Africa Today Online: Oktober 2014

Jumat, 31 Oktober 2014

Africa's feeble response to Ebola

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Canada restricts visas

Canada has joined Australia in suspending entry visas for people from Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa in an attempt to keep the deadly disease away. Canada has not yet had a case of Ebola. Canadians, including health care workers, in West Africa will be permitted to travel back to Canada, the government said.

JOHANNESBURG – The head of Africa’s continental body did not get to an Ebola-hit country until last week – months after alarm bells first rang and nearly 5,000 deaths later.

Pledges to deploy 2,000 African health workers have remained largely that – promises.

No African countries are on the United Nations list of contributors to fight the epidemic.

Ebola did not even figure on the agenda of a session on peace and security at the Pan-African Parliament in South Africa last week – more than a month after the U.N. Security Council declared the Ebola outbreak a “threat to international peace and security.”

Angry legislators from Sierra Leone and Liberia got up to protest. “They said as far as they are concerned, nobody wants to talk about Ebola,” said Jeggan Grey-Johnson, a governance expert who watched the session.

“They said countries like Liberia feel totally abandoned by the rest of Africa and shut off from the rest of the continent,” he told The Associated Press.

With few exceptions, African governments and institutions are offering only marginal support as the continent faces its most deadly threat in years, once again depending on the international community to save them.

South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe on Tuesday announced he has donated $1 million to the fight against Ebola in Guinea, where the outbreak started.

Motsepe’s gift, the largest donation by far from any African individual, came after the World Food Program lashed out at China’s billionaires, saying their contributions lagged behind their companies’ huge economic interests in the mineral-rich region. Motsepe’s office said his company has no interests in any of the countries where Ebola is raging out of control – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. China’s government has sent many health workers and given more than $8 million with a promise of $6 million more to the U.N. Ebola fund.

“Ebola is first and foremost our problem,” the president of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told a business forum in Brussels in October. “Before relying on international aid, we must first encourage Africans to take action.”

The African Development Bank is the second-largest institutional contributor to the U.N. fund to fight Ebola, second only to the World Bank, having given $45.4 million and promised an additional $17.4 million. In addition, it has given loans and grants individually to the most affected countries.

By contrast, the African Union has made an “uncommitted pledge” of just $700,000. Africa’s equivalent of the Organization of America States, it is the body many believe should have taken the lead from the start.

Purdue's African students monitor Ebola crisis

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Chris Morisse Vizza, cvizza@jconline.com 9:39 p.m. EDT October 31, 2014

Wanga Kardee, left, talks Tuesday with Ja’Maris Howell in the Black Cultural Center on the campus of Purdue University. Kardee, who is from Liberia, is the president of the African Students’ Association. (Photo: John Terhune/Journal & Courier )

The epicenter of the growing Ebola outbreak is more than 5,000 miles away, but it sure feels mighty close to home for Purdue University student Wanga Kardee.

Kardee was born in Indianapolis, and her parents and siblings also call the United States home. But she has many relatives in the West African country of Liberia, including an aunt, Wvannie Scott-McDonald, the administrator of JFK Medical Center — one of the country's largest government-run hospitals — in the capital, Monrovia.

"She is making sure our family is safe," said Kardee, a senior majoring in sociology and public health who communicates with her cousins on Facebook. "There are certain parts of Liberia that have not been rebuilt since the civil war, and they know to avoid those areas."

Kardee is also the president of Purdue's African Students' Association, which in the last few months has been deeply immersed in the Ebola crisis. The organization has turned into an hoc support group internally, while trying to spread awareness and advocate for support externally.

The association is asking for donations of medical supplies that will be shipped to Liberia.

JCONLINE

Purdue Peace Project switches focus in Liberia

Global efforts to stem the Ebola outbreak have focused on Liberia and neighboring countries, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The World Health Organization said Friday that more than 13,500 people have been sickened and nearly 5,000 have died. Nine cases have been diagnosed in the U.S., with one death — that of Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who succumbed at a Dallas hospital on Oct. 8.

Other African nations have felt the impact of the epidemic, as Purdue's ASA members know from firsthand experience.

Martha Sylla of Ivory Coast, and Nofan Ojuba of Nigeria said they were home this summer when their country's leaders led campaigns to keep infected people out and to educate their citizens about how to keep from being infected.

"There was a lot of awareness and advice," Sylla said. "We stopped shaking hands at church."

They said news accounts at home regarding the virus are not that different from those in the United States. They were quick to point out that they typically see a lot of misinformation about the virus on social media.

While at Purdue, ASA members stay in frequent touch with their relatives back home through daily Skype, phone, text or email communication, they said.

"You can't not be concerned," said Daniel Odihi, a Nigerian and a senior studying industrial engineering at Purdue. "It's a global epidemic."

