Africa
Recycling lake litter, Ugandan makes innovative tourist boat
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.”
Egypt sentences 14, including activists on terrorism charges
Egypt on Sunday sentenced 14 people, including rights activists, to prison terms ranging between five and 15 years on terrorism-related charges in a trial deplored by rights groups as unfair.
The verdicts — the latest mass sentencings in Egypt — were reported by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, one of the country's most prominent human rights. The suspects were arrested in 2018 as part of a wide-ranging crackdown by authorities on dissent.
Two activist lawyers — Ezzat Ghoniem of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms and Mohamed Abu Horarira — were sentenced to 15 years in prison each. They were convicted of joining and funding a terrorist group, which is government parlance for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian authorities designated the Islamist group a terrorist organization in 2013, the year the military removed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, from power after a year of divisive rule.
Also Read: COP27: Momen thanks Egypt for focusing on "loss and damage" issue
Abu Horarira's wife, Aisha el-Shater, who is also the daughter of Khairat el-Shater, long seen as the Brotherhood’s most powerful leader, was sentenced to 10 years on charges that also included disseminating false news on allegations of rights abuses by security forces.
Huda Abdel-Moneim, another lawyer and activist, was handed a five-year sentence.
The court added a five-year probation period at the end of each sentence of those convicted, which includes a travel ban and an order to regularly report to a police station.
Amnesty International and other rights group have decried the arrest of the 14 and said their trial reflected “gross violations of their right to a fair trial.”
Sunday’s verdicts are not subject to appeal and only the country’s president has the authority to pardon or throw out the sentences.
Rights groups have repeatedly criticized mass sentencings, common over the past years in Egypt in trials related to the Brotherhood or dissent, and called on authorities to ensure fair trials.
Egypt’s government has in recent years jailed thousands, mainly Islamists, but also secular activists involved in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled the country's longtime autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.
Doctor in embattled Somaliland city says at least 145 dead
The director of a hospital in a disputed city in the Somaliland region says at least 145 people have been killed in more than two months of fighting between anti-government fighters and Somaliland security forces after local elders declared their intention to reunite with Somalia.
Abdimajid Sugulle, with the public hospital in Las-Anod, told The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 1,080 other people have been wounded and over 100,000 families have fled the city of Las-Anod since late December. Most civilians have fled, he said.
The director accused Somaliland forces of destroying the hospital’s laboratory, blood bank and patient ward in mortar attacks. “The Somaliland forces who are positioned outside the town have been shelling civilian residents and medical facilities indiscriminately. No single day passes without shelling and casualties,” he told the AP by phone.
Somaliland’s defense ministry has denied shelling the hospital, and the government has asserted it has a “continuous commitment” to a cease-fire it declared on Feb. 10. “Indiscriminate shelling of civilians is unacceptable and must stop,” the United Nations and international partners warned last month.
Somaliland separated from Somalia three decades ago and seeks international recognition as an independent country. Somaliland and the Somali state of Puntland have disputed Las-Anod for years, but the eastern city has been under Somaliland’s control.
The U.N. mission in Somalia and the U.N. human rights office had said the violence in Las-Anod killed at least 80 people between Dec. 28 and Feb. 28 and more than 450 noncombatants were wounded, including medical personnel. The U.N. has called for respect for medical workers and unhindered humanitarian access.
The conflict in Las-Anod began when an unidentified gunman killed a popular young politician in Somaliland’s opposition party as he left a mosque. Protests followed against Somaliland officials and forces in the city.
Somaliland’s government has blamed the unrest on fighters with “anti-peace groups and terrorism” and alleged that the al-Shabab extremist group, affiliated with al-Qaida, has supported some attacks.
Nigeria's Bola Tinubu declared winner of presidential vote
Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared winner of Nigeria's presidential election early Wednesday, with the two leading opposition candidates already demanding a revote in Africa's most populous nation.
Election officials' overnight announcement was likely to lead to a court challenge by his main opponents Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Abubakar also finished second in the last vote in 2019, then appealed those results before his lawsuit ultimately was dismissed.
On Tuesday, the two leading opposition parties had demanded a revote, saying that delays in uploading election results had made room for irregularities. The ruling All Progressives Congress party urged the opposition to accept defeat and not cause trouble.
