At least 11 people were killed Tuesday after a fuel truck exploded next to a highway in Uganda, police said. Two children were among the dead. The truck overturned after an accident and later exploded in a town just outside Kampala, the capital, police spokesman Patrick Onyango said. Death toll in Uganda rubbish heap collapse reaches 24 as rescue teams find more victims “The victims were burnt beyond recognition,” he said in a statement. A cloud of dark smoke rose from the scene. A video shared online by an onlooker appeared to show people scooping up fuel from the truck before the blast. The dangerous scene echoed a similar incident in Nigeria last week that killed more than 140 people, including children. People who rush to collect fuel from stricken trucks hope to sell it, despite warnings to stay away. “This tragic incident serves as a reminder of the risks associated with fuel tanker accidents and the importance of exercising caution when dealing with hazardous materials," Onyango said. There have been similar incidents over the years across East Africa. At least 62 people were killed in Tanzania in 2019 as they attempted to siphon fuel out of a damaged truck. In South Sudan, at least 183 people were killed in 2015 when hundreds of villagers gathered around a fuel truck to collect fuel.

Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday (January 20, 2024) said Bangladesh-India relations are growing from strength to strength. "Look forward to receiving him (Dr Hasan Mahmud) in Delhi soon," he said as he met his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Hasan Mahmud on the sidelines of the 19th NAM Summit. Jaishankar said he is glad to meet with his new Bangladesh counterpart, Hasan Mahmud in Kampala, Uganda. "Congratulated him on his appointment and wished him all success," said the Indian External Affairs Minister. Both the ministers discussed various issues of mutual interests and ways to carry forward the existing excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They also discussed the upcoming visit of Bangladesh Foreign Minister to New Delhi. Hasan Mahmud led the Bangladesh delegation to the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held on January 19-20. He will also lead the third South Summit of the G77 and China scheduled to be held on January 21-22. Read more: Every country should take its responsibilities towards refugees very seriously: David Cameron Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Muhammad A Muhith and Bangladesh High Commissioner to Kenya and Uganda, among others, are accompanying the Foreign Minister. Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud is scheduled to leave for New Delhi, India on February 7 – the first bilateral visit by the minister after his appointment – to further strengthen Bangladesh-India relations. “It’s likely to be a three-day visit,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 18, noting that the agenda of the visit is yet to be finalised. The Foreign Minister said he will be visiting the country at the invitation of Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. Asked whether he will have a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, Mahmud said, “It is too early to say.” Jaishankar, earlier, invited his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Hasan Mahmud to visit New Delhi at a mutually convenient time. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma extended the invitation on behalf of the Indian External Affairs Minister on Monday. The Foreign Minister accepted the invitation and told him that he would visit Delhi soon. Read more: FM Hasan meets his Palestinian counterpart

Dhaka’s air was ranked 5th most polluted among cities around the world this morning (August 14, 2023), according to the Air Quality Index (AQI). The air in Dhaka city was categorised as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, with an AQI score of 136 at 8:30 am. Uganda’s Kampala, United Arab Emirates’ Dubai, Kuwait’s Kuwait City and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first four spots on the list, with AQI scores of 162, 159, 157 and 152 respectively. Read: Thanks to rain, Dhaka's air quality 'moderate' this morning When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and Ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. Read: Dhaka’s air unhealthy for sensitive groups this morning Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections. Read more: Dhaka’s air 3rd most polluted in the world this morning

Suspected Ugandan rebels with ties to the Islamic State group attacked a school near the Congo border, killing at least 25 people, abducting others and setting a dormitory on fire, officials said Saturday. Police said the rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, who have been launching attacks for years from their bases in volatile eastern Congo, carried out the raid late Friday on Lhubiriha Secondary School in the border town of Mpondwe. Also Read: At least 15 people killed and dozens injured in bus crash in Mali The school, co-ed and privately owned, is located in the Ugandan district of Kasese, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Congo border. "A dormitory was set on fire and a food store looted. So far 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital," police said in a statement, adding that eight others were in critical condition. Also Read: In Uganda, a recent ban on charcoal making disrupts a lucrative but destructive business A government official and a military spokesman said others were abducted. It was not immediately clear if all of the victims were students. Police said Ugandan troops tracked the attackers into Congo's Virunga National Park. The military confirmed in a statement that Ugandan troops inside Congo "are pursuing the enemy to rescue those abducted." Also Read: Recycling lake litter, Ugandan makes innovative tourist boat Joe Walusimbi, an official representing Uganda's president in Kasese, told The Associated Press over the phone that authorities were trying to verify the number of victims and those abducted. "Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition," he said. Winnie Kiiza, an influential political leader and a former lawmaker from the region, condemned the "cowardly attack" on Twitter. She said "attacks on schools are unacceptable and are a grave violation of children's rights," adding that schools should always be "a safe place for every student." The Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, has been accused of launching many attacks in recent years, targeting civilians, in remote parts of eastern Congo. The ADF has long opposed the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. security ally who has been in power since 1986. The group was established in the early 1990s by some Ugandan Muslims, who said they had been sidelined by Museveni's policies. At the time, the rebels staged deadly attacks in Ugandan villages as well as in the capital, including a 1998 attack in which 80 students were massacred in a town not from the scene of the latest attack. A Ugandan military assault later forced the ADF into eastern Congo, where many rebel groups are able to operate because the central government has limited control there. The group has since established ties with the Islamic State group. In March , at least 19 people were killed in Congo by suspected ADF extremists. Ugandan authorities for years have vowed to track down ADF militants even outside Ugandan territory. In 2021, Uganda launched joint air and artillery strikes in Congo against the group.

