by the country's armed forces against Alpha Conde and his government on September 5 this year - has laid down a brutal ultimatum to Kaba Diawara's men.

'Bring back the trophy or bring back the money we invested in you. Period,' the Guinea's interim president said.

Doumbouya is among 25 Guinean officials the European Union has been threatening to sanction for alleged human rights abuses committed in recent years under President Conde.

Meanwhile, his country's football team will look to defy their 40-1 odds when they begin their latest campaign against Malawi on January 10 at Bafoussam Omnisport Stadium Kouekong in Cameroon. 

They then face Sadio Mane and his Senegal side four days later before ending their allotted set of group fixtures with a clash against the Zimbabwe on January 18.

Guinea, who have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals have made it to the quarter-finals on four occasions this century, most recently in 2015.

However, since then they failed to qualify for the tournament two years later and were then knocked out by Algeria in the round of 16 in 2019. 

Keita will lead the charge this time around, and is joined by former Barcelona youngster Ilaix Moriba, now at RB Leipzig, and Roma midfielder Amadou Diawara in the squad. - Africa

Fight erupts in Kenya parliament over coalition bill

NAIROBI, Kenya

A brawl erupted in Kenya's parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers were debating a controversial bill governing political parties ahead of next year's election.

The speaker suspended the session briefly after the chaotic scenes, which saw at least two rival Members of Parliament exchange blows, according to images broadcast on local media.

One lawmaker, Bernard Koros, was injured during the fracas, and was seen with blood dripping down his face, while another was expelled from parliament by the speaker.

"I cannot accept to be injured in the national house like this Mr Speaker," said Koros, a supporter of Deputy President William Ruto.

The fighting broke out after hours of heated debate over the bill, which contains amendments to laws governing political parties and the registration of coalition groupings for elections.

The legislation would allow a coalition of parties to field a candidate in the poll, a departure from the current law that requires a candidate to belong to a party or be independent to vie for a seat.

Bernard Koros

Opponents of the proposals argue that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his erstwhile foe Raila Odinga will use them to build a formidable coalition ahead of the August 9 vote.

Although Odinga is ostensibly opposition leader, he and Kenyatta declared a truce with a headline-grabbing handshake in 2018 after deadly post-election clashes the year before.

The pact stoked speculation that Odinga, a veteran politician who has made four unsuccessful bids for the presidency, would succeed Kenyatta.

The two had sought to expand the executive through proposed constitutional changes that could have allowed Kenyatta -- who is in his second term and cannot run for the presidency again -- to stay in power as a prime minister. 

Kenya's top court ruled against those amendments in August but the alliance has endured, with Odinga often attending official government functions with Kenyatta.

The truce has left Ruto, whom Kenyatta had initially anointed as his 2022 successor, out in the cold and he is expected to run against Odinga in the August poll.

Sudanese gunmen loot UN food aid warehouse in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudanese gunmen have looted a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse containing some 1,900 tonnes of food aid in Darfur amid a surge of violence in the troubled western region, officials said Wednesday.

Residents of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, reported heavy shooting near the warehouse late Tuesday.

"We heard intense gunfire," Mohamed Salem told AFP.

A WFP official said they were "conducting an audit into what was stolen from the warehouse, which contain some 1,900 tonnes of food products".

Darfur has seen a spike in conflict since October triggered by disputes over land, livestock and access to water and grazing, with some 250 people reported killed in fighting between herders and farmers in recent months.

Tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Sudan is also reeling from political turbulence in the wake of a coup led military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned looting and violence near a former UN logistics base in El-Fasher that had been recently handed over to the local authorities.

Over 14 million people, a third of Sudan's population, will need humanitarian aid next year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the highest level for a decade.

Darfur was ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, pitting ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government.

More than 300,000 people died and 2.5 million were displaced during the conflict, according to the UN.

While the main conflict in Darfur has subsided, with a peace deal struck with key rebel groups last year, the arid region has remained awash with weapons and violence often erupts.

A joint UN and African Union mission, UNAMID, ended 13 years of peacekeeping operations last December. - AFP

WHO warns of Covid 'tsunami' as Omicron fuels record surges

GENEVA, Switzerland

A Covid "tsunami" threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO said Wednesday, as record surges fuelled by the Omicron variant dampened New Year celebrations around the world once again.

