|
LISTEN TO THIS THE AFRICANA VOICE ARTICLE NOW
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Uganda passes the anti-gay bill.
Uganda’s parliament Tuesday passed a bill that would criminalize people who identify as homosexuals.
LGBTQ individuals could face lengthy prison terms if President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, and the bill seeks to criminalize further people based on their sexual identity.
On Wednesday, the US requested Uganda to reconsider the anti-gay bill. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Uganda to rethink implementing the bill that outlines harsh penalties for gays.
“The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan Parliament yesterday would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ugandan Government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.
Further, the US warned that there would be repercussions if President Museveni of Uganda signed the bill. John Kirby, the coordinator of strategic communications for the National Security Council, said Wednesday that if the law passes, the Biden administration would consider potential “repercussions, perhaps in an economical way.”
The US said it hoped the bill would not pass. “That would be unfortunate because so much of the economic assistance we provide Uganda is health assistance. Hopefully, it won’t pass, and we won’t have to do anything,” Kirby said at a press briefing.
Ethiopia delists TPLF from terror groups.
Ethiopia’s parliament Wednesday voted to remove the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) from the country’s terror group list. The move comes four months after the group signed a peace deal to end a brutal war against the government.
The pact signed in November in Pretoria, South Africa, ended a two-year conflict that saw thousands massacred.
Delisting TPLF as a terrorist organization was among the agreement’s highlights, including a disarmament plan and restoring essential services in the northern Tigray region.
Presidential petition filed in Nigeria
On Tuesday, four Nigerian opposition parties filed a petition against President-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election on 25 February.
The People’s Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Action Alliance Solomon Okangbuan, and Allied People’s Movement’s Chichi Ojei filed petitions with the Presidential Election Tribunal before the end of the country’s constitutional deadline.
According to the local media, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, the two top opposition leaders, asked the tribunal to declare that Tinubu was “not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”
Police shoot Maseno University student sparking protests
On Monday, police officers quelling Azimio-led protests in the Maseno area shot a university student protesting with others. William Mayange, a third-year Bachelor of Literature student at Maseno University, was shot by a police officer in the neck and died on the spot. On Thursday, the university students went on strike, barricading the Kisumu-Busia road as they called for justice for their killed comrade.Kisumu governor, Prof Anyang Nyongo, called for a speedy investigation of the student’s murder.
“The student was murdered in cold blood as he and his colleagues were demonstrating at Maseno center over the high cost of living,” said Governor Nyong’o.”As we send condolence messages to the family of the slain student and the Maseno University fraternity, we demand that the police officer who fired the killer bullet be arrested and prosecuted as soon as possible,” he added.
Mayange’s mother, Evelyn Miruka, said her son was killed like a bandit, yet he was innocent.
“I was told my son was at the hospital, but they lied and told me he was not dead. When I arrived, I was informed that my firstborn son was no more. He was not a bandit,” Miruka told the press at Maseno. “I am aggrieved; I don’t know what my son did to deserve such a fate. He was killed on the streets by police; he was just 21 years old,” the mother added.
Marburg outbreak in Tanzania
Tanzania’s health ministry Monday said that a mysterious disease that had killed five people the previous week had been identified as Marburg hemorrhagic fever. The virus causes high fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure. It is in the same family of diseases as the Ebola virus.
Speaking to the local media, Tanzania’s health minister, Ummy Mwalimu, urged citizens to stay calm, saying the government had managed to control the spread of the disease. She said three patients were receiving hospital treatment, and the authorities were tracing 161 contacts. Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said the organization is working with Tanzania to investigate the disease and provide patient care.
“First ever outbreak of Marburg in Tanzania confirmed. WHO is supporting the government in carrying out epidemiological investigations – identifying cases and contacts – and providing them with care. We continue supporting the ongoing Marburg outbreak response in Equatorial Guinea,” he said.
The Ministry of Health in Kenya Wednesday, March 22, said it has activated surveillance and response mechanisms at all border points between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Ministry also directed all County Health Officials to be vigilant to identify and isolate suspect cases for proper and timely management.
“The Ministry wishes to inform the general public to be on high alert and report any unusual increase in individuals presenting with high fever (hotness of the body) of unknown cause, especially those with a history of travel to Tanzania. Such individuals are advised to immediately report to the nearest health facility for assessment and management. For any inquiries, call the following numbers, 0729 47 14 14 or 0732 35 35 35 or 719,” the ministry’s statement read in part.
LEAVE A COMMENT
You must be logged in to post a comment.