Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes

UN tells president he could face prosecution for arming groups that carried out atrocities in Democratic Republic of Congo Paul Kagame can count on Tony Blair as one of his strongest supporters. The head of the US war crimes office has warnedRwanda's leaders, including President Paul Kagame, that they could face prosecution at the international criminal court for arming groups responsible for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Stephen Rapp, who leads the USOffice of Global Criminal Justice, told the Guardian

South Sudan offers Khartoum $3bn

South Sudan has offered its neighbour Sudan more than $3bn (£2bn) in compensation for economic losses caused by the South's independence. They are holding talks in Ethiopia in a bid to resolve bitter disputes ahead of a UN deadline on 2 August.

Juba also proposes an increased transit fee to move its oil through Sudan and says it will waive its claim to nearly $5bn it says it is owed by Khartoum.

Khartoum has not yet responded to the proposals.

South Sudan's chief negotiator, Pagan Amum, said Juba had tabled its "last offer".

"We are left with nine days [before the UN deadline]. It's time for the parties to conclude an agreement," he said.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan just over a year ago, but many disputes between them remain unresolved.

They include border squabbles and disagreements over oilfields, transport payments and divisions of the national debt.

The latest proposal includes compensation of $3.2bn - up from a previous offer of $2.6bn.

Sudan lost three-quarters of its oil production when South Sudan seceded.

The 67-page document also outlines security and border arrangements including arbitration mechanisms for determining which country owns several disputed areas.

South Sudan's proposal says these disputed areas should be demilitarised and jointly administered until their status is decided upon.

Both countries came close to all-out war when border fighting escalated in April.

The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says that, based on their past positions, the proposals are unlikely to be accepted as they stand.

The Sudanese want considerably higher oil transit fees and are unlikely to accept even temporary joint administration of areas currently under their control, such as the Heglig oilfields, he says.

Khartoum has denied it owes Juba money, which the South says is overdue oil payments and for oil confiscated after independence by Sudan.

However, the latest move appears to have given a fresh impetus to negotiations, our correspondent adds.
The separation between Sudan and South Sudan was part of a peace deal that ended decades of civil war.

Sierra Leone attains Guinness World Record

The small West African nation of Sierra Leone is the latest African country to scoop the enviable Guinness World Record. Sierra Leone won the award following an attempt by a synchronized traditional 'Sampa dance'. The 'Sampa Dance' which was performed at the National stadium on the country's 51st Independence anniversary brought together over one thousand dancers.

The record attempt was verified by an official Guinness World Records adjudicator who confirmed that with 1,002 dancers all successfully completing the dance, a new world record had been set.

The dancers which include mostly school pupils from across the country and other professionals were camped and undergo serious of training ahead of Independence Day.

The dancers were dressed in the country’s green, white and blue flag and did a spectacular performance to the awe of those present.

Organizer of the event, Mariatu Kargbo a former Miss Sierra Leone beauty queen reportedly said: “When the record was announced, I cried so much I could not take the certificate. It has been so much work, so much effort and now we have the first Guinness World Record that our country can be proud of."

The China based catwalk beauty added:"Also, I must thank Guinness World Records for sending their adjudicator to our country for the first time. I hope that our achievement will show that we are a proud and fun loving people and that everyone in the world is welcome to Sierra Leone."

The minister of tourism and cultural affairs of Sierra Leone, Victoria Sylvia Saidu-Kamara, said: "I am still reflecting on the feeling of excitement from the citizens of Sierra Leone when we made the grade and won the record and the official certificate was issued to Mama Salone.

I was dancing for joy and even crying with joy for this remarkable achievement for the country. As the first female minister of tourism. I believe strongly that this record organized by Mariatu will make the women of Sierra Leone very proud. Everyone, men, women and children are proud of this achievement."

Zimbabwe: WFP prepares for food shortages

A new report on food needs in Zimbabwe says that nearly one in five rural people in the country - an estimated 1.6 million people - are likely to need food assistance during the peak of the coming "hunger season." The number of people in need is 60 percent higher than the one million who needed food assistance during the last lean season.

