Day: May 25, 2023

The population of Maga, a locality in the Far North region of Cameroon, have had an experience that many, especially the affected persons, may never forget.

The appearance of four elephants in town on Wednesday, May 24, startled residents, leaving many in panic. A woman lost her life following the invasion, with several others losing property in damages.

Reports from the Far North indicate that the elephants drifted from the path they were following and went toward the inhabited area.

“The group of four elephants were in their natural migration towards the Waza National Park,” the Ministry of Forestry said. The statement added that the officials concerned had engaged in an operation to guide the elephants to the park.

“This operation unfortunately aroused the curiosity of the population, who unconscious about the dangers, obstructed the corridor” the forestry officials indicated.

Efforts were intensified, the personnel noted, adding that “with the assistance of defence and security forces, the elephants were guided back to the corridor leading to the Waza National Park”.

No other incident was recorded apart from the death of the woman, whose name CNA got as Bintou.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

President Hage Geingob has said the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now an international crisis that needs global assistance from the African Union (AU) and United Nations.

Geingob, who is also the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, said this during a courtesy visit by the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, here on Wednesday.

“SADC has decided that the war is not only a SADC problem, it has now become an international crisis and must be elevated to the AU and UN level… People are dying… and we are being cajoled to support and condemn Russia and so on, but we have our own problems that nobody seems to pay attention to, and DRC is one of them,” the president said.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by conflict involving at least 122 rebel groups, according to a recent count by the United Nations.

Geingob said the DRC conflict is long term and needs UN recognition, noting that the conflict is beyond SADC capacity due to lack of resources such as troops. He noted that many of the regional countries are faced with domestic problems and are unable to avail troops.

“As Africans we are united politically to provide. People have committed to provide troops, but we don’t have the means… Therefore we must appeal to those who support other countries legally to solve problems to also attend to African problems. People are equally suffering here but nobody seems to care that they are suffering. There seems to be a discrimination, some lives are more supreme than others, but life is life,” said Geingob.

Xia said the UN supports the AU and sub-region organisations in their efforts to find African solutions to African problems and equally to strengthen the objective of the just-ended SADC extra-ordinary Organ Troika Summit and Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) and coordination between the AU and SADC in efforts to stabilise the security situation in eastern DRC.

“I will continue my effort to support and collaborate with Namibia, SADC and countries in the Great Lakes Region to mobilise the support required for peaceful solutions. A medium priority is to review and strengthen the UN presence in the Great Lakes Region,” he noted.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Remarkable progress has been made in containing terrorist activities in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, enabling the opening of humanitarian corridors for the safe return of internally displaced persons to their places of origin.

Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said this in his welcoming remarks at the Extra-ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika Plus SAMIM Personal Contributing Countries and the Republic of Mozambique, held in Windhoek on Wednesday.

‘I am pleased to report that through the relentless efforts of the joint operation between the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) and the Mozambique Defence Forces, remarkable progress has been made in containing terrorist activities there,’ Magosi said.

Conflict erupted in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province after some of Africa’s biggest gas reserves were discovered in the Rovuma Basin off the coast.

Over 4 000 people have been killed and 800 000 displaced due to the insurgency that broke out at the end of 2017.

Magosi said while SADC recognises this achievement, the region must remain vigilant as the terrorists change their mode of operation and seek to expand their influence beyond Cabo Delgado to unleash acts of terrorism against innocent civilians.

He said the SAMIM mandate is due to expire on 15 July 2023 and necessitates SADC charting the way forward to ensure that the gains made in the restoration of peace and security in Cabo Delgado, are sustained.

He said while resource mobilisation efforts from partners are ongoing, there is an urgent need for SADC member states to continue to honour their remittance commitments towards the SAMIM budget to sustain the operational effectiveness of the mission’s troops.

Magosi said the cash flow is depleted and may not sustain the mission for long.

On her part, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah who is the Chair of the SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ, said more needs to be done to ensure that peace and stability is restored in Mozambique.

‘At this stage I wish to express our gratitude to all member states that have deployed both personnel and equipment in this regard, and also request those that have pledged capabilities to deploy them to the area of operations,’ she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

President Hage Geingob has said the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now an international crisis that needs global assistance from the African Union (AU) and United Nations.

Geingob, who is also the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, said this during a courtesy visit by the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, here on Wednesday.

‘SADC has decided that the war is not only a SADC problem, it has now become an international crisis and must be elevated to the AU and UN level… People are dying… and we are being cajoled to support and condemn Russia and so on, but we have our own problems that nobody seems to pay attention to, and DRC is one of them,’ the president said.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by conflict involving at least 122 rebel groups, according to a recent count by the United Nations.

Geingob said the DRC conflict is long term and needs UN recognition, noting that the conflict is beyond SADC capacity due to lack of resources such as troops.

Xia said the UN supports the AU and sub-region organisations in their efforts to find African solutions to African problems and equally to strengthen the objective of the just-ended SADC extra-ordinary Organ Troika Summit and Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) and coordination between the AU and SADC in efforts to stabilise the security situation in eastern DRC.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency