AFRICA NEWS
BULLETIN @ 20h00
22 January,
2016
Radio
XYZ93.1FM
Assistant
Producer: E.K.BensahJr
STORIES
1.
FOCUS:Civil Society Organisation SOTU
Plans to Engage AU Summit Underway in Addis
2.
EAST AFRICA:
a.
Kenya’s capital, coastal region
hit by power blackout
b.
Tanzania sets March 20 as date
for re-run of Zanzibar vote
3.
CENTRAL AFRICA: Hilton Hotels &
Resorts announces first hotel in Ndjamena, Chad
WEST AFRICA: Legislators investigate fresh hostilities in Niger Delta
NORTH AFRICA: ISIS Sets Sights on
overthrowing governments of Morocco & Tunisia
1.
FOCUS:
Member States of the AU are preparing for this year’s AU Summit. The
continental organization has identified 2016 as the “African Year of Human
Rights, in particular, with focus on the Rights of Women”. This theme puts
human rights at the forefront of the AU Agenda for 2016, and relevant organs
and institutions of the AU have begun to outline their programme of activities
for the year, with a culmination of commemorations aimed for Africa Human
Rights Day on 21 October 2016.
State of the Union(SOTU), a Nairobi-based civil society
organization encouraging AU member States to comply to the signing of AU
protocols, is one of those organisations geared to celebrate with a number of
activities.
SOTU is to play a key role in the 6th Continental Citizens
Conference (CCC), which is co-organised
with other civil society organisations to deliberate on key issues affecting
the continent. With the objective of making recommendations to the AU, the
sessions will cut across diverse themes on human rights, governance, peace and
security and economic justice.
During the plenary on Human Rights Enforcement, State
of the Union (SOTU) Coalition Coordinator Osai Ojigho will be presenting findings from the SOTU compliance report and
treaty monitoring on the consequences to citizens arising from non-compliance
and non-implementation of AU standards and instruments. The meeting takes place
at the Harmony Hotel in Addis between 21-23 January 2016. Roughly
150 participants are expected to participate and SOTU is directly supporting
the participation of 50 civil society activists and citizens leaders.
SOTU will host 2 side events during the CCC. The first is
on Mobilising Citizens for action. The session will address the challenges
of mass mobilisation in the human rights and governance movement and reviewing
advocacy plans for sustained citizens’ engagement including the use of new media.
The second session is on Establishment of National Monitoring Mechanisms
for implementing AU standards – The experience of Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda
During the summit, SOTU will have formal and informal
engagement with key departments of the AUC: Department of political affairs
(DPA), Information and Communication (DIC), ECOSOCC (Economic and Social
Council) and policy makers on issues of human rights and on treaty
implementation at country level.
2.
EAST AFRICA:
In an unhappy coincidence for both
Ghana and Kenya, the East African powerhouse, which is struggling with an aging energy infrastructure, also experienced a power outage in its capital
city, Nairobi, the coastal region and central parts of the country on 21
January.
The sole electricity distributor,
Kenya Power, said the blackout commenced at 4.33pm local time (1.33pm GMT).
According to a statement issued by Kenya Power, “the outage occurred following
a fault in the bulk supply transmission system at Juja substation in Nairobi.”
Still in East Africa, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission announced today that it will
hold a re-run of its disputed general election on March 20.
Tanzania’s semi-autonomous region of
Zanzibar held a ballot on Oct 25, 2015, but was annulled because of suspected
fraud. Tanzania remains one of the Africa’s most politically-stable countries’,
but Zanzibar is considered a hotbed of opposition to central government, with
strong secessionist and Islamist voices.
3.
CENTRAL AFRICA:Hilton Hotels & Resorts announces first hotel in Ndjamena, Chad
At a time when West Africa is bracing
itself for possible attack by Islamic militants, Chad – a country that has been
instrumental in the fight against Boko Haram under the AU/UN Joint
Multinational Joint Task Force – opened its doors today to the multinational
hotel resort.
This latest addition joins Hilton Worldwide’s portfolio of 37 hotels in Africa, but with an overall presence in 100
countries and territories across the globe.
Ndjamena is home to the National
Assembly of Chad, along with many other political organisations
across the city.
4.
WEST AFRICA:Legislators investigate fresh hostilities in Niger Delta
The House of Representatives
Committee on Defence is to investigate the immediate causes of fresh
hostilities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.
The decision was taken on Thursday
after lawmakers deliberated on a motion moved by Honourable Julius Pondi,
regarding the recent destruction of petroleum facilities in the Niger delta.
Nigeria Gas Company’s pipeline connected
to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos in Delta State was attacked
last week, with its impact beginning to reflect on other sectors of the
Nigerian economy.
Nigeria’s legislature, the House of
Representatives, is also urging the military high command to search for the
perpetrators and also protect the innocent citizens in the area.
5.
NORTH AFRICA: ISIS Sets Sights on overthrowing governments
of Morocco & Tunisia
Amid civil unrest in Tunisia and
Morocco, ISIS has called on Muslims to attack the two North African countries
and oust what they call “apostate” democratic governments.
In a new media campaign launched
Thursday and directed at Muslims in the Islamic Maghreb, several videos
released by different ISIS provinces show jihadists calling on Muslims to join
ISIS strongholds in Tunisia, Libya, Mali and Algeria to oust the apostate
democratic governments of Tunisia and Morocco and replace them with an Islamic
regime based on Sharia law.
ENDs
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