The extent of the need is revealed in the just-published Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment (ZimVAC) report. The assessment, which estimates national food insecurity levels, is conducted annually by the Government in collaboration with UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.

“The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and our partners are gearing up to respond to this large rise in food needs,” said WFP Country Director Felix Bamezon. “Our field staff are already reporting signs of distress in rural areas, including empty granaries and farmers selling off their livestock to make ends meet.”

This year’s cereals harvest was 1,076,772 metric tons – one-third lower than that of last year and the lowest since 2009. The impact will be felt hardest at the peak of the “hunger season,” from January to March next year. WFP’s seasonal assistance programme normally starts in October, but rural people already feeling the effects of the drought.

Various factors are being blamed for the deteriorating food security: erratic rainfall and dry spells, limited access to agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilisers, a reduction in the planted area, poor farming practices and inadequate crop diversification.

To meet the increased needs, WFP and its partners will undertake food distributions with regionally procured cereals as well imported vegetable oil and pulses. Cash transfers will also be used in areas where there are functioning markets so that people have the flexibility to choose where and from whom they purchase their cereals.

Humanitarian and commercial cereal imports from neighbouring countries will be needed to meet Zimbabwe’s food shortages in coming months – and in greater quantities than last year.

The report identifies Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South, and parts of Mashonaland, Midlands and Manicaland as the worst-affected areas.

WFP’s Seasonal Targeted Assistance programme, due to run through till the end of March next year, has been budgeted at US$119 million but is currently facing a shortfall of approximately US$87 million. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has already confirmed a contribution of US$18 million to be used for the purchase of vegetable oil and pulses.

Malawi: A life saving wonder called triage

When 19-months-old Baliyasi Samson entered in a ward with his mother Sayankhulana Sakala at Salima District Hospital in the lakeshore district of Salima (90 Km from Lilongwe) in central Malawi his life's thread was hanging on a thin line between life and death. The boy was in a coma but lucky because it had to take a team work spirit and a wonderful skill called triage by health workers at the hospital to save his life by resuscitating him to regain his health.

During Baliyasi’s treatment over a couple of days Salima District Hospital staff provided a strong insight into the intricacies of building a health system bit by bit, and just how vital it is to make sure all those bits were working.

Forty-eight hours after Baliyasi’s parents had brought him to Salima Hospital 28-year-old Sayankhulana was still deeply gripped with trauma by what had happened to her son despite that he was then out of danger.

“On the day before he was rushed to the hospital I thought the boy might have malaria,” said the mother of four children.

Sayankhulana further said her son had a fever and seemed out of sorts.

“In the afternoon, though, the fever subsided; even though he hadn’t eaten in a day and a half, I thought he might be OK. But overnight, he grew hot and agitated,” she explained adding that without delay she and her husband got up at 4 a.m., and walked three kilometers to the nearest health center in the small trading center of Siyasiya.

“At 5 a.m., we arrived at Khombedza Health Centre, and a night watchman called one of the centre’s clinicians, who came down to the centre, examined our child, and recommended that we immediately take him to Salima District Hospital, 30 Km away,” said Sayankhulana.

She and her husband were lucky was because the centre had an ambulance, and soon they were whisked away in the vehicle.

“But at some point, Baliyasi lapsed into a coma and I thought he had simply fallen asleep,” said Sayankhulana.

At Salima Hospital, one part of the system also failed: the driver didn’t communicate the nature of the emergency. But the system had a backup: A nurse performing triage saw the boy immediately.

She called over Rodrick Kaliati, the Emergency Triage Assessment Treatment (ETAT) District Coordinator for Salima, and, after talking with Baliyasi’s parents, he diagnosed the case as severe malaria.

Kaliati, who along with the rest of his staff were trained for five days by Management Sciences for Health in emergency triage, put the boy immediately on oxygen therapy and inserted an IV of glucose to raise his sugar level in his blood. A couple of hours later, the boy regained consciousness in the ward.

