by tyler | May 2, 2023 | africa, CNN
Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the leader of a religious group linked to dozens of deaths in eastern Kenya, could face “possible terrorism charges,” according to his lawyer George Kariuki.
Mackenzie appeared in court on Tuesday, where “he was released unconditionally and then rearrested … on possible terrorism charges,” Kariuki told CNN. His client was later taken to Shanzu Court in Mombasa, he added.
Wearing a pink and black jacket, the religious leader appeared along with six other suspects, according to CNN affiliates Citizen TV and NTV.
Mackenzie was first arrested last month, after police received a tip-off that his vast land on the Shakahola forest in the Kilifi County of eastern Kenya, contained mass graves. He was denied bail over investigation interference fears, his lawyer told CNN last week.
At least 109 bodies have been retrieved from the Shakahola forest, believed to be linked to a cult that allegedly encouraged its followers to starve themselves to gain salvation, the Kenyan Ministry of Interior tweeted on Monday, adding that autopsies have begun “to determine the cause of death and bring closure to the families of the deceased.”
Kenya’s public prosecutions office previously said in its preliminary findings that Nthenge and other suspects “may have committed murder,” as well as “counselling and aiding persons to kill themselves” by “promoting radical beliefs.”
Mackenzie’s lawyer told CNN over the weekend that his client was healthy and has been having meals while in custody.
“He eats and drinks. He is healthy. I have met him personally. There have been rumors that he has refused to eat, and that is not true,” Kariuki told CNN.
by tyler | May 2, 2023 | africa, CNN
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – the two warring factions in Sudan – have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire, the foreign ministry of South Sudan said in a statement Tuesday.
The two sides also said they would send representatives for peace talks “to be held at an agreed venue of their choice,” it added.
The SAF or RSF have both yet to comment on the report on their official channels.
Previous ceasefires have failed to stop the fighting between the rival factions in various parts of the country. Failed negotiations between the head of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into intense clashes between both sides in mid-April, sparking a mass exodus of refugees from the conflict-ridden country and leading to the deaths of at least 528 people.
Tuesday’s announcement came after the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) warned more than 800,000 people may flee to neighboring countries, as the ongoing violence stifles evacuation convoys from key ports in Sudan.
“In consultation with all concerned governments and partners, we have arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into the seven neighboring countries,” Raouf Mazou, the organization’s assistant high commissioner for operations, said Monday.
An estimated 73,000 people have already fled Sudan to neighboring countries, Mazou added.
Thousands of foreign nationals have escaped the country as Western powers stepped in to evacuate their own citizens, while thousands more local families have risked perilous journeys from the capital Khartoum as they have been left to fend for themselves.
Many locals remain trapped in their homes, with water, food, medicine and electricity shortages increasing the risk of a humanitarian crisis, as relief organizations prioritize medical aid distribution to hospitals caught up in the conflict.
The violence flared this week in West Darfur, where the two warring generals Burhan and Dagalo both have history, having played key roles in the counterinsurgency against rebels in the region’s civil war that began in 2003.
Burhan controlled the Sudanese army in Darfur, while Dagalo was the commander of one of the many Arab militias, the Janjaweed, which was implicated in human rights violations and atrocities.
“It can be fatal to try to escape” said Karl Schembri, of the Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC.
“You risk your life if you stay,” and risk it if you leave, NRC’s media advisor for the region said in a phone call with CNN.
Schembri called the situation in Sudan’s Darfur region “total mayhem,” with displacement camps set on fire, shelters burned to the ground and civilians killed in the fighting over recent days.
There are shortages of food, water, and medical supplies, with nearly all hospitals not operational, or in some way damaged. Fuel can only be found on the black market, forcing many people to abandon their vehicles, and forced to walk to escape.
People who have been previously displaced by the long-standing unresolved conflict in Darfur, and refugees from other regional conflicts as far as Syria and Yemen have been displaced again, some for the second, third or fourth time, Schembri said. A number of displaced who are NRC volunteer workers have also been caught in the fighting.
At least 94 people have been killed since April 20 in the Sudanese city of El Geneina in West Darfur, according to a statement from the Sudanese Doctors’ Union on Tuesday.
by tyler | May 2, 2023 | africa, CNN
Uganda’s parliament has passed an amended version of the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 on Tuesday.
Under the new proposed bill, homosexual conduct will still be illegal, but identifying as homosexual without conducting in homosexual acts will not be outlawed.
The bill, however, retains its more extreme elements, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes sex with a minor, having sex while HIV positive and incest.
The bill, which originally proposed 20 years imprisonment for even identifying as LGBTQ+, was returned to parliament by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in late April.
Museveni asked lawmakers to reconsider and clarify certain aspects of the bill.
