Category: Africa,

Nurse-turned-king arrested after dozens killed in clashes in Uganda 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Africa,Leave a comment

At least 54 people, including 41 rebels and 13 police officers, have been killed in clashes in Uganda’s Rwenzori region, police spokesman Felix Kaweesi told reporters. Four police officials and four soldiers have been wounded, he said.

The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Ugandan security forces and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country’s long-time president.

Nurse-turned-king arrested after dozens killed in clashes in Uganda – CBS News

hmmm

Starvation threat numbers soar in South Sudan 

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Up to one million people to join almost five million already facing starvation as civil war spreads to rural areas.

…The aid group CARE told Al Jazeera that if the armed conflict continues, as many as one million civilians could go hungry in the region of Equatoria, adding 20 percent more people to the almost five million already facing starvation.

Starvation threat numbers soar in South Sudan – News from Al Jazeera

Sigh…

Natasha Annie Tonthola: My fight against Malawi’s ‘hyenas’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Africa,, Chick Stuff,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

I started a community organisation working on a variety of issues, from keeping girls in school by fighting early marriage, educating people about rituals and traditions – including hyenas – which put girls at risk, and teaching about HIV/Aids, unwanted pregnancies and reproductive health.

All the while, something was bubbling up inside me, and I knew that what had happened to me in my life was happening to other girls and women.

My community organisation continued to educate people but it was hard, particularly when we were challenging traditions such as the use of hyenas [the male in a sexual initiation ceremony] and wife inheritance.

…But some elders and religious leaders listened, and some have stopped the practice in their villages.

In my community work I soon learned more about the barriers for girls in school. If families are going through a financial rough patch, they’re more likely to pay fees for boys rather than for girls. If girls drop out of school, the family is eager to marry them off rather than have them sit around the house all day. And many girls miss class because they can’t afford sanitary towels.

To try to solve this problem, one of the main things my organisation is doing is distributing eco-friendly reusable washable sanitary pads and pants. They come as part of a kit including pants with clips so that they stay in place and a waterproof bag, in case girls need to change them in school. They are biodegradable, but cost effective and durable – they last for five years.

Natasha Annie Tonthola: My fight against Malawi’s ‘hyenas’ – BBC News

 

More about her programs:
Free Range Chick Support Dignity Project
Dignity Project

After Nigerian First Lady Criticizes Her Husband, He Says She Belongs to His Kitchen 

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[Buhari’s] wife said his government is being hijacked by outside players who are influencing him in the wrong direction. At 73, the president hasn’t yet decided if he’ll run for reelection in 2019. But if he does, there’s at least one person we now know he can’t count on for a vote.

“He is yet to tell me, but I have decided as his wife, that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before,” she said on Friday. “I will never do it again.”

After Nigerian First Lady Criticizes Her Husband, He Says She Belongs to His Kitchen | Foreign Policy

Dang…. Clearly that man needs to get his sheee-at together, pronto.

Boko Haram released 21 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls

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The girls were handed over to the Nigerian government as part of a deal with the Red Cross.

….According to an April report by the Washington Post, Nigerians harbor intense skepticism toward the released prisoners, who are still largely referred to as “Boko Haram wives.” 

Their fear, according to the Post, is valid: Last year, 39 out of 89 Boko Haram suicide bombings were executed by women, some under the age of 18.

The escaped Boko Haram wives, many of who have had children with the militants and still profess love for their husbands, are seen as a group particularly likely to have been indoctrinated.

Boko Haram released 21 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls

 

hmmmm