Politics

Angolan government threatens striking doctors with ‘no work, no pay’ policy

Published

3 years ago

April 1, 2022

The Angolan government has threatened striking doctors in the country to forget their salaries for the duration the strike will last, in a new ‘no work, no pay’ policy.

The announcement which was made on Thursday, approved the suspension of salaries of doctors who have been on strike for two weeks to demand for improved conditions of service.

Doctors in Angola who represent a vast majority of the workforce in the country, have been on strike for the past 12 days, demanding better working conditions and refusing all entreaties to go back to work.

Most of the Southern African country’s approximately 5,600 doctors joined the movement last week for the second time in four months.

The doctors’ union had called for the nationwide strike after 20 children died in a single day at a pediatric hospital in the capital, Luanda, due to a shortage of medicines and medical equipment.

The doctors had also accused the government of neglecting hospitals in the oil rich country, saying medical institutions lacked basic material, medicines and needed equipment, while the government was building new establishments without providing staff.

However, the government has told the striking doctors to forget their salaries for as long as the strike lasts.

“We will not pay the salaries of the strikers,” Labor Minister Teresa Dias said a press conference.

Related Topics:Angola Doctors Featured Strike

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Politics

Sudan’s RSF chief accuses Egypt of bombing troops

Published

22 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a speech that was released on Wednesday, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, the leader of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused Egypt of carrying out airstrikes on the group’s soldiers.

The army of the nation, which has just gotten the upper hand in the fight that has devastated the nation for nearly eighteen months, was also accused by him of receiving drones and training from Cairo.

Later, in a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry refuted Hemedti’s claims that Egyptian aircraft was involved in the continuing conflict in Sudan.

“While Egypt denies those claims, it calls on the international community to ascertain the evidence that proves the truth of what the RSF militia leader said,” the foreign ministry added.

Egypt has joined Saudi Arabia and the United States’ efforts to resolve the situation, despite the perception that Egypt is close to the Sudanese army and its commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Earlier this year, Cairo played host to meetings between opposing political groupings. Hemedti said in his prerecorded video message that Egypt had attacked using American munitions.

“If the Americans were not in agreement these bombs would not reach Sudan,” he added.

In addition, he mentioned the presence of mercenaries from Tigray, Eritrea, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine in the nation and restated claims that Iranians fought with the army.

The army has recently advanced towards the southeast Sennar state and the capital Khartoum, Sudan; Hemedti said that his men were forced to retreat from the vital Jebel Moya region by purported Egyptian airstrikes.

The head of the RSF stated: “This war will not end in one or two, three, or four years,” seemingly shifting the tone from earlier remarks in favour of peace initiatives. We will soon exceed one million soldiers, as some have mentioned.

Since the conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023, about 10 million people have been pushed from their homes, famine and widespread hunger have been brought on, and waves of violence motivated by ethnic differences have been mostly attributed to the RSF.

Politics

Rwandan foreign minister claims Congo refused M23 peace offer

Published

5 days ago

October 6, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Rwandan Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has claimed that his Congolese colleague had refused to sign a pact to address the M23 rebel violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Since 2022, the Tutsi-led M23 has been fighting in the violence-torn east of central Africa, displacing over 1.7 million people.

Congo, the UN, and others accuse Rwanda of providing troops and ammunition to the group. Rwanda denies aiding M23 and accuses Congo of fighting alongside the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has attacked Tutsis in both countries.

Both nations took part in peace talks in late August to reduce the hostilities, which have exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe in the area and occasionally stoked concerns about a wider war.

Nduhungirehe told Reuters that a strategy “for neutralising the FDLR and lifting Rwanda’s defence measures” had been agreed upon and signed by participants in the negotiations, including the head of military intelligence for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He made this statement on the fringes of a conference in France between leaders of French-speaking nations, saying that ministers were expected to sign this accord on September 14.

“We were ready to sign … but the Congolese minister refused. She first commented on the report and then later, after consultation, she came back. She told us she was opposed to adopting the report.”

According to Nduhungirehe, the plan called for Rwanda to ease its “defence measures” a few days after the activities against the FDLR, however, the Congolese minister objected to these not occurring at the same time.

An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by a Congolese government representative.

Paul Kagame and Felix Tshisekedi, the leaders of Rwanda and the Congo, were present at the meeting in France. Though a three-way meeting was suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron, the two ultimately had separate private encounters with Macron.

“The situation is still too tense (for a three-way meeting),” Macron told reporters later on Saturday. It “calls for efforts on both sides,” he said calling on the two countries to reach an agreement.