Metro

Saudi Arabia rejects 27,000 sheep and goats from Somalia

Published

5 years ago

August 15, 2018

Authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have cause to be returned some 27,000 livestock – sheep and goat – to Somalia.

Local media reports indicate that the herds of sheep and goats arrived at the Bosaso port on Tuesday afternoon. The cause of the rejection was because of fear of Rift Valley fever.

The move has been seen as a blow to Somali livestock traders who expected to make profits from the sale of the animals. News of the rejection was announced last weekend in an official letter shared by a Somali journalist with the VOA, Harun Maruf.

He added that Saudi authorities did not state the basis of their action since there was no independent examination to prove the claim. Traders, however, insisted that medics had given the animals a clean bill of health before they were shipped.

Rift Valley fever is an infection common in Africa caused by a bunyavirus; transmitted by mosquitoes or by handling infected animals – sheep, goat, camel.

With no specific treatment or effective human vaccine, Rift Valley fever can cause blindness and severe haemorrhaging, leading the victim to vomit blood or even bleed to death.

In the pilgrimage season which comes with the season of Islamic sacrifice, Saudi Arabia makes use of a lot of livestock as pilgrims are obliged at a point to slaughter sheep.

During the Eid-ul Adha festivities also, most people opt to sacrifice sheep even though there are other options like cow and camel.

Somalia is not the only country that annually exports animals to Saudi and it is not known the extent to which the current action will impact the availability of animals.

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Metro

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in a massive shake-up.

The dismissed officers include the former Commander of the Reserve Forces, Maj. Gen. Aloys Muganga, and Brig. Gen. Francis Mutiganda, a former Head of External Security in the National Intelligence Services, as well as 14 senior officers.

The announcement of the sacking of the officers which was contained in a statement released by the RDF on Wednesday, did not give reason for the sackings, but the move come a day after the president reshuffled the top echelon of the country’s military, which saw the firing of the Defence Minister and an Army Chief.

The sacking of the soldiers has further heightened tension between Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side accusing the other of working with rebels to topple one another’s governments, according to reports in local media.

Metro

UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

Published

19 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations War Crimes Court in The Hague.

In a decision published by the court on Wednesday, the judges acknowledged that Kabuga was no longer able to actively participate in his trial, and rather proposed an alternative process that aims to resemble a trial but does not allow for a conviction instead of stopping the proceedings completely.

“The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” the publication said.

“The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, therefore, finds that Mr. Kabuga is not fit for trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in the future.

“It is therefore agreed to adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction,” it added.

Kabuga who was arrested in Paris where he had been in hiding under a false identity for several years, was one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, and was charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with genocide and crimes against humanity.

At his initial arraignment in September last year, the ICC heard that Kabuga was alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu militias who slaughtered over 800,000 minority Tutsis as well as political opponents during the genocide in 1994.

According to the UN, Kabuga, a wealthy businessman from the Hutu ethnic group, had established and financed an infamous media outfit, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was notorious for inciting violence and promoting the targeting and elimination of individuals from the Tutsi ethnic group who were referred to as “Cockroaches”.

Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring the infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches”.

He also denied supplying machetes and supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.