Tinubu received 37% of the vote, or nearly 8.8 million, while main opposition candidate Abubakar won 29% with almost 7 million. Third-place finisher Obi took 25% with about 6.1 million, according to the results announced on live television by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Also Read: Nigerian delegation discusses Dhaka-Abuja trade potential with BGMEA
Tinubu "having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” said the country’s election chief, Mahmood Yakubu.
The announcement came after 4 a.m., but celebrations already had started late Tuesday at the ruling party’s national secretariat where Tinubu’s supporters had gathered in anticipation of his victory.
“None of the others matches his record!” said Babafemi Akin as he chatted excitedly about the prospects of a Tinubu administration. “I am sure he will do well.”
Tinubu, 70, is the former governor of Lagos state, home to Nigeria's megacity of the same name. However, he lost the state in Saturday's election to Obi, who drew a strong following among younger voters eager for change.
The parties now have three weeks to appeal results, but an election can be invalidated only if it's proven the national electoral body largely didn’t follow the law and acted in ways that could have changed the result.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election, though court challenges are common, including by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who doggedly fought his past election losses for months in vain.
Nigeria’s presidential election has been closely watched as the country is not only the continent’s largest economy but it is also one of the continent’s top oil producers.
Observers have said Saturday’s election was mostly peaceful, though delays caused some voters to wait until the following day to cast their ballots. Many Nigerians had difficulties getting to their polling stations because of a currency redesign that resulted in a shortage of bank notes.
More than 70 soldiers killed in Burkina Faso, extremists say
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for killing more than 70 soldiers, wounding dozens and taking five hostage, in an ambush on a military convoy in northern Burkina Faso.
The statement, posted Friday by Amaq, the group’s news agency, said it attacked a convoy trying to advance to areas under its control near Deou, in the Sahel's Oudalan province. It said it seized weapons and chased retreating soldiers for miles into the desert.
Images released by the group show 54 slain bodies in military uniform lying in the bloodstained dirt, as well as more than 50 seized assault rifles and images of the five soldiers it said were taken prisoner.
Read More: Burkina Faso says 66 women, children freed from extremists
The announcement comes one week after the attack in Deou and days after another attack in Tin-Akoff town, where locals and civil society groups say dozens more soldiers and civilians were killed when a military outpost was hit.
It's unclear how many people have been killed in the two incidents. Last week the government confirmed that 51 soldiers died in the Deou ambush but it has not responded to requests for updated numbers or commented on the attack in Tin-Akoff.
Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group has wracked the country for seven years killing thousands and displacing nearly 2 million people. Frustration at the government's inability to stem the violence led to two coups last year, each one preceded by a major attack on the military.
This is the deadliest ambush on soldiers since the new junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, seized power in September and analysts say it could threaten his grip on power.
“There’s a persistent stream of militant attacks north of the country and the public is undoubtedly taking notice of their government's inability to provide security. Any further attacks this colossal could threaten a public scene and even threaten to unseat the junta,” said Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory, which provides intelligence analysis.
One soldier involved in the ambush in Deou, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said their convoy was outnumbered as more than 300 jihadis encircled them, firing rockets and mortars. “We lost many men”, he said.
The large number of jihadis and the different colored headscarves they were wearing appeared like a coalition of many extremist franchises that he hadn't seen before, he said.
The Islamic State and an al-Qaida linked group, known by its acronym JNIM, are not known to work together, but rather have been fighting each other for territory and influence in the country as well as in neighboring Mali where they operate. Analysts say it's extremely unlikely they would have joined forces.
Some locals say the increase of jihadi violence against the military is revenge for torture and extrajudicial killings by soldiers against people presumed to be jihadis.
Hamadou Boureima Diallo, a local journalist in the Sahel's Dori town, told The Associated Press by phone that he spoke with locals who witnessed the latest attack in Tin-Akoff and were able to flee and that they blamed the killings on revenge.
“These recent bloody attacks against soldiers is because when the soldiers arrest terrorists or presumed terrorists they torture them and make photos or videos that circulate on social media," said Diallo, recounting what the locals said. "We have seen some of the videos where presumed terrorists are being tortured. ... This is not good,” he said.
At least 32 civilians killed in eastern Congo, says the U.N.
At least 32 civilians have been killed by rebel groups in eastern Congo's Ituri province, said a spokesman for the United Nations.
