ADF

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Liberian President George Weah has released a coronavirus-themed single, using music to raise awareness about prevention measures in the West African state.  In his Let’s Stand Together and Fight Coronavirus, Weah explains how the virus is spread and urges hand-washing to a backing of harmonized female vocals and upbeat guitar music from the group, the Rabbis. “From Europe to America, from America to Africa, take precautions, and be safe,” the former football icon sings. The roughly six-minute track also describes symptoms and explains how COVID-19 can spread when people touch their nose or eyes. As with other states…

VOICE OF AMERICA Nairobi’s Kariobangi neighborhood became home to a football team in 2000. Later named the Kariobangi Sharks, the team was a bright spot in an informal settlement marked by poverty, crime and crowded living conditions. The team became an escape for talented young people with an interest in football, some who might otherwise be involved in crime. In the past two decades, the team has risen to the top of Kenya’s football league, nurturing talent and giving hope to a new generation of players.  When Eric Juma was 11 years old, he saw the team training near his…

REUTERS South Sudanese wrestler Kur Bol Jok strode into the arena, puffed out his chest and faced his opponent, bracing for the fight. Wrestling is popular in the world’s youngest nation, which has been devastated by five years of civil war. Athletes say it is one of the few outlets in which ethnic groups who have fought each other can engage in friendly competition. “Wrestling brings peace as different people come from different places to meet and create friendship,” Jok said before the match. “Winning brings joy, and losing is normal because it is not a real fight.” Matches draw…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS In a field in central Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 36,000 people got the chance to forget fears about insecurity and enjoy some top music acts at the Amani Festival. The festival, named after the Swahili word for peace, is a rare time for such large numbers to come together in one place in this region. Goma is the biggest city in an area that has seen an upsurge of violence. Attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group and army attempts to flush them out have led to…

ADF STAFF United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger battle against COVID-19, which he called the common enemy that is threatening all of humanity. “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war,” he said. “It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.” Guterres pointed out that marginalized people suffer the most during war and are most at risk from the disease. These include refugees, women, children and people with disabilities. He said health…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Gabon banned the sale and consumption of pangolins and bats, which are suspected sources of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Pangolins are critically endangered and have long been protected, but they are sold in the markets of the capital, Libreville, where their meat is popular. They have long been illegally trafficked to China, where they are highly prized in traditional medicine. The Central African nation is 88% covered in forest, and hunting and bush meat have long been a way of life. The Water and Forest Ministry said early studies indicate COVID-19 was a “combination of two different…

ADF STAFF The Ugandan government has launched a digital land registry system to reduce fraud and land rights disputes.  The system has been in the works since 2010 and is operational in all 22 ministry zonal offices of the country. The program is a partnership between Uganda’s Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and the French company IGN FI. A World Bank loan financed the program. “We’ve seen a tenfold reduction in the time it takes to carry out transactions,” Christophe Dekeyne, CEO of IGN FI, told Radio France Internationale. “All of the data entered into the NLIS [National…

ADF STAFF As desert locusts spread across East Africa in February 2020, Uganda deployed 2,000 Soldiers to battle the pests. Ugandan troops used pesticide on the ground as authorities tried to secure helicopters for aerial spraying. However, Maj. Gen. Sam Kavuma, deputy commander of land forces for the Uganda People’s Defence Force, said locusts can evade such efforts.   “One challenge, which is being solved, that is aerial support to spray them,” Kavuma told Voice of America. “We deal much with those which are on the ground. And when we kill them, or during the spray then they jump and…

ADF STAFF France and several of its allies have announced the formation of a new task force to fight terrorist groups in West Africa’s Sahel region. Thirteen countries are task force members: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Mali, the Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A statement said the task force would be operational by early 2021. It is called “Takuba,” which means “saber” in the Tuareg language. The Sahel region, extending from Senegal east to Eritrea, has been home to a steady rise in violence. In January 2020, the United Nations envoy for…

ADF STAFF The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) killed several top Boko Haram commanders during airstrikes on settlements near Lake Chad. “The airstrike was executed on the heels of impeccable intelligence reports,” said Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, acting director of Defence Media Operations, of the March 18, 2020, operation. Onyeuko added that the reports showed that top Boko Haram “commanders as well as some of their fighters and designated suicide bombers had assembled at the location for meetings, aimed at orchestrating coordinated attacks.” The strikes were part of Operation Decisive Edge, a mission to decimate strongholds used by the extremist group.…