The new bill has made amendments to distinguish between those who identify or appear to be LGBTQ+ and those who actually engage in homosexual acts. Same-sex relations are already illegal in Uganda and warrant a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The bill previously suggested imprisoning those who identify as LGBTQ+, but now states that those who do not act on their “deviant proclivity” will not be punished by law.
“The bill still remains restrictive, it’s not any better,” activist Richard Lusimbo told CNN Tuesday.
Lawmakers also agreed to a proposed amendment that would change the bill’s decree of a “duty to report” acts of homosexuality.
Under the amended bill, individuals are now only legally required to report such acts if they are “against children and vulnerable people,” legislator Robina Gureme Rwakoojo confirmed in parliament.
The punishment for not reporting this is a fine or imprisonment for six months, the bill states.
Only one lawmaker, legislator Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, spoke out against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 in Parliament on Tuesday, describing it as a breach of human rights.
The bill will now be returned to President Museveni who will decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.
Scientists and academics had urged Museveni to veto the bill, which has been widely condemned by Western nations and human rights organizations.
But the Ugandan leader does not oppose the bill and plans to sign it into law soon, the country’s ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), said last month.
by tyler | May 1, 2023 | africa, CNN
In the dark of night, the nightmare is nearly over for the lucky few gathered on the quayside in Port Sudan.
Under floodlights, a tugboat docks and picks up dozens of evacuees from a quiet street near the busy jetty. Saudi soldiers wearing balaclavas check their passports and let them through, bringing them one step closer to safety.
They are among thousands who have fled since deadly fighting erupted in Sudan between rival military forces more than two weeks ago, making the treacherous 830-kilometer journey from the capital to the eastern port in the hope of boarding a ship to safety. One person told CNN it took them 36 hours to reach the city.
CNN joined a Saudi evacuation mission Sunday from Jeddah to Port Sudan and back across the Red Sea – a route that’s become a lifeline for those whose lives have been upended by the conflict, some of whom left with just a passport and a few personal items.
Sudanese-American businessman Adil Bashir was one of just 52 evacuees who boarded the Royal Saudi Navy ship HMS Al-Diriyah on Sunday. He told CNN he fled Khartoum after his car dealership was attacked and some of his vehicles were stolen and others burnt. “There are a lot of dead bodies on the street,” he said.
He said he was detained by men wearing Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniforms after telling them he was a US citizen. “I believe they wanted us to be human shields,” he told CNN.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded in the fighting. Thousands of foreign nationals have been evacuated from the country, while many Sudanese remain stuck in ever more deteriorating and deadly conditions.
And as fighting has driven more people out of Khartoum, Port Sudan has become a key evacuation hub.
The UN’s internationally-recruited staff have relocated to the eastern city and thousands are in a holding pattern, hoping for flights out.
At least two convoys of private US citizens and local staff of the US Embassy arrived over the weekend, adding to the numbers. The first convoy reached Port Sudan on Saturday and the second one late on Sunday, the first US-led efforts to evacuate private US citizens from Sudan.
Faris Asad, the US Consul General in Jeddah, told CNN that 100 Americans were among the people who had arrived Monday morning on the USNS Brunswick ship, a fast transport vessel that has a military and civilian crew.
The US has set up a reception center at the port in Jeddah, processing any American citizens before their ongoing journey.
Hanadi Ahmed, one of the Sudanese-American evacuees arriving at the port on Monday, told CNN she was heartbroken to have to leave some members of her family behind.
“It’s very bad, all my family is there, my mum, my dad, it’s really difficult,” she told CNN, sobbing.
As of Sunday, the Saudis said they had evacuated 5,197 people of 100 nationalities from the country.
“The assets and the capabilities – both military and civilian – in Saudi are involved in taking civilians from Sudan,” Defense Ministry spokesman General Turki Al-Maliki told CNN. “As long as it’s safe, we’ll keep doing our role.”
The evacuees were welcomed aboard the HMS Al-Diriyah with flowers, chocolates, bottles of water and packed orange juice.
“It’s very hard and very painful for me [to leave] because Sudan is like a second home,” Pakistani migrant worker Hamza Navid told CNN.
He acted as the unofficial translator for his colleagues on the team, listening to instructions in English from the crew and relaying it in Urdu. Others in the group were from countries including Oman and Nepal, all connected in a sad goodbye to Africa’s third- largest nation.
The journey from Port Sudan to Jeddah can take up to 12 hours depending on sea conditions. Though the Saudi Royal Navy fleet is shuttling back and forth across the Red Sea, demand far outstrips supply.
But every new arrival in Jeddah is a ceremony with uniformed officers lining up outside a vessel to welcome the evacuees and officials on hand for photo opportunities. It is also a well choreographed media spectacle with dozens of cameras pointed at weary travelers as they disembark. Sometimes, there are tears – equal parts relief and survivors’ guilt.