The charcoal makers in the forests of northern Uganda fled into the bush, temporarily abandoning their precious handiwork: multiple heaps of timber yet to be processed. The workers were desperate to avoid capture by local officials after a new law banned the commercial production of charcoal. They risked arrest and beatings if they were caught. But what's really at stake for the charcoal makers is their livelihood. Also Read: Zimbabwe, Uganda launch first satellites "We are not going to stop," said Deo Ssenyimba, a bare-chested charcoal maker who has been active in northern Uganda for 12 years. "We stop and then we do what? Are we going to steal?" The burning of charcoal, an age-old practice in many African societies, is now restricted business across northern Uganda amid a wave of resentment by locals who have warned of the threat of climate change stemming from the uncontrolled felling of trees by outsiders. In reality, not much has changed as charcoal producers skirt around the rules to keep supply flowing and watchful vigilantes take matters into their own hands. Much of northern Uganda remains lush but sparsely populated and impoverished, attracting investors who desire the land mostly for its potential to sustain the charcoal business. And demand is assured: charcoal accounts for up to 90% of Africa's primary energy consumption needs, according to a 2018 report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Before the charcoal ban, local activists formed vigilante groups in districts such as Gulu, where a former lawmaker recently led an attack on a truck that was dispossessed of 380 bags of charcoal. Although Odonga Otto was then charged with aggravated robbery, the country's chief justice praised him as a hero. Also Read: Plastic Pollution: Harmful effects on human health and environment "I have not heard anybody who is destroying our environment being charged," said Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, who is from northern Uganda. "If you steal from a thief, are you a thief?" The week after Owiny-Dollo's public comments, President Yoweri Museveni issued an executive order banning the commercial production of charcoal in northern Uganda, disrupting a national trade that has long been influenced by cultural sensibilities as much as the seeming abundance of idle land. Commercial charcoal production is still permitted in other regions. The ban follows a climate change law, enacted in 2021, that empowers local authorities across the country to regulate activities deemed harmful to the environment. Trees suck in planet-warming carbon dioxide from the air, but burning charcoal emits the heat-trapping gas instead. Days after Museveni's order, a team of Associated Press journalists walked into a charcoal-burning enclave in a remote part of Gulu, 335 kilometers (208 miles) from the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Also Read: Climbers celebrate Mount Everest 70th anniversary amid melting glaciers, rising temperatures One local official, Patiko Sub-County Chairman Patrick Komakech, gave chase when he heard fleeing footsteps. A small patch of bamboo opened up to an almost bare patch where trees were being cut, juicy stumps still fresh here and there. Komakech was agitated and on the verge of tears. Timber had been heaped like contraband ivory in different spots, and grey smoke rose from one pile being processed. Beside it stood loaded bags of charcoal. The charcoal makers slept in little tarp tents draped in dry leaves. "I am completely perturbed (by) all this destruction," Komakech said, speaking of charcoal makers who "are actually imported and put in this community, and they do this thing without the mercy of leaving any vegetation." He kicked at felled logs, saying they were those of the African Shea tree, a plant prized by the region's Acholi people for its fruit as well as its oil, often used in cosmetics. The charcoal burners eventually approached Komakech, who wished to destroy the heaps of timber with kerosene, and said they were simply earning a living and responding to demand. Uganda's population explosion has heightened the need for cheap plant-based energy sources, especially charcoal. In this east African country of 45 million people, charcoal is preferred in households across the income spectrum but especially in those of the urban poor — seen as ideal in the preparation of certain dishes that require slow cooking. Middle-class families maintain both gas cookers and charcoal stoves. "Even those policemen who are coming to beat us, they are cooking with charcoal," said Peter Ejal. "We are not here to spoil the environment. We are here by their orders, those people who are selling these trees." His colleague, the ragtag charcoal maker Ssenyimba, said bluntly, "When we finish this place we will go to another place." One charcoal maker asserted that charcoal from northern Uganda was likely used even in the State