Twenty people were killed by the militia group CODECO and a dozen were killed by the Allied Democratic Forces, which is allied to the Islamic State group, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a press conference on Monday.
Calling the situation “confusing,” Dujarric said it is hard for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo to get more information due to restricted movement in the area.
Fighting between CODECO, a loose association of various ethnic Lendu militia groups, and Zaire, a mainly ethnic Hema self-defense group, has been ongoing since 2017 but has worsened recently. At least 32 civilians were killed by CODECO last month, say local officials. In December, the United Nations said the insurgent group was expanding its areas of control, attacking civilians and Congo's military, and taxing communities in the areas that it holds.
The killings come amid surging violence across eastern Congo, where conflict has been simmering for decades as more than 120 armed groups are fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some groups are trying to protect their communities.
In neighboring North Kivu province, the situation is deteriorating as the M23 rebel group, which was dormant for nearly a decade and resurfaced at the end of 2021, continues to seize swaths of territory and killing civilians.
The M23 first rose to prominence 10 years ago when its fighters seized Goma, the largest city in Congo’s east, which sits on the border with Rwanda. The group derives its name from a peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009 which called for the rebels to be integrated into the Congo army. The M23 accuse the government of not implementing the accord. The group is believed to have backing from Rwanda, findings supported by the U.N.
A peace agreement last year made during a summit in Angola was supposed to see the M23 withdraw from areas it had captured, however that is not being implemented, according to local residents.
Last week M23 fighters advanced toward Sake town in the Masisi area, displacing more than 65,000 people, according to an internal report for aid groups seen by The Associated Press. The rebels' advance increases the risk of isolating Goma and cutting off humanitarian access, say aid agencies.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, has also been attacked amid the volatility.
Earlier this month one of the U.N. mission's helicopters came under fire in North Kivu province, killing a South African peacekeeper and injuring another, said the U.N. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The United Nations Security Council said the deliberate targeting of peacekeepers could constitute war crimes.
Kenya seeks divine help to end crippling, ongoing drought
With the prospect of a sixth consecutive failed rainy season in the east and Horn of Africa, Kenya's president is hoping the heavens will finally open with the help of a national day of mass prayer on Tuesday.
William Ruto announced the plans for the country's first ever day of prayer on Sunday at a service in the drought-stricken city of Nakuru, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the capital Nairobi. It follows a joint call by the country's spiritual leaders to dedicate an entire day to prayer to ease drought conditions in the nation.
Ruto’s own ambitious economic revival strategy for the country is also dependent on a successful rainy season.
“As a government we have set out elaborate plans for food security, we have seeds, ample fertilizer, and water harvesting strategies including dams. We now need God to send us the rain,” Ruto said. “I urge all people from all faiths ... to pray for our country."
Kenya and other east African nations have been experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in decades, causing crop failure, loss of livestock, wildlife and biodiversity, and malnutrition. Domestic agriculture is a large part of Kenya's economy.
The U.N. humanitarian agency has termed the ongoing drought in the region a “rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”
Meteorologists say human-caused climate change has been exacerbating the extreme conditions.
“It is time we started including climate change as factor in our development plans," Evans Mukolwe, former director of the Kenyan and U.N. weather agencies, told The Associated Press. "The current drought which we warned about some years ago has wider ramifications on the social economic conditions of the region including peace, security, and political stability.”
Mukolwe added that climate change has contributed to below average rainy seasons in the region for about three decades.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development's climate center said that since 2020, five rainy seasons have failed, affecting over 50 million people. The center will release its projections for the long rains season, typically from March to May, later in February. Early projections from other meteorological groups are not optimistic.
Around the world people from different faiths have often sought divine intervention for rain or other favorable weather. Last summer Milan's Archbishop made a pilgrimage to three churches in hopes of ending the country's dry spell and Utah's governor called for citizens to pray for rain ahead of a weekend of extreme heat.
Some Kenyans intend to heed the president’s call.
Nairobi business owner Millicent Nyambura said she supported the idea, “even though it will affect my colleagues in the flower business who expect to boost sales on Valentine's Day.”
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
At least 22 dead in Benin bus crash
At least 22 people were killed and nearly two dozen injured when a public bus crashed into a truck in the center of Benin, the government on Monday.