“Previously, it was first come, first served,” he said Kaliati of the line of mothers awaiting treatment of their children adding, “There were a lot of deaths in the first 24 hours of admission.”

For over eight years now, Management Sciences for Health (MSH)’s USAID-funded programs have covered a wide range of things: starting in far rural reaches of eight districts in Malawi in building a network of community health care and continuing all the way to the large hospitals in training staff and adding staff in critical areas such as HIV counseling and testing.

MSH Country Director for Malawi Rudi Thetard said the organization with a workforce of 120 and running on an annual budget of $10 million dollars was working very closely with the Ministry of Health.

“We’ve always had a comprehensive approach toward strengthening the rollout of programs. It’s not only about training people, but also about setting up the systems that allow them to work in a sustainable way,” he told a visiting crew of journalists from the US.

According figures for the past five years revealed that during the month of January from 2007 to 2009 roughly two children died every day at Salima Hospital in the first 24 hours.

But during January in 2010 and 2011, an average of less than one child died daily in that time frame since triage training played a major role. The hospital staff was trained in September 2009, and its performance in January 2010 and 2011 showed a major reduction in deaths.

“We were really fed up with these deaths,” Kaliati said adding, “MSH’s training taught us so many new things. ETAT doesn’t draw a line between the nurses and clinicians; we were trained to work together as a team. So when a child in a severe way improves it’s a pleasure to us all. We had just five days of training, but those five days changed us so much.”

Baliyasi was admitted just for four days at Salima hospital before he was discharged and returned to his village.

The boy’s father, 36-year-old Samson Sinoya disclosed that he had great fears about his son’s condition before he was brought to Salima Hospital.

“I thought my son would die. In fact I had already given up,” he said.

Salima MSH District Coordinator Kuzemba Mulenga attributed Baliyasi’s survival to both a triage programme and also other parts of building a system in place.
“Many things had to work,” he said adding that they had to have the drug supply and the equipment in place.

“The District Health Officer had to have put emergency vehicles in the outlying areas, to take that boy into the hospital quickly. And when they got to the hospital, the team there had to act fast, and they did. It’s great,” said Mulenga adding, “Three years ago, that boy would not have survived because the system was not there. Now it is,” he explained.

The success of saving the life of Baliyasi by health workers including nurses using triage nursing skills is just one of few positive stories on Best Health Practices in Malawi’s health sector as a result of well coordinated teamwork and their commitment to professionalism that can save lives of many if fully rolled out in all the country’s public health facilities.

The story even proves that indeed, the strengthening of the health sector including at hospital level the technical knowledge and approach to timely (immediate referral, early diagnosis and treatment) case management was a major contributing factor in saving the life of this 19 year old boy.

Triage system is usually where the severity of patients’ condition is determined and before deciding upon how quickly they need treatment.

Under the system nurses or health workers allocates the patient a place in the queue. In practice most urgent patients are seen first then patients with a stable condition which needs urgent conditions are seen next.

Finally, all the others are seen. It is a highly specialized job, and these people require a great deal of training. Most of them are good at it but some can be spectacularly bad.


Pervasive, chronic poverty has devastated every sector of Malawi for decades—contributing to a faltering economy and applying enormous pressure on an overextended and under resourced government.

Severe food shortages and a lack of access to health services rest firmly and often fatally on undereducated individuals and starving children.

A fragile health care infrastructure is aggravated by the poverty problem and has increased the prevalence of HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition, and other epidemics.

Malawi has some of the worst health indicators in the world and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Africa even posing a threat to the country’s policy makers’ efforts to steer the nation towards achieving all Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) aiming at improving lives of majority citizens at all levels by 2015 who are currently suffering from pangs of poverty at all levels.

Since 2003, MSH Programs in Malawi with funding from US Government through USAID have sought to strengthen health care systems, increase disease prevention education, and reduce both maternal and childhood mortality rates through reproductive health and family planning initiatives.