Fellow Nigerian Faridat Amode, a sophomore biology major, said her brother back home started school one month later than scheduled because administrators wanted to take all precautions to prevent an outbreak at the school.

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with 158 million people, has not reported a new Ebola case since August, according to WHO.

Travel has become more complicated, Odihi said — particularly for people like his father, whose job requires him to travel often.

"If you leave a West African nation, you most likely go with a greater amount of money because you will need it if you are stranded," said Odihi, who wonders if he will be allowed back into the U.S. if he travels to Nigeria for Christmas break.

Various ASA members said their experience at Purdue since news of the Ebola epidemic went global has remained positive, even as palpable fear has created anxiety and rash behavior across the country.

Kardee, the Liberian-American ASA president, noted that she has not been subjected to rude remarks or felt isolated by her peers on campus. In fact, some reached out to share their concern.

"My friends and a professor asked how my family is doing and what we could be doing to help people in Liberia," she said.

Other ASA members concurred — if there has been any bad attitude or behavior toward Africans in the United States, they're not seeing it here.

"I feel like there is not much of a problem at Purdue," Amode said.

But at least one wondered if that fairly rosy picture would dramatically change if for some unfortunate reason he were to get Ebola. The controversy over the treatment of Duncan in Dallas, which many medical officials deemed was botched by the Dallas hospital, reminded him that utter fear often brings out the uglier side of people.

"I wonder, would Americans treat me the same way if something happened to me?" asked Kwame Dankwah, a freshman studying finance.

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Purdue Peace Project switches focus in Liberia

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Chris Morisse Vizza, cvizza@jconline.com 9:38 p.m. EDT October 31, 2014

A young girl washes her hands at one of the public sanitary stations that Liberian volunteers have set up in Monrovia, the West African nation’s capital. Faculty and students at the Purdue Peace Project are supporting the Liberian volunteer effort to educate Liberian citizens about the virus, said Stacey Connaughton, the project director. (Photo: Photo provided )

A Purdue University program designed to prevent violence around the world has expanded its focus and taken aim on preventing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.

Faculty and students at The Purdue Peace Project are supporting a grass-roots public health campaign conceived and implemented by volunteers in Liberia, said Stacey Connaughton, the project director.

It was a natural progression from the initial mission of teaching a peacetime trade to young men who fought from 1989 to 2003 during Liberia's civil war, she said.

When Ebola hit the country hard in July and August, Connaughton said volunteers, including former soldiers who now operate motorcycle-taxis called pen-pens, decided to take action.

JCONLINE

Purdue's African students monitor Ebola crisis

"The pen-pen drivers are transporting people every day, and they speak different dialects so they can reach individuals," she said. "They can reach people in ways the government or large nongovernmental organizations can't."

And their role could be nothing short of life-altering.

"These people who once took up arms against each other in the civil war are now coming together to save their nation from Ebola," Connaughton said.

The Pen-Pen Peace Network has produced radio spots, posted signs, built public hand washing stations in Monrovia, the capital, and distributed information door-to-door advising their countrymen how to avoid the virus, she said.

Volunteers provide a daily report on the number of people they have contacted. Then the Purdue team evaluates the data and suggests ways the volunteers might reach more people.

One month into the campaign, Connaughton has seen a positive impact. Citizens who initially denied the existence of Ebola are now taking preventive steps, she said.

It hasn't been easy for Liberians who have lost loved ones to the virus.

"They have to disobey some pretty profound cultural traditions when someone passes and the body is prepared for burial," she said. "Imagine doing that and not being able to go with your loved one and not be part of the burial process."

Another heart-wrenching byproduct of the Ebola outbreak is the rising number of children being orphaned, Connaughton noted.

The stories that filter in via Skype and email have a powerful impact on students and faculty who have not traveled to West Africa since the start of the epidemic, she said.

"When we talk with them on the phone, it is so inspiring to hear their never-ending commitment to save their fellow Liberians," she said.

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WHO revises Ebola toll

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GENEVA - The World Health Organization Friday revised its figures showing more people killed by the deadly Ebola virus, but the number of cases of the disease was slightly lower.

The WHO said that 4,951 people had died across eight countries from Ebola and there was a total of 13,567 reported cases, up to and including October 29.

Earlier this week the WHO had set the figures at 4,922 deaths and 13,703 cases.

It said it had changed the figures after finding that some cases, particularly in Guinea, were not actually Ebola.

Since the latest outbreak of Ebola, the worst since the virus was first identified in 1976, the vast majority of the deaths have been reported in three nations at the epicentre of the epidemic: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the outbreak began.

The latest figures showed Liberia with 2,413 deaths in 6,535 cases of Ebola; Sierra Leone with 1,510 dead out of 5,338 reported cases; and Guinea had 1,018 deaths in 1,667 cases.

