Diaspora news

Five senior UN officials have welcomed the decision by The Gambia to uphold its ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), calling it a critical win for women’s and girls’ rights.  Parliamentarians in the West African country voted last Monday to reject a bill that sought to overturn a 2015 law against the harmful practice, which involves cutting or removing some ...

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled a new coalition government, after his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party lost its parliamentary majority in May’s elections. He said “the government of national unity… is unprecedented in the history of our democracy”. The ANC will have 20 out of 32 cabinet posts, while the pro-market Democratic Alliance (DA) – until now ...

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for his second mandate on Wednesday after a tedious last month election. Ramaphosa received a 21_gun salute, military fly-bys and a parade of honor by the servicemen. Ramaphosa secured his position after garnering majority votes among members of parliament allied to the African National Congress ANC, the Democratic Alliance and other parties ...

A Swiss court on Wednesday convicted a former government minister from Gambia of crimes against humanity under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh and jailed him for 20 years, in a historic verdict using universal jurisdiction in Europe. The Federal Criminal Court found Ousman Sonko guilty on several counts of intentional homicide, torture and false imprisonment. Sonko, who was dismissed as Gambia’s interior ...

Leaders from the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, have climbed down on their initial announcement that they were visiting Togo “due to the seriousness of the controversial constitutional reforms that the government planned to introduce”. Those words were part of a press release that was published on X on Monday then deleted on Tuesday. It was replaced by a new ...

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has recovered $28.88 million after launching an investigation into alleged fraud at a government ministry responsible for tackling poverty, a spokesperson said. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, was suspended in January less than six months after her appointment by President Bola Tinubu, who came to power last year on a promise to revive growth ...

A South African accountant who was investigating high-level corruption cases has been shot dead along with his son. Cloete Murray, 50, was the liquidator for Bosasa, a company implicated in numerous government contract scandals. He also worked as a liquidator for firms linked to the wealthy Gupta brothers, who deny bribery accusations. Police will see if there is a link ...

Nigeria’s Supreme Court has temporarily suspended Friday’s deadline to stop using old banknotes, which had caused a cash crisis in the country. Banks have not been releasing enough of the new naira notes, leading to desperate and chaotic scenes as people tried to get their hands on them. There were fights at ATMs, protests and mob attacks on commercial banks. ...

Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Tuesday appointed his vice-minister of education, Manuela Roka Botey, as prime minister, the first time a woman has held the role in the West African country. Botey’s new position was announced on state television late on Tuesday. Obiang, 80, was re-elected for a sixth term in office in November with 95% of the vote, cementing ...

China’s population has fallen for the first time in 60 years, with the national birth rate hitting a record low – 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The population in 2022 – 1.4118 billion – fell by 850,000 from 2021. China’s birth rate has been declining for years, prompting a slew of policies to try to slow the trend. But seven ...