Health education and increased access to fundamental health care in communities remains the focus of MSH’s work in Malawi.

MSH looks forward to collaborating with regional and national institutions, both public and private, to further support health programs and train effective health care leaders.

Collectively, MSH and its partners are striving to facilitate efficient, decentralized management of resources and delivery of fundamental health care services to increase the health of the people of Malawi.

Accessing quality health including emergency services like what happened to Baliyasi is a dream of many in Malawi due to many challenges faced by health workers including nurses.

Just a few weeks for instance, some five innocent souls were rushed to a major referral hospital building in central Malawi with a hope of saving their lives.

However, the sick people returned while lifeless and enclosed in coffins because the people who were employed by the state to attend and take care of them in the building refused to do their job.
Yes! The five patients lost their lives at Malawi’s major referral hospital in the central region of the country [Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH)] in Lilongwe because health workers denied them the right to access medical treatment.

The workers mainly nurses were only working during their normal hours in protest against the low overtime or Locum allowance pegged at K1, 200 per day and K1, 400 night shift. The nurses wanted instead the money raised to K6, 000 and K8, 000 respectively.

Malawi Government in a statement through Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS) Willie Samute however said the demand was too high and unsustainable.

But the PS was further quick to indicate that the state had made recommendations to increase the Locum rates.

Nevertheless such recommendations for adjustment of the health workers’ overtime allowances were only to be effected in the new financial year which was just less than four weeks then.

“Our engagement with them has on these two occasions failed to reach a conclusion that will normalize the situation at the hospital. This has made the situation worse. It’s important to understand that the bulk of the clinical staff shunning Locum is nurses while almost all of them are reporting for normal duties,” said Samute.

The striking health workers had earlier through their representatives presented the Locum matter to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

In response the Secretary to the President and Cabinet Bright Msaka said Malawi Government appreciates the financial hardships the health workers were going through in the country hence the overtime fees would be raised on July 1 this year.

The response left the health workers pondering amongst themselves on how they were going to make themselves available at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) when they were on off duty to cover the shortage with their little overtime fees.

No wonder that a health worker at KCH disclosed that as a result of the strike over the overtime fees children’s lives were in danger at the time.

“The Children’s Ward also known as the Peadiatric Ward here is literally equivalent to a whole District Hospital since it has three blocks/wards with only 30 nurses in total on duty and they are supposed to be 10 with four on normal duty, six on Locum duty meaning that those six would not be coming for Locum duties. So how do you expect only four nurses to take care of 400 sick children in this ward? Let us just wait and see till July when new Locum fees will be effective,” she said.

Apart from strikes in public health facilities in Malawi in some cases poor delivery of health services to patients has also opened a can of worms for some health workers.

Take for instance, a case of another nurse’s alleged negligence that led to a nurse stationed at Ekwendeni Mission Hospital in northern Malawi, currently battling for her life after an incensed relative to a woman who had just given birth to a still-born attacked her last year.

Presently admitted to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), 25-year-old Grace Chizala revealed that her problem started after she had sand thrown into her eyes by a relative of one of her patients.

"I was on night duty. A number of children were born that night,” she said adding that she heard that one of the deliveries was a still-born.

“I didn't know the details as it was my colleague who assisted in the delivery. In the morning, one of the patient's relatives came towards me and she threw sand into my eyes. Since that time I have been having a series of complications related to the eyes," said Grace.

The nurse looked frail while narrated her ordeal with difficulties. In September last year, Grace went to South Africa for specialized treatment but the problem resurfaced earlier this year to the extent that since then, she has not been able to work.

At one point Grace was also taken to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre however, despite best efforts to find a cure, there has been no improvement in her condition.

An attack on a health worker at Sinyala Health Centre in Mangochi on the other hand also left the facility paralysed without accessing health services for close to three years.

Health workers reportedly fled the Health Centre and were unwilling to go back for fear of their lives.

As a result, residents who were relying on the facility for health services were being forced to travel long distances of about 18Km to get to the next health facility.

