UN hands over first military base in DRC to begin its drawdown after decades in the country
Last year, the UN Security Council extended the peacekeeping mandate until December 20 and decided that its troop ceiling until June 30 should be 13,500 military personnel, 660 military observers and staff officers and 2,001 international police. It ordered a reduction from July to 11,500 military personnel, 600 military observers and staff officers and 1,713 international police.
ICC awards $56m in reparations to 50,000 victims of convicted Ugandan rebel commander
the court ruled victims would each receive €750 ($812) as a “symbolic award” while other reparations would come in the form of community-based rehabilitation programmes.
Court in US sentences Florida resident for money laundering and smuggling guns to Haiti gang
Kenya has offered to lead a UN-ratified force requested by Haiti’s unelected government in 2022 to help under-resourced Haitian police fight gangs, which are now estimated to control most of the capital Port-au-Prince.
South Sudan blames its economic woes on war in neighbouring Sudan, piracy in Red Sea
South Sudan, a landlocked country, produces around 150,000 barrels of fuel a day and uses Sudanese pipelines to transfer its oil to the global market in an agreement with the government of Sudan. Sudan pockets $23 per barrel as transit fees for oil exports from South Sudan.
Clash over disputed land between Twic and Ngok Dinka subtribes kill 52 in South Sudan’s oil-rich Abyei
Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed over control of the Abyei region since a 2005 peace deal ended decades of civil war between Sudan’s north and south. Both Sudan and South Sudan claim ownership of Abyei, whose status was unresolved after South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011.
Burundi detains dozens of soldiers resisting deployment to Congo to fight M23 rebels
Tensions have been rising in Africa’s Great Lakes region as Rwanda, Burundi and Congo trade accusations over support for violent rebel groups operating in the lawless areas of eastern Congo.
Nairobi, Kenya: Report warns harmful waste is going to cost the world $640 billion annually
Waste prevention measures and improved waste management could reduce those costs, but there are significant barriers to change, such as weak enforcement mechanisms, the report said. A treaty to address plastics pollution, which does not biodegrade and can cause serious health impacts, is being negotiated, with a fourth round of talks scheduled for April.
Justified Accord: US Africa Command largest military exercise in East Africa gets underway in Kenya
At the Nanyuki-based Counter Insurgency, Terrorism and Stability Operations (CITSO) centre, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is hosting a multinational field training exercise, urban operations training, as well as a medical civic action programme, providing medical care to up to 1,000 rural Kenyans.
Red-Tabara rebels kill nine people in Burundi as Bujumbura accuses Kigali of complicity
Burundi last month suspended diplomatic relations with Rwanda and closed their border, calling it a response to Rwanda’s alleged backing of RED-Tabara. Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye has accused Rwandan authorities of supporting RED-Tabara.
Why Uganda should rethink specialisation in higher education for turning over ‘sausages’ in the name of professionals
We are living in “A rapidly changing ‘wicked’ world, which demands conceptual reasoning skills that can connect new ideas and work across contexts.” We, therefore, need to quickly rethink education to train for now and the future, not for the past.