Governments are walking a tightrope between anti-virus restrictions and the need to keep societies and economies open, as the highly transmissible variant drove cases to levels never seen before in the United States, Britain, France and Denmark.

The blistering surge was illustrated by AFP's tally of 6.55 million new infections reported globally in the week ending Tuesday, the highest the figure has been since the World Health Organisation declared a Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

"I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse."

The variant has already started to overwhelm some hospitals in the United States, the hardest-hit nation where the seven-day average of new cases hit 265,427, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Harvard epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina tweeted that the count was likely just the "tip of the iceberg" with the true number likely far higher because of a shortage of tests.

But there was some hope as data indicated a decoupling of the number of cases and hospitalisations.

"We should not become complacent," top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said Wednesday, but "all indications point to a lesser severity of Omicron".

At a drive-through virus testing site in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, there were long lines of cars with people waiting to provide samples.

"Half of my family has it, you know this new variant is very, very spreadable, like way more spreadable than the first time around," said resident Victoria Sierralta.

"It's like we're back in like the first stage of Covid. It's absolutely crazy."

Millions around the world will again welcome a new year in the shadow of the pandemic, which is known to have killed more than 5.4 million people so far, with festivities dampened or cancelled in many countries.

Greece on Wednesday banned music in bars and restaurants to try and limit New Year's Eve parties, with public events already cancelled.

The mayor of Mexico's capital has cancelled the city's massive New Year's Eve celebrations after a spike in cases.

Despite the outbreak concerns, the streets of Mexico City were busy on Wednesday.

"I don't think that such an event with such economic importance should be cancelled, however health comes before everything else," said 59-year-old teacher Victor Arturo Madrid Contreras.

With the "cancellation they are sending a message... 'You know what? This is serious'."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meanwhile defended his decision not to clamp down on festivities over the holidays, saying around 90 percent of Covid patients in intensive care had not received a vaccine booster.

The number of people in hospital with the coronavirus topped 10,000 in England, the highest total since March, as Britain on Wednesday reported a new record of 183,037 daily cases.

The high take-up of boosters in England "is allowing us to go ahead with New Year in the cautious way that we are", Johnson said, despite new closures in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Records cases in France, Denmark 

Across the Channel, France too hit a new daily record of more than 200,000 cases -- more than double the number on Christmas Day -- as it extended its closure of nightclubs into January.

Wearing masks outdoors will become compulsory in Paris on Friday for everyone over the age of 11 except those inside vehicles, cyclists, users of other two-wheelers such as scooters and those participating in sports.

Denmark, which currently has the world's highest rate of infection per person, recorded a fresh record of 23,228 new cases, which authorities attributed in part to the large numbers of tests carried out after Christmas celebrations.

Portugal also saw a record with nearly 27,000 cases reported in 24 hours.

Mali launches forum on return to civil rule

BAMAKO, Mali

Mali's military-dominated government on Monday launched a four-day national forum on returning the country to civilian rule following the country's August 2020 coup.

The authorities have showcased the "National Conference on Reform" as a chance for the public to foster change, but major groups have already lashed the project and said they will boycott it.

The meeting "will make an unflinching assessment of the state of the nation (and) draw the best lessons from it," Mali's transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goita (pictured above), said at an opening ceremony.

"It will also be your task to make concrete proposals, to devise a solution for ending the crisis," he said.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mali has enjoyed only brief spells of political stability since it gained independence from France in 1960.

In August 2020, young officers led by Goita toppled the country's elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, after weeks of street protests over perceived corruption and his handling of a bloody jihadist insurgency.

Under pressure from France and Mali's neighbours, Goita pledged Mali would return to civilian rule in February 2022 after holding presidential and legislative elections.

But in May this year, he staged a de facto second coup, forcing out an interim civilian government and disrupting the timetable.

On December 12, Goita told the West African regional bloc Ecowas that he would provide it with a new election schedule by January 31.

Mali has a long history of national consultations to discuss problems and recommend solutions.

But several major parties and social organisations have snubbed the process this time, demanding the swift holding of elections or criticising the discussions as fruitless. 

The national forum follows meetings at local level, which were held in 51 out of 60 areas, the exceptions being in the jihadist-hit northern regions of Kidal and Menaka. They were also held in 26 foreign locations for the Malian diaspora.

Mali spiralled into bloodshed in 2012 when Tuareg rebels launched an insurgency in northern Mali, abetted by jihadists.