“As a result of this situation, the community is being deprived of health services due to very long distances people are covering to get to the nearest health facility,” said Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) Diocesan Coordinator Bruno Banda.

The priest further explained that people cover long distances to seek medical attention to the surrounding health centres of Nancholi and Mkumbe.

Added Banda:"There are health related disasters, even deaths especially of the under fives, pregnant mothers and other seriously ill patients which could have been avoided or reduced with the presence of medical personnel at Sinyala Health Centre."

Mangochi District Commissioner (DC) Thomas Chirwa disclosed that the health personnel fled from Sinyala Health Centre because the communities around the area had a secret meeting where they had planned to stab a Health Assistant (HA) on allegation that he was negligent when attending to patients.

While not condoning health workers including nurses and midwives indulging in acts of negligence at work, National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM) condemned the act of attacks on health workers.

NONM Deputy Director Harriet Kapyepye requested people in the country to follow proper procedures of filing complaints against negligent health workers than attacking them.
"It's not proper to attack health workers. If there are complaints, people have to follow proper channels,” she said adding, “People shouldn't reach an extent of inflicting pain to health workers."

Vice-President also Minister of Health Khumbo Kachali said Malawi Government is aware of the many challenges nurses, midwives and health workers are facing in the course of their work in the country.

“In this regard government will do everything to address the problems health workers are facing in the country,” he said.

The National Coordinator for Safe Motherhood in Malawi Dorothy Ngoma on her part singled out the shortage of nurses in the country as one reason behind the abuse of the few ones in public health facilities by patients and guardians in one way or the other.

“We have situations whereby for instance, four or five nurses taking care of say 200 or 300 very sick patients for 24 hours a day without rest and meeting very little support and that in itself is a form of abuse of nurses,” said Ngoma adding that the practice even compromises the quality of treatment rendered to patients.

“Abusing nurses is not just beating or talking abusively to them as some patients and guardians have been doing in this country but also stressing them with unlimited work pressure without giving them time to rest,” she explained.

Ngoma also expounded that both nurses and patients have become victims of various circumstances especially in public hospitals due to among other things, the same staff shortages.

“We need between 16, 000 to 20, 000 nurses and they need to work on a shift that is, we need four people for one job and it’s expensive but necessary,” she said.

Ngoma was further quick to say that despite that some nurses are naturally unfriendly some act unfriendly unknowingly due to stress and pressure.

“Imagine being attended to a nurse who has been working for 24 hours. She is likely to be rude and angry,” she said.

To deal with the staff shortage problem Ngoma added that Malawi has to take necessary steps.

“First we have to realize the problem exists then put necessary measures how to deal with it. One of the strategies for instance is we should look for donors who should come forward to help us train more health workers including nurses, midwives, clinicians and doctors and put all necessary incentives in place to motivate them at work to prevent them from leaving the public health sector for other so called greener pastures elsewhere,” said Ngoma.

The Netherlands suspends Rwanda aid over rebels

The Netherlands has suspended 5 million euros in aid to Rwanda over its reported support for rebels in Congo, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, hours after Kigali said a similar move by the United States was regrettable and would be proved wrong. The Dutch reaction to a report from United Nations experts saying Kigali was backing insurgents in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo follows Washington's $200,000 cut in military aid at 

European Union says Somalia must meet deadline for ending transitional period

Somali leaders and stakeholders must adhere to the August 20th deadline for ending the transitional government period and act in the best interest of the Somali people, the Council of the European Union said Monday (July 23rd).

Jonathan, others condoles Ghanaians

GHANA'S new President, John Dramani Mahama, has pledged to uphold stability following the death of his predecessor John Atta Mills.

Mr Mahama, 53, was sworn in several hours after the 68-year-old president died at a hospital in the capital, Accra.

The opposition has praised the swift transition to Mr Mahama, saying it showed Ghana was a mature democracy.

Mr Atta Mills, who suffered from throat cancer, had governed since 2009.

He had planned to run for a second term in elections in December.