House. Others charged that they were cutting the trees with the complicity of landlords who sell charcoal-making rights by the acre to interested dealers. The industry can be lucrative for landowners and investors. In nearby towns a bag of charcoal fetches about $14, but the price rises further as the goods approach Kampala. Ssenyimba said he's paid about $3 for every bag he makes. An acre of property with plenty of trees goes for up to $150 in Gulu, although the sum can be much smaller in remote but vegetation-rich ranches owned by the poorest families. The investors then deploy men armed with power saws and machetes, working over specific places and leaving when they have cut down all the trees they were sold. District councils in the region raise revenue from licensing and taxes, and corrupt members of the armed services have been protecting charcoal truckers, according to Museveni and Otto, the former lawmaker now leading vigilantes against charcoal makers. Otto has helped cause the impounding of multiple trucks in recent weeks, including two recently seized ones parked outside a police station where a crowd gathered one recent afternoon, hoping to grab the goods. He said he plans to serve hundreds of local officials with letters of intent to sue for any lapses in protecting the environment. Otto told the AP his goal is to make the rest of Uganda "lose appetite" for charcoal from his region. "We go to the fields where the charcoal ovens are and we destroy the bases," he said. "We managed to make the business risky. As of now, you drive a hundred kilometers and you will not find any single truck carrying charcoal." The ban on commercial production in northern Uganda is almost certainly bound to push up the retail price of charcoal. Otto and others were concerned that charcoal dealers would avoid authorities by ferrying charcoal bags in small numbers — on the backs of passenger motorcycles — to towns where the merchandise could be stealthily loaded into trucks. Alfred Odoch, an environmental activist in the region, said he supports the work of vigilantes, describing charcoal making as "the biggest threat" since the end of a rebel insurgency in the region two decades ago. Vigilantes pressurize charcoal burners as well as local officials to minimize "mass tree cutting" in northern Uganda, said Odoch. Charcoal making, he said, should be acceptable only as a small business by families selling "two or three sacks" in a week or so. "My fellow vigilantes who are doing a lot of work to stop this, I support them," he said. "The fight for environmental justice is not only (for) one person."  

Flowering plants rise as if by magic from Lake Victoria onto a wooden boat, giving it a leafy ambiance that enchants many visitors. The initial attraction becomes more compelling when tourists to Uganda learn that the greenery emerges from an innovative recycling project which uses thousands of dirt-encrusted plastic bottles to anchor the boat. Former tour guide James Kateeba started building the boat in 2017 in response to the tons of plastic waste he saw in the lake after heavy rains. He realized the vessel could serve as an example of a sustainable business on the shores of Lake Victoria: a floating restaurant and bar that could be unmoored to drift for pleasure. Also Read: Zimbabwe, Uganda launch first satellites Many who come to relax here in Luzira, a lakeside suburb of Uganda's capital, Kampala, know nothing of the boat’s backstory. Kateeba insists it’s first and foremost “a conservation effort,” one man’s attempt to protect one of Africa's great lakes from degradation. Lake Victoria is the world’s second-largest freshwater lake and spans three countries. Yet it is plagued by runoff waste and other pollution, sand mining and a decline in water levels due in part to climate change. Layers of plastic waste float near some beaches during the rainy season, a visible sign of the pollution that's a worry for fishing communities heavily dependent on the lake. “The fact that we had a problem of pollution as a country ... I decided to design something out of the ordinary,” Kateeba said, surveying the lake horizon tinged with a green substance that indicates contaminants from a nearby brewery. Also Read: China's ZTE, local telecom firm start 5G technology trial in Uganda He started by asking fishermen from nearby landing sites to collect plastic bottles for a small fee. He received more than 10 tons of bottles within six months. Batches were tied up in fishing nets and daubed with solid dirt, creating the firm bases upon which the boat is moored and that are also fertile ground for climbing tropical plants. Today, the boat, marketed as the Floating Island, can comfortably serve 100 visitors at a time, Kateeba said. “This is morning glory,” he said proudly, caressing a vibrant flowering vine one recent afternoon as he prepared to unmoor the boat for the enjoyment of his customers. Elsewhere