The president’s director of communications posted on Facebook that first responders had immediately been dispatched to the scene of the crash that occurred near the town of Dassa-Zoume on Sunday.
“In this painful circumstance, the government expresses its sympathy to the whole nation and presents its deepest condolences to all the grieving families. This tragedy has once again reminded us that safety on our roads remains a constant challenge and urges us to take even stronger actions for a more effective safety of people and goods,” the director said. A crisis unit has been set up for relatives to get information.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. An investigation has been opened into the circumstances of the crash, said authorities.
Images and videos of the crash shared on social chat groups and seen by The Associated Press show the bus in flames and a charred body on the ground as one man tried to put out the fire with a jerry can of water.
About 21 people had burn injuries to varying degrees, said Benjamin Hounkpatin, the health minister during an interview with state television on Sunday. Speaking outside the hospital in Cotonou where the injured had been taken, he said they were alerted about the crash early evening Sunday and that health staff were doing everything they could.
“For the people who were burned we can't guarantee what will happen to them,” said Hounkpatin.
Transport accidents occur in Benin due to narrow roads in parts of the country, however, the death toll is not usually so high, according to locals. In July, three people were killed in a crash between a bus and a car near the town of Parakou, according to local media.
Burkina Faso says 66 women, children freed from extremists
Burkina Faso's army has freed 66 women and children who were abducted earlier this month by Islamic extremists while gathering food in the country's northern Sahel region, according to a state television report Friday.
National broadcaster RTB reported that armed forces had located the hostages during a military operation in Center-North region. The group included 39 children, with four infants among them.
Authorities have said they had been out in the countryside gathering wild fruit near the town of Arbinda in Soum province when Islamic extremists kidnapped them on Jan. 12 and 13.
Extremists have besieged towns around the West African country, preventing people and goods from moving freely. The town of Arbinda has been under jihadi blockade for years, making women more vulnerable to attacks if they try to leave, rights groups say.
Also Read: 55 people killed in latest attack in northern Burkina Faso
Jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group has overrun Burkina Faso, killing thousands and displacing nearly 2 million people in the West African nation. The failure of successive governments to stop the fighting has caused widespread discontent and triggered two military coups in 2022.
The military junta that seized power in September, vowing to restore security, is still struggling to stem the violence.
Vietnamese president resigns, criticised for major scandals
Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned Tuesday, becoming the most senior member of the government to step down after a series of high-profile corruption scandals for which he was held responsible.
The state Vietnam News Agency reported that he had resigned at a session of the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee that was held “to consider and give opinions on Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s wish to stop holding positions, quit work and retire.” The language of the announcement strongly suggested that he was forced to step down.
Read more: ADB arranges $135m climate financing package to support electric mobility in Vietnam
Phuc, 68, began serving in government at the provincial level in 1979 and took his first position in national government in 2006. He joined the Politburo, the highest-ranking party body, in 2011, and was prime minister from 2016 to 2021, when he was elected president by the National Assembly.
The post of president in Vietnam is largely ceremonial. The most powerful position, Communist Party general secretary, is currently held by Nguyen Phu Trong, who in 2021 won a rare third five-year term in office. His hallmark has been a long-running anti-corruption campaign, which in his second term targeted two former Cabinet ministers and Hanoi’s former mayor.
An official statement published in state media praised Phuc for his efforts as prime minister in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
It added, however, that he bore political responsibility as the country’s top executive for serious scandals involving his subordinates, including two deputy prime ministers and three other ministers. The statement noted that the two deputy prime ministers had resigned from their positions and criminal proceedings had been launched against two other ministers and many other officials. Several of the scandals involved corruption related to pandemic control measures.
The positions from which Phuc resigned also included Politburo membership, the executive committee of the Central Committee and chairman of the National Defense and Security Council.
Read more: At least 32 dead in karaoke parlor fire in south Vietnam
As prime minister, Phuc led Vietnam as it became further integrated in the global economy and sustained 7% economic growth until COVID-19 hit the world.
With strict measures including a nationwide lockdown, Vietnam managed to contain the spread of the virus in the first year of the pandemic and quickly resumed business and manufacturing. It was among a handful of countries in 2020 that recorded positive economic growth.
However, as in several other Asian nations that initially staved off serious outbreaks, cases shot up after mid-2021 with the spread of more highly transmissible variants.