The BBC, in Accra, reports that Mr Mahama will now serve as president until the election, but it is unclear whether he will be the candidate of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.

Taking the oath at an emergency parliamentary session, Mr Mahama said he would govern for all Ghanaians.

"I wish Ghanaians to be assured that all is well," Mr Mahama said.

We are going to maintain the peace, unity and stability that Ghana is noted for."
Ghanaian President John Atta Mills President Atta Mills came to power in 2009

Mr Mahama has declared a week of national mourning.

Opposition New Patriotic Party (NNP) presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo has suspended campaigning out of respect for Mr Atta Mills.

NPP chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey praised the smooth transfer of power that happened within hours of the president's death.

"Ghana actually has handled itself very well. We have never been through this before," he said.

"Yet the transition that we saw in parliament has been very well handled, very smooth. We are showing a maturity that must encourage all Ghanaians."

Mr Atta Mills died a few hours after being taken ill. No details have been given.

While Mr Atta Mills's illness had always been a subject of great debate, it was never officially confirmed, correspondents say. He had always insisted he was well, and planned to seek re-election in December's poll.

According to a presidential aide, the leader had complained of pains on Monday evening and his condition had deteriorated.

This is the first time that a president has died while in office in Ghana. In a country hailed as a solid democracy, John Atta Mills' sudden death should not spark a political crisis but will certainly test the country's democratic institutions.

As Vice-President John Dramani Mahama steps in as interim head of state, the question people are asking in the Ghanaian capital Accra is: "Who is going to run for president with the ruling party in December?"

Mr Atta Mills had just been nominated by the National Democratic Congress to stand for a second term. But his nomination had illustrated a split within the ruling party with Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, the wife of former ruler Jerry Rawlings, who leads a faction critical of Atta Mills' management.

Mr Atta Mills' health has always been a subject of great debate in Ghana, even before he took office in 2009. But his illness was never officially confirmed and Mr Atta Mills himself insisted he was doing well.

He had recently returned to Ghana after visiting the US for medical checks.

Elizabeth Ohene, a journalist and former government minister, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that "for the past three or four years there's been news he's been unwell and rumours of his death - twice - and he appeared with grim humour to say they were exaggerated, insisting he was well".

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday expressed "shock and immense sadness" on news of the sudden death of President John Atta Mills of Ghana.

President Jonathan, in a statement by Presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, condoled the late President's family as well as the government and people of Ghana.

According to a statement by Abati, "on behalf of himself, the government and people of Nigeria, President Jonathan extends sincere condolences to late President Mill’s family as well as the government and people of Ghana. The President assures the people of Ghana of the sympathy and solidarity of the people of Nigeria as they mourn late President Mills who did his best during his tenure to carry forward the process of democratic consolidation and socio-economic development in Ghana.

"He prays that God Almighty will grant the late President’s soul eternal rest and bless his successor with the fortitude and wisdom he will need to keep Ghana firmly on the path of peace, stability and progress. It is President Jonathan’s hope and expectation that the excellent  relationship which existed between Nigeria and Ghana during President Mill’s tenure will continue to be strengthened under the new leadership in Ghana in the mutual interest of both countries."Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf extended her condolences to Ghanaians, saying the news had come as a surprise.

"On a personal level his moderation and integrity stood out," Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf said, adding that Mr Atta Mills had played a strong role at the regional meetings they both attended.

US President Barack Obama also paid tribute, praising Mr Atta Mills as a "strong advocate for human rights and for the fair treatment of all Ghanaians", according to a White House statement.

Mr Atta Mills served as vice-president to former Ghanaian military ruler Jerry Rawlings between 1997 and January 2001.

He came to power after narrowly winning against Mr Akufo-Addo, in polls in December 2008.

His predecessor, John Kufuor, stepped down after having served the maximum permitted two four-year terms.

Dramani Mahama has sworn

Former Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, who has been sworn in as the president of Ghana following the death of John Atta Mills, is regarded as a champion of the underprivileged.

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”