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Relatives of missing Nigerian schoolgirls have expressed their excitement over the rescue of one of the missing Chibok girls. Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki is the first of more than 200 schoolgirls seized in a raid on their school in Chibok town by Boko Haram militants to have been rescued. She is due to meet Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari.

Sahara Reporters has it that rescued Chibok girl, Amina Ali HIV test results came back negative.

During the 2014 attack, the gunmen arrived in Chibok late at night, then raided the school dormitories and loaded 276 girls on to trucks.

Some managed to escape within hours, mostly by jumping off the lorries and running off into roadside bushes.

In total, 219 girls remained missing before this latest news.

A video broadcast by CNN in April this year appeared to show some of the kidnapped schoolgirls alive.

Fifteen girls in black robes were pictured. They said they were being treated well but wanted to be with their families.

The video was allegedly shot on Christmas Day 2015 and some of the girls were identified by their parents.

The Chibok schoolgirls, many of whom are Christian, had previously not been seen since May 2014, when Boko Haram released a video of about 130 of them gathered together reciting the Koran.

 

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Rita Akana

19.May.2016

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French Ambassador to Cameroon, Christine Robichon, on 14 and 15 May 2016 visited Oku village, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. She participated in a ceremony at the Palace of Fon, SM Sentieh II to celebrate the importance and diversity of the cooperation between France and the Oku community.

With support of French cooperations (AFD, CIRAD), which has labeled honey from Oku as part of the support program for the development of geographical indicators (GI) of the African intellectual property organization (OAPI).The programme is financed by AFD . Oku is a place of intense Franco-Cameroonian scientific cooperation, including on biodiversity and archeology. Pottery, some of which date back to the fifteenth century.

The Ambassador visited the cooperative of beekeepers and two micro-projects (water market) financed by France via the C2D and the PNDP.

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Rita Akana

18.May.2016

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Rita Akana

18.May.2016

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Uganda's long-time president has promoted his son to a two-star general, bolstering speculation that the son's rise in the army could eventually lead to a political career.

With the promotion, President Yoweri Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, becomes a major general and remains the top commander of Uganda's special forces, an elite unit within the regular army that is mainly in charge of protecting the president and top government officials.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said Tuesday that Muhoozi is one of five army officers promoted in changes announced late Monday.

Many Ugandans believe Muhoozi, 42, is being groomed to eventually succeed Museveni, who has ruled this East African country for 30 years. Museveni has denied that his son will succeed him, saying that Uganda is not a monarchy.

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Rita Akana

18.May.2016

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The U.S. military has looked at 11 locations for a potential second base in Africa, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Colonel Mark Cheadle, speaking to VOA in Brussels on Tuesday, would not disclose which locations the military is considering for a possible second base, other than to specify that "Nigeria isn't one of them."

The United States currently has one military base in the east African nation of Djibouti. U.S. forces are also on the ground in Somalia to assist the regional fight against al-Shabab and in Cameroon to help with the multinational effort against Nigeria-based Boko Haram.

AFRICOM commander General David Rodriguez told reporters in Brussels that the U.S. military has trained members of Nigeria's intelligence corps as well as three Nigerian battalions, including one that "just recently" graduated.

"Boko Haram is the biggest killer of people across the world," the general said.

Rodriguez also said the command's headquarters, located in Stuttgart, Germany, will stay in Europe for the foreseeable future.

The command's stated mission is to advance U.S. interests and promote security and stability in Africa.

Libya

Meanwhile, as the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) continues to struggle against the approximately 4,000 to 6,000 Islamic State militants in the country, Rodriguez says the U.S. military is "prepared to support" a train-and-equip mission there when the Libyan government is ready for it.

But Libya's internal politics have made it unclear which armed groups are fighting with the GNA, Rodriguez added, leaving the U.S. "really dependent" on the Libyan interim government to determine "who is with them and who is moving over to them."

Militias will likely be key to stopping the spread of Islamic State once friendly forces are identified and aided.

"We're not at that point yet," he said.

Libya is under a U.N. arms embargo imposed to keep lethal weapons away from terrorists and militias vying for power.

However, a joint communique issued after international talks Monday in Vienna signaled that international powers, including the U.S., are set to provide arms and support to the Libyan government to fight Islamic State.

"The things that they need most is really ammunition and small arms," Rodriguez said. "It's not fighter aircraft and that kind of stuff."

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon that there were small teams of U.S. forces on the ground in Libya to get a "better sense of the players" to more accurately understand the Islamic State's presence and strength level.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow on defense strategy at the Brookings Institution, said the 20 to 25 U.S. forces now in Libya, along with other NATO allies on the ground there, should "get serious" about a training mission for a Libyan military or integrated paramilitary.

"I'm interested in asking if 1,000 to 2,000 Americans at the right time could make a big difference," he told VOA.

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Rita Akana

18.May.2016

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Demonstrators in Nairobi calling for electoral reform faced police firing tear gas and were chased down as they fled. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said next year's elections cannot be free or fair without reform. The police chief for Nairobi central, Paul Wanjama, said at least 15 demonstrators were detained during the protests in central Nairobi on Monday. They are to be charged on Tuesday, although Wanjama did not say what accusations they would face.

Officers armed with batons confronted hundreds of protesters outside the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Monday's demonstration was the third clash over the issue in less than a month.

Odinga wrote on Twitter, "Despite the use of undue force by police, our peaceful pickets shall continue every week until the IEBC is reformed."

Addressing a crowd of about 500 protesters, lawmaker James Orengo said: "We have said now and again and we repeat here: [Electoral Board] commissioners must get out of office, they cannot be trusted to conduct a credible election."

Protest and opposition leader Raila Odinga lost the 2013 elections to President Uhuru Kenyatta and is due to face him again in August 2017. Kenyatta is expected to seek re-election next year for a second and final term.Head of the CORD coalition, Odinga unsuccessfully challenged Kenyatta's election win through the courts three years ago and has accused the IEBC of bias. He said its members should quit. A disputed election in 2007 led to the deaths of about 1,200 people in ethnic fighting.

 Odinga was about to address the crowd on Monday when the police intervened, forcing the gathering to disperse. A banner held at the protest on Monday read: "For free and fair election, IEBC must go." As demonstrators ran from the tear gas and the protest scene they were pursued by police who chased them through streets and alleyways. Some protesters had hidden in buildings but witnesses said they were flushed out by riot police who directed the towards waiting colleagues who beat them with wooden clubs and kicked them.

DW

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Elangwe Pauline

17.May.2016

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