on the boat, a group of TikToking teenagers danced. Upstairs, a carpenter was building a new wooden sun deck. Jaro Matusiewicz, a businessman visiting from Greece, said he had “never seen a place like this,” praising the boat's “accommodative” atmosphere as he dug into fish and chips. “This is a very good idea,” he said. “If he’s collecting the bottles and using them, it’s fantastic! ... You are not only cleaning the environment but also providing something unique, very unique.” A similar project was launched in 2018 on the beaches of Kenya, where a small boat, known as the Flipflopi, was built entirely from recycled plastic that once littered sandy shores and towns along the Indian Ocean. In 2021 the Flipflopi went on a voyage on Lake Victoria “to raise awareness of the pollution plaguing the region’s most critical freshwater ecosystem, ” according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Kateeba said he hopes his boat is exemplary. “I am sure, with some bit of experience that we gain from this, we should be able to encourage other people to design things,” he said. “Other methods, not necessarily this type ... of trying to deal with plastic pollution on Lake Victoria.”

Zimbabwe and Uganda recently launched their first homegrown satellites – a "milestone" for the efforts in space activities for the countries. Zimbabwe's ZimSat-1 and Uganda's PearlAfricaSat-1 are part of the BIRDS-5 constellation, which is now on its way to the International Space Station, according to the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER). The satellites, launched into space Monday, are scheduled to be released from the Japanese Kibo module on November 21 this year, UN-SPIDER added. Read more: Bangabandhu satellite-1 to be used to restore telecommunication in flood-hit areasOnce in orbit, the two satellites will collect images to help Zimbabwe and Uganda with mineral exploration, monitoring of environmental hazards and droughts, human settlement and disease outbreak mapping, and other potential fields of applications. A project run by Japan's Graduate School of Engineering at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, BIRDS-5 is a constellation of CubeSats.

Authorities in eastern Congo announced an evening curfew and new security checkpoints Sunday, fearing more violence after a suicide bomber killed five people in the first attack of its kind in the region. Beni Mayor Narcisse Muteba, a police colonel, warned hotels, churches and bars in the town of Beni that they needed to add security guards with metal detectors because “terrorists” could strike again. “We are asking people to be vigilant and to avoid public places during this festive period," Muteba told The Associated Press on Sunday. Read: Suicide bomber attacks bar in eastern Congo, killing 6 Brig. Gen. Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu province, said there will be a 7 p.m. curfew, as well as more road checkpoints. Officials initially said the death toll was six plus the suicide bomber, but they revised that figure a day later to five victims. Thirteen others remained hospitalized after the blast at the entrance to the Inbox restaurant on Christmas Day. Saturday's bloodshed dramatically deepened fears that Islamic extremism has taken hold in Beni. The town already has suffered years of attacks by rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, who trace their origins to neighboring Uganda. Officials have blamed the latest attack on those rebels, whose exact links to international extremist groups have been murky. The Islamic State's Central Africa Province has claimed responsibility for attacks blamed on ADF, but it is unknown what role exactly the larger organization may have played in organizing and financing the attacks. There have been worrying signs that religious extremism was escalating around Beni: Two local imams were killed earlier this year within weeks of each other, one of whom had spoken out against the ADF. Then in June, the Islamic State group’s Central Africa Province claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber who blew himself up near a bar in Beni without harming others. Another explosion that same day at a Catholic church wounded two people. Read:South Africa's case drop may show omicron peak has passed There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's attack, in which authorities say the bomber ultimately was stopped from entering the crowded restaurant. After the blast near the entrance, blood stained the pavement and mangled chairs lay strewn near the entrance. Rachel Magali, who had been at the restaurant with her sister-in-law and several others, described hearing a loud noise and then people starting to cry. “We rushed to the exit where I saw people lying down," she told the AP. "There were green plastic chairs scattered everywhere and I also saw heads and arms no longer attached. It was really horrible.”