Ahead of the ship’s arrival in Saudi Arabia, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said Sunday it had agreed to extend a US-Saudi mediated ceasefire for 72 hours after its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), earlier agreed to extend the truce.
Despite multiple ceasefires however, sporadic clashes between the two groups have continued and gunfire was heard on Sunday and Monday near the closely contested presidential palace in Khartoum, witnesses told CNN.
Eight tons of medical aid arrived in Sudan on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement, offering relief to the country’s hard-hit medical facilities.
But experts say the country is at risk of a humanitarian disaster, as those still trapped in their homes face shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity.
“The number of dead bodies scattered around the streets is mounting, and this is creating an environmental catastrophe,” the Sudan doctors’ union said in a statement Sunday.
The statement by the Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors called for a stop to the “war” and the establishment of humanitarian corridors for medical aid, ambulances, patients and health personnel.
There is also dire situation at the Walfa Hadia border crossing between Egypt and Sudan, with several deaths reported from dehydration, it added.
by tyler | Apr 28, 2023 | africa, CNN
A growing number of people say they are stranded in Sudan because Western embassy workers fled the conflict-ridden country without returning passports that were surrendered during visa applications.
Diplomats from at least three Western missions have been unable to grant access to travel documents belonging to Sudanese nationals, according to nine testimonies reviewed by CNN.
Most Western embassies in Sudan were evacuated a week into the fighting, leaving many Sudanese visa applicants without their travel documents and in legal limbo.
In some cases, embassy workers advised people to “apply for a new [Sudanese] passport” despite the violence grinding Sudanese government services to a halt, according to screenshots seen by CNN.
In one case, a Swedish official suggested that the Sudanese visa applicant use a photocopy of his passport in lieu of his travel document.
The Sudanese nationals who spoke to CNN accused the embassies of neglect, obstructing their legal passage out of the country, where the violence has claimed at least 512 lives.
The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed to CNN that “a number of Sudanese passports” were left behind at the embassy after it closed “with immediate effect” due to the conflict.
“A number of Sudanese passports were left behind at the Dutch embassy. These are passports of Sudanese passport holders who have applied for a short-stay Schengen visa or an MVV (provisional residence permit). The sudden outburst of fighting in the early morning of April 15, forced the Dutch embassy to close with immediate effect,” a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement.
“The diplomatic staff has since been evacuated and transferred to the Netherlands. Unfortunately, we have not been able to collect these passports due to the poor security situation. We understand that this has put the people involved in a difficult situation. We are actively investigating possibilities to provide individual support,” they added.
The Italian foreign ministry told CNN it was aware of the problem, and will try to return passports to Sudanese nationals “as soon as possible.”
“We are well aware of the problem. Keeping in touch with all concerned people and will do our outmost [sic], even under the current circumstances, to return the passports as soon as possible. We are taking care of Sudanese nationals who are in this situation with the same attention we are devoting to our evacuees. We are actively working to be able to respond quickly to the requests,” Niccolò Fontana, the head of communication for Italian Foreign Ministry, said to CNN.
CNN also asked the Swedish foreign ministry for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross told CNN the aid organization does not issue emergency travel documents to Sudanese citizens trying to leave the country.
“I can’t imagine, how incredibly difficult it must be for Sudanese people who want to leave the country, but can’t do so because they don’t have their documents. But unfortunately the ICRC cannot issue emergency travel documents for people to leave their own country,” they told CNN in a statement.
Sporadic attacks have continued to flare in parts of the capital Khartoum, the epicenter of the power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Civilian hopes of fleeing the danger through safe and legal routes are dwindling, as the clashes persist despite a ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces.
The allegations come amid a growing chorus of criticism against foreign governments and international aid organizations leading rescue operations to extract their own nationals, leaving locals to fend for themselves. Power, food and water shortages are rampant as the conflict devastates large parts of the country.
Fatima – a pseudonym CNN is using for security reasons – said she is desperate to leave the country. Two people in her east Khartoum neighborhood were killed in the fighting. But her travel documents are locked in the Italian Embassy, where she said staff members denied her repeated pleas to retrieve her passport.
“I’m still trying to communicate with them, trying to explain that this is a critical situation,” she said. “Of course no country will allow people to enter their lands without a valid passport.”
Zara, another Sudanese woman caught up in the passport bind, said her family has refused to leave the country without her. CNN is using a pseudonym for security reasons. The evacuated Dutch Embassy – where she said her passport has been held for more than three weeks – has not responded to her attempts to contact them.
“I am now an obstacle for my family since they cannot travel and leave me,” she told CNN.
“Please help end this war. And please consider this passport issue. It might save lives. The house in front of us has been attacked.”
