Somalia: New Navy Task Force Takes Aim At Pirates

Washington DC — A new multinational naval task force is patrolling the waters off the coast of Africa to scare off pirates who have been regularly attacking commercial shipping vessels laden with oil, fertilizer and iron ore.For now, Combined Task Force 151 comprises three U.S. ships, but other nations, including the United Kingdom, are expected to join the effort that is focused on the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. In the meantime, naval forces from nearly two dozen nations are patrolling in the same waters — in some cases bilaterally — and are often providing escort to merchant vessels bearing their national flags.

Africa: Obama And U.S. Policy Towards Africa

As Obama takes over the presidency of the United States, Horace Campbell contextualizes an Obama presidency in the realities of Africa and the ongoing global finance crisis. He argues that “capitalism should not be reconstituted and rebuilt on the backs and bodies of Africans.” For Campbell, the crisis is not simply a cyclical crisis of capitalism; it is a fundamental shift in the global political and economic order. In light of this fast changing world, Campbell is also interested in the possibilities and our responsibilities in bringing about change in and for Africa.

West Africa: The Return of the Military Coup

Cape Town — The African Union (AU) has condemned the return of coups d’état to the continent, describing the phenomenon as “a very serious setback in the ongoing democratization process in Africa.”Government ministers attending a meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa this week issued three separate communiqués dealing with attempted or actual military takeovers during 2008.

Africa: No More Excuses on Gender Violence

As the world marks the twenty-seventh International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations figures indicate that in the course of her lifetime, one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or abused, by a relative or acquaintance.In Africa , concerns continue to be raised over poor legislation and enforcement to protect women and girls from harm.At the African Development Forum, held in Addis from Nov. 19-21, it emerged that many women do not report cases of violence, particularly those involving intimate partners, for fear of reprisal, which may include economic deprivation, physical abuse, or losing custody of their children.”There is a deep culture of silence where women do not tell about their husbands or partners beating them; they fear that they may stop being provided for, particularly if the man is the bread winner,” says Auxillia Ponga, a gender advisor with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Cameroon: Pirates release hostages

Pirates in Cameroon have released 10 hostages who were kidnapped on oil rigs off the shores of that country a fortnight ago. The Bakassi Freedom Fighters released them two days ago at the Lions Barracks near the Bakassi Peninsula.According to Commander Ebi Dari of the Niger Delta Defense Council, one of the groups that make up the Bakassi Freedom Fighters, the 10 hostages were exchanged for 13 pirates who were captured by Cameroonian soldiers when the rebels attacked their positions about two months ago. The handing over ceremony took place in the presence of emissaries from the presidency of the republic, special envoys from Paris and the rebels.

Malaria vaccine for Africa

A malaria vaccine trial on children in Africa starts next month researchers have said. The medical trial will take place on about 16,000 children and has come about as the researchers try to create the world’s first malaria vaccine. Malaria kills more than one million children yearly in Africa.The vaccine trials are expected to take place in such countries as Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.Malaria is one of the diseases which is killing more people especially children in Africa and is caused by parasites and spread by mosquitoes.The British drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC is teaming with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which is an anti-malaria charity funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, clinics and research centres in Africa to develop a malaria vaccine, according to the NewsDay report.

IMF cautions Cameroon

Economic hardship is imminent in Cameroon following the increasing adverse financial environment, an IMF mission predicted. Benedicte Vibe Christensen, head of the team, advised that the increase in food and fuel prices needs to be passed through the economy over time to encourage adjustment.The mission met with the Prime Minister, Ephraim Inoni, the Minister of Finance and that of the Economy and Planning recently to examine the different possibilities of absorbing the shock imposed by the global financial crunch.

According to a 2008 regional economic outlook report by the International Monetary Fund, growth in the sub-Saharan sub-region including Cameroon is expected to slow down by 6% in 2008-2009 as a result of the present financial crises. The worsening economic situation reflects hard winds from strong increases in food and fuel prices, slower growth and global financial turmoil. Recent heightening turbulence raises the risks, including that of a decline in resource flow to Africa in the form of private capital, remittances and even aid.

Cameroon: Bakassi attacked again

More trouble is brewing in Bakassi after another attack on a fishing boat of Cameroon in Jabane, in the Peninsula. It was attacked by two speed boats belonging to some pirates in the locality according to a statement from the Minister of Defence. It said the attacks took place at about 11:30 am local time.Cameroonian military forces stationed in Jabane, informed of the attacks, went on a manhunt for the assailants and succeeded to sink one of their boats, according to Remy Ze Meka, Cameroons Minister of Defence. One of the two boats is said to have escaped towards the Nigerian end of the peninsula.Ze Meka said there was no material or human casualties on the Cameroonian side. After the attack on Limbe banks on 27 September, Niger Delta activists under the name of Bakassi Freedom Fighters had denied involvement but promised not to give up the fight and to strike at their own convenience. They said they were not bandits that would be involved in bank robberies.

Shortlist for Africa’s best player out

The Confederation of Africa Football has unveiled the shortlists for the Glo-CAF Awards 2008. CAF Director of Communications, Sulemana Habuba also announced innovations in the event with the aim of making it prestigious. The Media and Technical Committees nominated the shortlists for the two awards.The innovation Habuba said had led to the creation of the Glo-CAF Best Player on the Continent and the Glo-CAF Best Player across the World, according to cafonline.

Floods hit Northern Cameroon, Chad

Over 70,000 people have been hit by floods in the northwestern Cameroon and southern Chad. Disaster workers with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) predict a longer and wetter rain season than normal. Thousands of people have remained homeless in Chad and Cameroon since the floods.More than 8,000 families in Logone Occidentale, Mayo Kebbi and Moyen Chari in southern Chad, and 5,000 families in and around Cameroon’s northwestern town of Garoua, 60 km west of the Chad border have been redered homeless, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).Meanwhile, the IFRC has launched an emergency appeal to help 14,000 victims across the two countries.The Regional Disaster Management Officer for Cameroon-based IFRC, Mamadou Saliou Diallo said “Most people were left homeless and are still living with relatives, while a small minority is starting now to rebuild their homes.”However, reports say the water level has not stopped rising and is climbing higher and higher in the city. Flooding has exposed residents to respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhoea diseases, including cholera.With blocked roads and destroyed bridges in and around Garoua in northwest Cameroon, the biggest fear for flood victims there is the lack of drinking water, reports say.In Cameroon, 80 percent of the agricultural land around Garoua was destroyed, wiping out crops.