Dozens of desperate Afghans who had been trying to flee the Taliban before Tuesday’s deadline for the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul made it to safety with help from an unexpected place: Instagram influencer Quentin Quarantino. Quarantino is the alter ego of 25-year-old Tommy Marcus of New York City, previously best-known for his liberal memes and his jokes about opponents of COVID-19 vaccinations. Along with his followers, Quarantino raised $7 million within days on GoFundMe to launch rescue missions into Afghanistan to evacuate as many people as possible, many of whom said they had been threatened by the Taliban. On Wednesday, their mission “Operation Flyaway” helped ferry 51 people from Afghanistan to Uganda on a privately chartered plane financed by the GoFundMe campaign. More than 121,000 people had donated to the campaign after Marcus made an appeal to his 832,000 followers, making it one of the largest humanitarian fundraisers in GoFundMe’s history. “It’s beyond humbling that they have that faith in me, that they’re willing to put significant amounts of money into hands that I trust,” Marcus told The Associated Press. Read: Afghan official claims 3 children killed in US drone strike Saraya International, a global development firm, and the Rockefeller Foundation, which both provided organizational support for the flight to Uganda, as well as another company involved with the evacuation, confirmed to the AP that the flight was chartered by the emergency collaboration financed through Marcus’ Go FundMe campaign. “I don’t know what word to use besides miraculous, because it’s restored a faith in humanity,” Marcus said. “We’ve shed the political divisions in this situation and really come together from all walks of life to rally together and save these people because .. they don’t deserve what their future holds if they stay in Afghanistan right now.” Those who were evacuated, Marcus said, were women, children, humanitarians and others “who’ve been fighting for the greater good in Afghanistan for a long time,” as well as their families. The organizers had said they were seeking to rescue 300 people who, along with their families, were “at imminent risk of being executed by the Taliban.” The team had been met with skepticism from experts who questioned whether they had the capability to pull of such a mission at a time when governments, corporations and charity groups were rushing to get their citizens and employees out of Afghanistan on whatever aircraft they could. Marcus’ group said more than 350 people have been rescued, with nearly 300 leaving Kabul on other chartered flights that “Operation Flyaway” reimbursed for providing safe passage from the country. A spokesperson for the State Department wrote in an emailed statement that the department appreciates “community-led efforts to support the Afghan relocation and resettlement process, which reflects the generosity of the American people and the international community.” “However, we are unable to verify the authenticity or effectiveness of these efforts,” the statement said. Officials from several nonprofit groups describe a chaotic and perilous scene at the Kabul airport as they rushed to fill private chartered flights with people who have the necessary paperwork in the limited time that they can keep their planes on the tarmac. “I’m so proud of our extraordinary team and what we were able to accomplish in such a short time,” said Sayara CEO Scott Shadian. “I just wish we could’ve done more. Simply put, the institutions failed, and it breaks my heart how much more we could have accomplished. We are grateful we got out as many people as we did against the greatest odds we’ve ever faced.” Read: Bangladesh observing Afghanistan situation, in touch with stranded citizens At the request of the U.S. government, Uganda received the evacuees, who will stay at hotels in a city outside the country’s capital, Kampala. Ugandan officials said the nation would shelter up to 2,000 people who are expected to be relocated elsewhere after a temporary stay in the country. The chartered flight that left Kabul early Wednesday morning is one of several private rescue efforts being organized by various groups, separately and through collaborations, to help Afghans flee. The flight from Kabul to Entebbe, Uganda, was organized by Sayara, which advised a company working with Marcus that it knew of a plane available for “Operation Flyaway.” Representatives from that North Carolina-based company, Raven Advisory, said they were able to pay for the mission using money raised through Marcus’ GoFundMe campaign. The company, which says it performs subcontract work for the U.S. military, said “an all-volunteer team consisting of former Special Forces soldiers and other veterans with expertise in Afghanistan” were working with the military to coordinate their rescue efforts. Sayara’s Shadian said he had met “Operation Flyaway” members on Zoom only earlier in the week and in the chaos of the Kabul evacuations was thrilled they agreed to fund the flight. “They were one of many miracles we experienced in this time,” Shadian said. “Their last-minute funding, along with the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, Schmidt Futures and other donors, was critical. Without Operation Flyaway’s quick funding, that flight wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.” Raven Advisory CEO Sheffield Ford told the AP that in order to transport the people into the airport, the U.S. government has to be “comfortable with our organization saying these people are OK, and that they have actually done things to help their country, to help our country.” Though the deadly suicide bombing at the airport on Thursday complicated their efforts, Ford