In a social media exchange seen by CNN, between another visa applicant and the Dutch Embassy, the official Facebook page of the diplomatic mission declined a request to return a withheld passport.
“We deeply regret the current situation you’re in,” the embassy replied to 35-year-old Sarah Abdalla. “We were forced to close the embassy and evacuate our staff. This unfortunately means we can’t get to your passport.”
“We advise to apply [sic] for a new passport with your local authorities,” the embassy added.
For many, that’s not possible. Sudanese government services have been largely suspended in Sudan due to the fighting.
“I am in urgent need of my passport to leave to Egypt through the road,” Abdalla told CNN. “We are in an unsafe condition and suffering from lack of water in the taps now for 13 days.
“We go out threatening our lives to fetch water and usually get salty water. I have four other colleagues [whose] passports [are] stuck and facing the same situation.”
Nabta Seifelyazal Mohamed Ali, a 20-year-old Sudanese medical student at the University of Khartoum, said she urgently needs to obtain her passport from the Dutch Embassy so she can make the treacherous journey to Egypt with her family, including her mother, father, uncle, and her four siblings.
In an email correspondence with the Dutch Embassy, seen by CNN, an embassy worker replied: “We understand your situation but it is not safe enough to reopen our services. We do not know how long this situation will last. If there are any updates we will inform you.”
Ali said that the family needs to leave their home by Sunday because they are running out of medication for her sick uncle, who has a chronic kidney condition.
Filmmaker Ahmad Mahmoud, 35, said the Swedish Embassy has held his passport since he applied for a visa to attend Sweden’s Malmo Arab Film Festival, which started on April 28.
Christina Brooks, the head of migration at the Swedish Embassy in Khartoum, repeatedly told Mahmoud that personnel could not access his passport because they had evacuated the building, according to excerpts of phone messages seen by CNN.
“Please please let me know when I can go to the embassy and take my passport. I need to be ready to leave the country. Our building is not safe anymore,” Mahmoud said in one excerpted message to Brooks.
Brooks replied: “As mentioned, I’m deeply sorry to say that it is not possible.”
In lieu of travel documents, she recommended he use a photocopy of his passport to exit Sudan and to “collect all other documents of identification” including his marriage certificate, the messages said.
“At least it is good that you have a copy if you manage to get out without the actual passport,” said Brooks. “I hope that you and your family manage to get out and that you stay safe!”
“I can’t leave with this,” Mahmoud said, attaching a picture of his faded photocopied passport.
CNN asked Brooks for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
When CNN last spoke to Mahmoud on Thursday, he and his wife were en route to the coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea. They will contend with chaotic border crossings, where confused border guards have frequently been denying people passage out of the country, including some Sudanese-American dual nationals.
“Not having my passport with me puts crazy, crazy stress on me because my wife is not going to accept leaving without me,” he told CNN.
Mahmoud said he will attempt to “go to Ethiopia or Egypt from [Port Sudan]. It’s going to be a huge, huge problem that I have no idea how to deal with. I’m just hoping for an end to the war, I guess, so I can get a new passport.”
by tyler | Apr 27, 2023 | africa, CNN
Kenyan authorities on Thursday arrested another prominent televangelist, to face criminal charges “related to mass killing of his followers.”
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said Ezekiel Ombok Odero, who pastors the New Life Prayer Church in Mavueni, Kilifi County, announced the arrest on Twitter, but did not give further detail on the allegations against Odero.
“The said Church has been shut down,” the minister posted on social media site Twitter, adding that “over 100 people who were holed up at the premises (of the church) have been evacuated and will be required to record statements.”
Odero touts miracle healing for the sick whom he sells packaged water (described as ‘living water’) and handkerchiefs at 100 Kenya shillings (around 70 cents)
“There is nothing special in the bottle. It is purified water. I pray for it. The clothes used by Paul in the Bible healed many people. The shadows of the prophets also had healing powers,” he told local media in an interview.
His church sits on 65-acre land and has a guest house that accommodates church members who “sleep in the church,” Odero said in a December 2022 interview.
“The faithful come from all over the world,” he is quoted as saying. This place is full to capacity every Sunday. Getting a parking lot is difficult. I had built the petrol station for guests to fuel their cars,” he said.
Odero’s arrest comes as the country is reeling from the discovery of at least 100 bodies in shallow graves in in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya. Some were found alive but weak and emaciated. They are believed to be members of the Good News International Church.
Authorities are investigating the pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge for allegedly encouraging his members, including children to starve themselves to death to gain salvation.
Kenyan authorities have vowed to implement tighter regulations on religious bodies and organizations after Mackenzie’s case sent shockwaves through the country and raised questions about the government’s intelligence.