There is also an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo though that came from a different source than the epidemic raging across west Africa, scientists said on Wednesday.

Burkina Faso President resigns

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Burkina Faso's military chief is now the head of state of the West African nation, after unrest that led to the resignation of President Blaise Compaore.

Gen. Honore Nabere Traore said Friday that he has taken over presidential duties and that he will lead the country through a political transition and elections.

Faced with violent protests demanding an end to his 27-year rule, Compaore initially dissolved the government but said he would stay in power until elections could be carried out.

He changed his mind, and on Friday announced his resignation. Compaore said he stepped down to preserve peace in the country.

Traore appealed for calm and called for a return to a normal constitutional process. Security forces, including the military, will continue to maintain order and safety in the country, Traore said.

Upon his resignation, Compaore appealed via Twitter for "free elections to be held in Burkina Faso within 90 days at the most."

France, the former colonial ruler of what is today Burkina Faso, welcomed the President's resignation and called for elections to happen quickly.

Unrest has gripped Burkina Faso -- a key partner for Western countries in the campaign against Islamist militants -- since protests against Compaore's government turned violent Thursday.

Demonstrators stormed Parliament, setting fire to the building.

Compaore had been in office since he took power after a bloody coup in 1987.

The opposition had called for Compaore's immediate resignation. In Bobo-Dioulasso, the country's second-largest city, protesters reportedly tore down a statue of Compaore.

The incident followed reports of protesters storming the parliament building, where lawmakers were set to vote on a motion to allow Compaore to extend his time in power.

Flights in and out of Ouagadougou, the capital, have been suspended, according to the Burkina Faso Embassy in Washington. Embassy personnel told CNN that it was still issuing visas but that there were no flights at the moment.

The country was formerly known as the Republic of Upper Volta when it was established in 1958 as a self-governing colony under France.

Ghana will welcome Blaise Compaore - Woyongo

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General News of 2014-10-31

Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo says Ghana will not send former Burkinabe President, Blaise Compaore, away if the beleaguered former leader comes here.

Embattled Compaore was forced to resign as the President of Burkina Faso after two days of violent protests against plans to extend his stay in office.

The constitutional amendment he was championing would have enabled him to run for elections next year for another five-year term. After staging a coup to depose former head of state Thomas Sankara, Blaise Compaore ruled for 27 years.

But his “undemocratic rule” came to a head today as he grudgingly stepped down on Friday. His decision follows the dissolution of both government and parliament by the army. The creation of a transitional government to serve until 2015 elections was announced by army chief Gen. Honore Traore, who said it would "be put in place in consultation with all parties".

Mr Compaore is believed to be on his way to Ghana which is south of Burkina Faso.

He is expected to enter Ghana through an unapproved route, according Ghana’s Minister of Interior, based on information he picked up from Ghanaians returning from Burkina Faso.

“They have also confirmed that there is some amount of looting in the capital. They also confirmed that they met Blaise Compaore and his wife on the outskirt of Pou which is about 15 kilometers from Navrongo (Ghana)…so Blaise Compaore is said to be between Pou and Ouagadougou.”

“We will have no choice but to welcome him; I think that is the practice, we can’t ask him to go back, we have to receive him,” Mark Woyongo told Joy FM’s Top Story on Friday.

He said the country was initially worried, fearing there could be a spillover of human movement to Ghana but luckily, he said, there are few vehicular movement to and from Burkina Faso.

But Mr. Woyongo said the Police have been asked to team up with Immigration to effectively monitor along Ghana’s eastern border with Burkina Faso.

He has also had talks with the Upper West Region Minister, the police commander as well as other agencies to put contingency plans in place for returning Ghanaians. Any Ghanaian needing help should report to the nearest district assembly for assistance, he said.

The Interior Minister also discounted any security threat the development in Burkina Faso could pose to Ghana.

However, he appealed to those living along Ghana’s borders to be very vigilant because, “some miscreants, some terrorists might want to use the opportunity to come into our country. They must cooperate and report any suspicious movement to the security agencies”.

Meanwhile, Security Analyst, Dr. Kwesi Aning says with the resignation of Mr. Compaore, the real challenge now is finding the “critical identifiable stakeholders” in the political game in Burkina Faso.

He called on ECOWAS and AU to send a clear signal and message on the need for all in Burkina Faso to communicate the same message and work towards democracy.

He was however skeptical about the willingness of the army to let go power, especially now that their leader, Honore Traore has “smelled and tasted” power; the youth of Burkina would also not care much about who governs them so far as there is good governance, he analysed.

Some Burkinabes in Ghana who demonstrated at the Burkina Faso Embassy in Accra earlier, today demanding the resignation of Blaise Compaore, are now asking the Embassy to immediately remove the pictures of Mr. Compaore inside the Embassy because he is no longer their leader.