says those they are helping must have passports, a relative his group can communicate with and someone vouching for them who has passed a background check. The goal, Ford noted, is to ferry Afghan citizens that have been targeted by the Taliban out of the country. “Our focus was the people who wanted to build their country into something great,” he said. “They thought they were going to stay there, with us backing them, for the long haul. It’s going be women that work in journalism and teachers. It could be the young people and older people who have been very outspoken against the different atrocities of committed by the Taliban in the past.” Read: Taliban guard airport as most NATO troops leave Afghanistan Though crowdfunding has been a welcome tool to mobilize donations during crisis situations, Patricia McIlreavy, president of the Washington-based Center for Disaster Philanthropy, stresses that donors should be cautious when donating to private efforts through these sites. “There’s not necessarily going to be a public report on where these funds went and how they were used, in the way that a nonprofit — or a 501(c)(3) — is required to by law,” she said. Though rescue flights are now winding down with the pending deadline of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the GoFundMe campaign said it will donate whatever money remains to the Washington-based organization International Women’s Media Foundation. According to organizers, the foundation, which supports female journalists, will use the money to “partner with experienced organizations and experts to support people once they are on safe ground.” Ford was impressed by how quickly millions were raised on GoFundMe for these missions. “”It’s about people coming together to help others,” he said. “And it was awesome to see that happen.”

Billionaire philanthropist Mo Ibrahim is sharply criticizing the hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines by wealthy nations, urging the international community to “walk the talk” of equitable distribution as Africa desperately lags behind. Ibrahim, a British mobile phone magnate who was born in Sudan, is hailed as a voice of moral authority across Africa. The 75-year-old earned his fortune by establishing the Celtel mobile phone network across Africa in the 1990s. He is now using that fortune to promote democracy and political accountability on the continent, including through his sponsorship of the $5 million Ibrahim Prize for African leaders who govern responsibly and who give up their power peacefully. He lamented the global “competition” for vaccines in an interview with The Associated Press. He said he views the the pandemic-era phrase “nobody is safe until everybody is safe” as a meaningless slogan until there is an equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. Read:‘This IS INSANE’: Africa desperately short of COVID vaccine “They say that while they are hoarding the vaccine. Can you walk the talk? Stop just talking like parrots, you know, and do you really mean what you said?” Ibrahim said late Tuesday in a Zoom call from London, where he is based. He argued that “at least a reasonable portion” of the vaccines should go to frontline workers in Africa. The World Health Organization reported last week that COVID-19 vaccine shipments have ground to “a near halt” in Africa at a time when some countries face a spike in cases. Africa has administered vaccine doses to 31 million of its 1.3 billion people. But only 7 million people are fully vaccinated, according to World Health Organization Africa director Matshidiso Moeti. Read:UN: Famine is imminent in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region Sub-Saharan Africa has on average administered only one vaccine dose per 100 people, compared to a global average of 23 doses per 100 people, she said, reiterating Africa’s ongoing plea for richer countries with significant vaccination coverage to share some of their remaining doses. President Joe Biden has said the United States would share some of its vaccines. Ibrahim warned also that Africa cannot afford to sit back, citing a need for greater accountability by governments which pledged in 2001 to spend at least 15% of their national budgets on public health. Economic integration that widens trade among nations is key, he said. While support from abroad is welcome, he said, “we should rely much more on ourselves. I always thought self-reliance is something important in Africa.” “We really need to build resilient health service in our countries,” he said. Read:South Africa returns to stricter lockdown, virus 'surging' Citing Tanzania under former leader John Magufuli, who died in March, Ibrahim said he was disappointed that some presidents appeared to dismiss the threat from COVID-19. “We need to hold our leaders accountable,” he said. “You deny and you pay the price... Unfortunately, your people also pay the price. So we need to hold our people accountable for their behavior, for the way they allocate resources. And it is for us in civil society to keep raising this issue.” Africa has confirmed more than 4.9 million COVID-19 cases, including 132,000 deaths, representing a tiny fraction of the global caseload. But some experts worry that the continent will suffer greatly in the long term if more of its people are not vaccinated in efforts to achieve herd immunity, when enough people are protected through infection or vaccination to make it difficult for a virus to continue to spread. Achieving that goal will require about 1.5 billion vaccine doses for Africa if there is widespread use of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine, often the main shot available under the donor-backed COVAX program to ensure access for developing countries.