AFRICA

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader loses party position

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader has lost a court appeal to remain president of the biggest opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Nelson Chamisa’s appointment as MDC leader in 2018 followed the death of Morgan Tsvangirai, a former union leader who had founded the MDC in 1999. The Supreme Court …

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Ethiopia postpones polls because of coronavirus

Ethiopia’s electoral board has postponed August’s highly anticipated general election because of the coronavirus pandemic. A new schedule would be announced once the threat of the pandemic was over, the board said. Much of its planning had been hit by the disruption caused by coronavirus, such as obtaining election materials …

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Slow internet adds to South Africa’s lockdown blues

Slow internet speeds are exacerbating an already frustrating period for many workers during South Africa’s three-week lockdown. This is because an undersea cable tore over the weekend. The West Africa Cable System (Wacs), which runs from Cape Town to Portugal and the UK, has caused major outages across all internet …

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COVID-19: Cases in Ghana hit 161

Ghana now has 161 cases of the deadly COVID-19, the Ghana Health Service has announced. According to the GHS, nine (9) new cases of COVID-19 have been reported from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research since the last update on 30th March 2020. All nine (9) cases were reported …

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Coronavirus: 3 Ghanaians confirmed dead in the US

Three Ghanaians resident in New York in the United States of America (USA) have died of COVID-19. Information Officer Ghana Consular in New York, Kofi Ameyaw, confirmed this on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme, Tuesday. He said the deceased are two women and a man who is also a pastor in …

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Boko Haram commander killed

Boko Haram Commander killed among other 100 Boko Haram members killed. Abu Usamah, Boko Haram Commander was killed by the troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE while on special clearance operation at Gorgi in Damboa LGA of Borno State, Nigeria. The suspected Boko Haram commander killed is believed to have sustained gunshot …

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Kenyan boy shot dead as virus curfew enforced

Kenya’s police chief has ordered an investigation into the death of a 13-year-old boy said to have been shot on Monday evening as police enforced a curfew. The child was playing on the balcony of his parent’s house in a slum in the capital, Nairobi, when police fired live bullets …

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Coronavirus: What the world can learn from Ebola fight

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who made history as Africa’s first elected female president, led Liberia for 12 years including during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 people in her country. The BBC asked the Nobel Peace Laureate for her reflections on the current coronavirus crisis. Dear fellow citizens of …

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31 out of 152 coronavirus patients in Ghana recover

Reports reaching the desk of Gossips24.com indicates that 31 out of the 152 coronavirus patients in Ghana have recovered. This brings to 31, the total number of recoveries recorded in the country. A total number of 121 patients are therefore remaining, and reports have it that they are actively responding to treatment. …

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Sierra Leone’s ex-Defence Minister charged with treason 

A Sierra Leonean former minister has been charged with treason for walking into the president’s house with a gun ahead of a meeting on coronavirus preparedness. Ex-Defence Minister Paolo Conteh was charged with 16 counts of treason in a Freetown court on Monday. The charges were read out to him, …

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SA pensioners die waiting for grant payouts

Two pensioners in South Africa died on Monday as they were hoping to collect money from the government in the form of social grants. One reportedly died as they were waiting in a queue in Hammersdale, a suburb of Durban, and the other died in a taxi en route to …

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Pastor charged for denying coronavirus exists in Africa

Ugandan authorities have charged a controversial pastor who is accused of telling his congregation that there is no coronavirus in Africa. Prosecutors accuse Augustine Yiga of making the comments to the Revival Christian Church congregation on Friday, in comments carried by local television stations. He denied the charges. “Claiming that …

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Congo’s ex-president Yhombi-Opango dies of Covid-19

The former president of the Republic of Congo, Jacques Joaquim Yhombi Opango, has died in Paris from complications related to coronavirus. He was 81 years old. His family said he had been ill before contracting the virus. Mr Yhombi Opango led Congo-Brazzaville from 1977 until he was toppled in 1979 …

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Botswana executes duo convicted of murder in 2014

Botswana, one of the few democracies to still enforce the death penalty, executed two men convicted of murder on Saturday, March 28. The latest executions bring to four the number of hangings since President Mokgweetsi Masisi was elected last October. 33-year-old Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa, and his co-accused 39-year-old Matshidiso Tshid …

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Celebrities tell Egyptians not to kill their cats

There have been calls in Egypt for people not to abandon or put down their pets after false rumours that they could carry coronavirus. A group of Egyptian celebrities has put out a video in which they hug their pets and urge people to look after them as normal. The …

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South Africa could seek IMF loan to fight coronavirus

South Africa has considered approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions as a last resort for emergency funding to fight the coronavirus that has brought a national lockdown, the finance minister said on Sunday. “If we approach the IMF or the World Bank or the Development Bank, it …

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Sierra Leone scraps ban on pregnant girls from going to school

The government of Sierra Leone has overturned a ban on pregnant girls from attending school. The ministry of education said it was committed to ensuring all children had the right to go to school, regardless of their status. In December, the West African regional bloc’s court ruled that the ban …

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Customs officers shoot 15-year-old student dead

A 15-year-old girl, Sekinat Agbelade, was said to have been shot dead by men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Agosasa, Ipokia Local area of Ogun States. It was gathered that the Customs officers, on Saturday, while on the chase of some suspected smugglers, fired gunshots, hitting the innocent …

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Germany to fly out 7,000 tourists stuck in South Africa

The German embassy in South Africa is making plans to repatriate some 7,000 of its nationals who are stuck in the country. Already, 47 German tourists are under quarantine in the country after one of them tested positive to Covid-19, according to local media reports. South Africa has the highest …

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Pastor arrested for spreading false information on COVID-19

A Ugandan Pastor,  Augustine Yiga of Revival Church Kawaala has been arrested by the police for spreading false information about coronavirus. The pastor last week said, that coronavirus is not a dangerous disease but a common flu. He said, “Whether Government imprisons me, I don’t care, but I am speaking the …

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Polls close in Mali amid coronavirus threat, security fears

Polls have closed in Mali’s long-delayed parliamentary elections which were held despite concerns about security and the coronavirus pandemic. Sunday’s vote came hours after the violence-hit West African country announced its first coronavirus death and days after main opposition leader Soumaila Cisse was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen. The vote was …

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Coronavirus: The world needs to learn from the Ebola fight

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who made history as Africa’s first elected female president, led Liberia for 12 years including during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 people in her country. The BBC asked the Nobel Peace Laureate for her reflections on the current coronavirus crisis. Dear fellow citizens of …

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Three soldiers killed in Burkina Faso bomb attack

A homemade bomb killed three soldiers in north-west Burkina Faso on Sunday. The attack happened after a patrol vehicle jumped on a mine in Gomboro in the Sourou province, according to Le Faso news website. Two soldiers died on the spot while the third one succumbed to injuries while being …

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Prayer moves online for people across Africa

With many countries in Africa now banning religious gatherings in order to slow the spread of coronavirus, Christian worshippers turned to online or televised services on Sunday. The continent has some of the world’s most committed Christians, according to a 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center, and the inability …

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