After being scattered by French military intervention, the jihadists regrouped and took their campaign into central Mali, an ethnic powder keg, and then into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. - AFP

Libya future at stake after failing to hold vote

CAIRO, Egypt

Libya failed to hold its first presidential election as planned this month, a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean country.

The postponement of the Dec. 24 vote has opened up uncertainty over what comes next in the tenuous peace process, raising worries Libya could slide into new round of violence after more than a year of relative calm.

The planned vote was the lynchpin of international peace efforts, and major regional and international powers had for months pushed for it to take place as scheduled.

But many inside and outside Libya doubted the election would proceed as planned. Some warned that holding the vote could destabilize the country, given the continued polarization.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and then killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Since then, armed groups have proliferated, including local and tribal militias, nationalist and mainstream Islamist groups, al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Since parliamentary elections in 2014, the country has been divided between two main rival administrations: one in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Hifter, and another in the west - an array of militias loosely allied with a weak, U.N.-recognized government in the capital Tripoli.

Hifter, who was senior officer under Gadhafi but defected in the 1980s, is based in the eastern city of Benghazi, the epicenter of the 2011 uprising. His forces, the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces, control much of eastern and southern Libya, including its oil fields and terminals. He is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

In April 2019, Hifter and his forces launched an offensive on Tripoli, but Turkey and Qatar stepped up their military support for his Tripoli-based rivals, including deploying troops and Syrian mercenaries. The offensive failed after 14 months of fighting.

An internationally brokered October 2020 cease-fire has kept a relative peace since. But some its main provisions — the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries within three months and adherence to a U.N. arms embargo — have not been met.

After the cease-fire deal, the U.N. led a political process called the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which includes 75 delegates from across the country.

The forum set presidential and parliamentary elections for Dec. 24. It also appointed an interim government that included a three-member Presidential Council led by an eastern figure, and a Cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, a powerful businessman from the western city of Misrata.

The interim government’s main task was to prepare the country for the elections.

From the beginning, the process was hampered by disputes.

The main leadership body in the west, the Tripoli-based Supreme Council of State, denounced the rules governing the election, drawn up by the eastern-based parliament. Dbeibeh joined the criticism. With legal challenges over the rules still unresolved, the Council of State persistently called for the vote to be delayed.

Mistrust deepened when lawmakers decided to hold parliamentary elections a month after the planned Dec. 24 presidential vote, rather than simultaneously.

The presidential election became sharply polarized when several figures who were considered intolerable by their opponents declared their intention to run — particularly Hifter and Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the ousted dictator’s son and one-time heir apparent.

Khalid al-Mishri, the head of the Supreme Council of State, threatened violence to prevent Hifter from taking office if he is elected.

Seif al-Islam’s declaration of his candidacy prompted vows from opponents never to allow a return of Gadhafi family rule. The election commission disqualified him along with two dozen other would-be candidates. But on appeal, courts restored most of them, including Seif al-Islam.

Dbeibeh also declared his candidacy, causing outrage because when he was appointed to the head the transitional government, he had promised not to run.

Around 100 people submitted documents to run for president, but with legal disputes still roiling, the election commission was unable to declare a final list of candidates.

It was also never clear what would happen after the elections. All sides agree the constitution needs to be rewritten, but there has been no agreement on who will do so or when.

With so much at stake and so much still unresolved, militias showed their discontent. Militias demanding a postponement blocked roads in parts of Tripoli, raising warnings from the U.N. mission in Libya that the tensions could explode into violence.

And each side in the country’s main east-west split remains ready for a fight, bolstered by mercenaries provided by their foreign backers who have not withdrawn. The current number of mercenaries is not known, but according to the U.N., they have numbered as high as 20,000, including Syrians, Russians, and Sudanese in the country.

The failure to hold the vote as planned threatens to open a political vacuum.

Lawmakers have argued that the interim government’s mandate ended on Dec. 24. They say the government failed in its main tasks, preparing the country for the vote, unifying its institutions, and dismantling militias or integrating them into regular security forces.

Dbeibeh, the interim prime minister, said in a televised address Tuesday that he and his administration would remain until “real elections” are held. He said the election laws were “flawed” and called for the vote to be based on a newly crafted constitution.

Major Western governments have called for the government to remain in power until “prompt” parliamentary and presidential elections are held.

The election commission proposed Jan. 24 as a new date.

But it’s not clear when or if the factions can resolve the disputes that led to the failure to hold the vote as planned. Stephanie Williams, the U.N. special adviser on Libya, has for two weeks shuttled between major Libyan players.

A legislative committee for the election blamed militias that it said wanted “to craft a distorted electoral process,” an apparent reference to complaints from Tripoli over the election rules.

The committee suggested drawing a “practical roadmap” for elections and restructuring the interim government to “achieve stability,” without specifying dates.

More than 100 lawmakers held two days of deliberations this week in the eastern city of Tobruk over the future of the electoral process and the interim government. The session ended without a decision and is expected to continue next week. - AP

Somalia's opposition candidates call on president to step down

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somalia's opposition presidential candidates called on the country's president Tuesday to leave office "as soon as possible," while the presidency denounced the move.

President Mohamed Farmaajo

"Mohamed Abdullahi (Mohamed) Farmaajo tried to seize civilian constitutional institutions by military force," the opposition presidential candidates said in a statement.

They called for an "urgent investigation" and demanded a case to be filed against him and those who supported him in the "failed coup."

The current political unrest in the country emerged after the country’s federal electoral agency, the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT), ousted its chairman Mohamed Hassan Irro over allegations of incompetence and the violation of neutrality and the president suspended the powers of his prime minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble, over alleged corruption and misuse of public land.

The prime minister, however, defied the order, describing the president's decision to suspend him as "outrageous."

It has been 14 months since Somali leaders reached an election agreement, but there are very few tangible achievements to show, and now a new concern of armed conflict has emerged in the country.

Somalia's former president and current chairman of the Council of Presidential Candidates Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a press conference in the capital Mogadishu called for unity to complete the country's elections, labeling Monday's events in the capital "unfortunate."

"The attempt to oust the prime minister in charge of the election is unfortunate and a tragedy," he said.

"The current situation is a critical one. All politicians and the international community who supports Somalia need to unite to complete the elections," he said.

The Somali presidency meanwhile denounced the opposition's joint statement, denying their accusations.

"The issues of treason, a coup and calls for resignations are sideshows and distractions necessitated to cover up the ongoing case which has also cost the Navy commander brigadier his job. The only coup that H.E. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo can be accused of is a coup against graft, and that has set him apart from his competitors. It would be misleading to apply diversionary tactics and employ incitement or coercion instead of responding to the issues facing Mr. Mohamed Hussein Roble," it said in a statement.

"The presidential candidates are in the race themselves and can in no logical reasoning issue ultimatums to a fellow contestant in a level playing field. Their demands are a non-issue," it added.

"H.E. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s goal is to take our nation through timely, credible and transparent elections. This is why he has also convened a leadership consultative meeting with the Federal Member States and Benadir administration since those who were tasked with the elections resorted to land-grabbing and disrupting the election committees to derail the entire process."

At least 31 killed in Sudanese gold mine collapse

KHARTOUM, Sudan

At least 31 people were killed and eight were reported missing when a rudimentary private gold mine collapsed on top of them in western Sudan, officials said.

The Darsaya mine near al-Nahud, a town about 500 kilometers (310 miles) west of Khartoum, was reopened after the government shut it down amid safety concerns.

Local media first reported that shafts in the Darsaya mine had given way, leading to 31 deaths and injuries, DW reported.

"Thirty-one traditional miners were killed because of a mine collapsing," said Khaled Dahwa, the head of the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company in the West Kordofan region where Nahud is located.

The AP news agency reported, citing local officials, that at least 38 people died and eight were injured in the collapse. 

The state-run mining company posted images on Facebook showing hundreds of villages lined at the site as heavy diggers tried to find more survivors and bodies. People were pictured preparing tombs for the victims in other social media images.

Another mining official said four miners were killed at the same mine in January. "Authorities at the time shut down the mine and installed security but a couple of months ago they left," Dahwa said.

Turkish firm lands $1.9B deal to build standard railway in Tanzania

By Our Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

A Turkish construction firm on Tuesday secured a lucrative deal to build a 368-kilometer (229-mile) section of standard gauge railway line linking the largest port city in Tanzania with the hinterland, in a move highlighting confidence in its work.

The deal, which is expected to cost $1.9 billion is part of three out of four deals the company has so far clinched from the Tanzanian government as part of its broader push to finish a 1,219-kilometer (757-mile) railway line which is expected to unlock trade potential with the landlocked countries of Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

Officiating the contract signing ceremony between Tanzania Railways Corporation head Masanja Kadogosa and Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi Deputy Chair Erden Arioglu on Tuesday, President Samia Hassan said the 368-km stretch from Makutupora in the capital city Dodoma to Tabora would be built with borrowed money.

"We will find friendly loan facilities and the best ways to get loans. We won't get this money from levies or from domestic taxes," she said.

The project is part of the central corridor which will connect Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania and provide access to Indian ocean for all related.

Kadogosa said the stretch will link Makutopora with the historical town of Tabora, in the country's central region and unlock potential for trade.

According to Yapi Merkezi officials, the railway line will establish a safe and reliable transportation between Dar es Salaam and other parts of the country.

After its completion, the railway is expected to bolster the overall economy of Tanzania especially in the field of trade and tourism, officials said.

According to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, the use of rails instead of road transport will serve to reduced costs and save roads from destruction by heavy vehicles and conserve the environment.

President Hassan used the platform to dismiss critics of government borrowing, affirming her administration's intent to source for more loans for infrastructure development.

The Head of State said concerns about the country’s burgeoning national debt were misplaced, noting that critics were losing sight of the ultimate benefits of the critical infrastructure.

“As I said the investment so far is Sh14.7 trillion so if we do not carry on with the construction and complete it, the money we have invested will be worthless. So, either way we will have to continue borrowing… we will look for simple, effective ways to borrow,” said President Hassan.

Her defense came hot in the heels of Speaker of National Assembly Job Ndugai's attack on what he described as insatiable appetite for loans by the government.

The Speaker appeared to criticize continued government borrowing of foreign loans for local development projects.

"We have to question whether this trend is sustainable ....we risk the country being auctioned owing to its indebted," warned Ndugai in his uncharacteristic criticism of the government.

According to Ndugai, Tanzania would rather raise domestic taxes to fund its own development budget, arguing at Sh70 trillion, the national debt was a huge and dangerous burden.

The Speaker made reference to recently introduced mobile tax as an example, arguing that Tanzanians must be ready to shoulder the cost of their own development and not rely on the expensive foreign loans. He spoke at a different event in Dodoma.

But in her indirect response, President Hassan noted: "There is no way.. how we can raise this money through mobile money transaction levies or the taxes that we collect internally, we must borrow to complete this project.” She said adding that there are efforts to stall the country over the debts. - Africa

Over 40m Covid vaccines in East Africa at risk of expiry due to apathy, logistics

NAIROBI, Kenya

More than 40 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in East Africa’s government stores are nearing expiry, as apathy and logistical challenges slow down their administration.

In the face of an accelerated spread of the Omicron variant in recent weeks, data compiled by The EastAfrican from the regional governments’ health ministries shows that out of 74 million vaccines that the region has received in donations and purchases, the region has administered just 30.1 million doses.

Rwanda leads the EAC in dispensing the vaccines, administering over 11.4 million doses, or 83.8 percent of the 13.6 million it has received.

Tanzania has given out about half of its vaccines — 2.04 million out of the 4.4 million received. Kenya is third, having administered nine million doses out of the 23.2 million it has received. Uganda has the highest number of vaccines sitting in its stores, having administered 8.9 million doses of the 32.09 million received.

Sub-Saharan Africa has administered 153 million doses of the 317 million received, according to the African Union’s Partnership for Evidence-based Response to Covid-19 research.

Given the short lifespan of many of the donations from the West, governments are finding it difficult to dispense them within required timelines.

At the end of November, the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (Avat), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Covax noted that the majority of the donations have been ad hoc.

"This has made it extremely challenging for countries to plan vaccination campaigns and increase absorptive capacity. To achieve higher coverage rates across the continent, and for donations to be a sustainable source of supply that can complement supply from Avat and Covax purchase agreements, this trend must change,” they said in a joint statement.

"Countries need predictable and reliable supply. Having to plan at short notice and ensure uptake of doses with short shelf lives exponentially magnifies the logistical burden on health systems that are already stretched. Furthermore, ad hoc supply of this kind utilises capacity — human resources, infrastructure, cold chain — that could be directed towards long-term successful and sustainable rollout.”

Nigeria has had to destroy more than a million expired doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, soon after Senegal announced that at least 400,000 of its vaccines had expired as a result of low uptake. Speaking to the BBC, Nigeria’s Health Minister Osagie Ehanire explained the decision to discard vaccines that were donated as they were nearing their expiry dates.

"That left us a very short time — some just weeks — to use them, after deduction of time to transport, clear, distribute, and deliver to users,” said Mr Ehanire.

For Africa, and the EAC, unpredictable deliveries of vaccines, often near the expiry dates, has left governments conducting roadshows and using media to publicise vaccination drives.

“Despite recent investments in expanded cold-chain in preparation for Covid-19 vaccines, the health system cannot always meet the storage needs for a sudden surge in supply, particularly for those vaccines requiring ultra-cold storage. Surges cause a similar issue for vaccine transport vehicles, replacement cold packs, and vaccine carriers, all in short supply,” health experts under the Covid Global Accountability Platform said on Thursday.

The group called on donor countries to co-ordinate with recipient governments to support effective planning.

The number of African countries that have made Covid-19 shots mandatory continues to increase following the example of Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

In East Africa, Kenya and Uganda seek to join Kigali in enforcing vaccine mandates to increase the number of citizens vaccinated.

This is despite logistical bottlenecks in getting the vaccines out of the central stores into the countryside made worse by the ongoing rains that have rendered infrastructure in remote parts unusable.

"Vaccines arriving at airports is just the beginning of a journey that has many obstacles — from a lack of refrigeration, syringes and health workers, to competing priorities — that can impede the path to vaccination,” said Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, deputy director of the Africa CDC.

Africa CDC has advised countries to resort to vaccine mandates if “citizens don’t hurry to get the available doses”.

Mandates aim to increase vaccine uptake, protect health and health systems, allow the economy to stay open, and encourage tourists to visit because the countries will be perceived as safe.

Rwanda requires proof of vaccination to access high-risk public spaces, where harm to others could occur, such as restaurants, bars, public transport, churches, meetings and weddings.

“The vaccine mandate is just a way of inviting people to get vaccinated because the vaccines are available, and the government has invested in making them available. It is their right, but also an obligation to protect themselves and everyone around them,” said Rwanda’s Minister of Health Dr Daniel Ngamije.

Rwanda has the highest vaccine rate in the region, followed by Tanzania and South Sudan with 47 percent. Kenya has administered 36 percent of the received doses, Uganda, 32 percent, and Burundi, one percent.

By December 20, Rwanda reported 101,889 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including 99,232 recoveries and 1,345 deaths out of 3,811,370 samples tested. Some 7.3 million people had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 4.9 million received both doses; 55,116 had received a booster shot.

On December 22, Kenya announced that citizens would be required to show proof of Covid vaccination to access public places such as parks, hotels and restaurants, bars, domestic flights, trains and public service vehicles.

Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe had given a dealine of December 21 for Kenyans to produce a Covid-19 certificate before accessing government facilities. His directive prompted a court case that ended in the order declared illegal.

This week Kenya’s Ministry of Health invoked the Public Health Act to enforce the new measures and circumvent the court order.

"Those seeking government services, or access to public places such as parks, hotels and restaurants, bars, domestic flights, trains and PSVs must present Covid certificates,” the ministry’s chief administrative officer Mercy Mwangangi said on December 22.

Nairobi is set to join Rwanda in administering booster shots from January.

Uganda’s hope lies in vaccinating at least 22 million, a feat that now is proving unachievable given the poor vaccination numbers. Uganda’s Health State Minister Margaret Muhanga said the low uptake of the vaccine has hampered the fight against the virus.

“The country has an 8.8 percent vaccination rate, one of the lowest in the region,” she said.

“Due to low uptake of the vaccines, we started the acceleration mass vaccination campaigns across the country, targeting far flung areas,” Ms Muhanga said, adding that the target is to have more than 15 million people vaccinated by the start of 2022.

This week, Tanzania relaunched its vaccination campaigns. So far, 2.04 million Tanzanians have been fully vaccinated.

The country’s initial denial of Covid-19 is hampering its vaccination campaign, with government officials and healthcare workers battling scepticism and misinformation about the coronavirus vaccines, amid widespread apathy among the younger generation.

Health minister Dorothy Gwajima said the success of the campaign largely depends on local and village leaders, educating citizens about the vaccine.

The minister said that Dodoma is targeting to increase the vaccination rate to 100,000 people per day.

Tanzania had initially planned to vaccinate at least 60 percent of the population by the end of this year, but has reached just five percent in the past five months.