Day: June 6, 2022

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South Africa’s President Faces Probe Over Unreported Theft

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a criminal investigation after a revelation that he failed to report the theft of about $4 million in cash from his farm in northern Limpopo province.

An account of the theft is contained in an affidavit by the country’s former head of intelligence Arthur Fraser, who has opened a case against Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa has not denied the theft but claims that he reported it to the head of his VIP Protection unit, who did not report it to the police.

In South Africa it is illegal not to report a crime and according to Fraser’s affidavit, Ramaphosa tried to conceal the theft, which happened in February 2020 when he was attending an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Several opposition parties have called for a full investigation into the theft, including whether the amount of foreign currency allegedly stolen had been declared to the South African Revenue Service.

The Democratic Alliance, the country’s biggest opposition party, said Ramaphosa should come clean about the circumstances surrounding the theft and why it was not reported to the police.

“The president is facing a crisis of credibility and cannot hide behind procedural smokescreens to avoid presenting South Africans with the full truth around the money that was stolen from his farm, and the subsequent cover-up,” the opposition party’s leader John Steenhuisen said in a statement.

Another opposition party, the United Democratic Movement, has called on Ramaphosa to take a “leave of absence” while Parliament probes the incident, saying it is not prudent for it to do so while he was in office.

Ramaphosa publicly spoke about the incident for the first time over the weekend since the revelations surfaced, saying the cash was from buying and selling animals on his farm.

“I want to reaffirm that I was not involved in any criminal conduct, and once again I pledge my full cooperation with any form of investigation,” said Ramaphosa on Sunday.

“I would like to say that I’m a farmer. I’m in the cattle business and the game business. And through that business, which has been declared to Parliament and all over, I buy and I sell animals,” he said.

The sales are sometimes through cash and sometimes through transfers, and what is being reported is a clear business transaction of selling animals, said Ramaphosa.

He was addressing the Limpopo provincial conference of the ruling party, the African National Congress, where his political allies were re-elected, boosting his own chances for re-election as the ANC’s president at the party’s national conference in December.

Ramaphosa’s supporters have cried foul, saying the timing of the revelation is part of efforts to derail his efforts to be re-elected party president in December.

The information about the theft was revealed by Fraser, the former head of South Africa’s intelligence, who is known to be loyal to former President Jacob Zuma.

Fraser controversially approved Zuma’s release from prison on medical parole last year, an action that is now being contested in court as illegal. Zuma had been sent to prison last year after he was convicted of defying the Constitutional Court by refusing to testify at a judicial inquiry probing allegations of corruption during his presidential term from 2009 to 2018.

Source: Voice of America

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Experts Move To Save Underwater Cultural Heritage

Experts are alarmed over the looting of underwater cultural heritage in Africa with universities being urged to develop programmes geared towards protecting and preserving such historical artifacts.

The experts including archaeologists, local and international heritage and cultural institutions noted that treasure hunting in different parts of Africa poses serious threats to the preservation and protection of crucial underwater historical artefacts.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director in charge of Eastern African regional office, Prof Hubert Gijzen said underwater cultural heritage in countries like Mozambique face threats from treasure hunts, looting and commercial exploitation.

He was speaking at the Fort Jesus, Mombasa during a ceremony to award certificates to archaeologists from 11 Africa countries who participated in underwater cultural heritage research.

The participants were on 10-days of training to increase their professional and scientific capacity in underwater cultural survey, raise the awareness and protection and preservation can be applied to underwater cultural heritage in Africa.

The attendants from Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, Eretria, Seychelles, Mauritius, Namibia, Sudan, Mozambique, Senegal and Benin also surveyed Kenya Sussex shipwreck, assessed the maritime cultural heritage of Mombasa old town and identified the emerging threats, challenges and opportunities.

Prof Gijzen challenged governments to develop proper legislations that would help protect and preserve the rich historical materials hidden beneath the waters of the sea, lakes and rivers on the continent.

“Environmental degradation, such as acidification or pollution, also endangers its preservation, in addition to technological advances that drive coastal development and exploitation of marine resources,” he added.

He said looting is a criminal act punishable under the law and that the governments should develop stringent laws that would deter theft and destruction of underwater wreckages, monuments and artifacts.

“We have to tighten legislation that would help stop treasure hunting of these historical materials. The UNESCO 2001 convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage provides us with a roadmap for protecting this fragile and often undervalued heritage, which includes shipwrecks, aircrafts and even sunken cities,” added Gijzen.

The loots including shipwrecks, aircrafts wrecks and other important materials of historical nature are sold to brokers with linkage to industries and museums in the developed world.

The UNESCO Eastern African regional director also appealed to 35 countries on the continent to ratify the convention to pave the way for the protection of their rich historical underwater materials.

Similar sentiments were echoed by UNESCO Kenya National Commission Secretary General Evangeline Njoka who said looting of the artefacts have robbed African countries of their rich history.

“Africa thus loses its cultural legacy. Scientific information and resources of greatest educational and recreational interest to the local communities,” observed Dr Njoka.

She noted that the preservation and protection of the unique underwater archeological artefacts provide greater opportunity to the diversification of the tourism industry in Africa.

“Today tourism and recreation are a higher factor of employment in any coastal region than the fishing industry. 37 per cent of world tourism is motivated by cultural heritage. This makes the submerged heritage not least as a potential venture of sustainable tourism development in Africa, which is however disappearing rapidly,” she added.

National Museum of Kenya (NMK) acting Director General Stanvas Ogalo noted that countries need to allocate adequate funds to fully exploit underwater archaeology in Africa where research has found its interaction with Greece, China, Persian and India.

“Underwater cultural heritage is an important resource for humanity that needs to be protected and preserved for posterity. However, managing this heritage resource represents a balance among competing forces and is subject to changing financial climates. Without proper management, the exploitation of marine environments would result in a conflict and endangered resources of which underwater cultural heritage is part thereof,” observed Ogalo.

He also noted that lack of undergraduate and graduate programmes on underwater archaeology is a major drawback facing the sub-Saharan African countries.

“As such it is only through increased capacity building that we as a region can take this forward. It’s for this reason that I thank the Japanese government for funding this training worship and UNESCO for continued support of Under Water Heritage programmes in the region,” he added.

NMK Head of Underwater Archaeology, Bita Ceaser, the only Kenyan underwater cultural heritage specialist, challenged African universities to develop marine archeology and other related disciplines for the countries to fully exploit the untapped submerged resources.

He further observed that the underwater cultural heritage places Kenya as a key recreational tourism destination in the world.

“There is a huge potential we can actualize in our sea. We have huge potential for recreational tourism where tourists will visit to see our submerged cultural heritage. This is even possible because even the sea water is warm and that is why most of the time, we do our survey and research wearing just shorts,” he added.

Ceaser said Kenya has made huge milestones in protection of her underwater cultural heritage with NMK being positioned as a center of research and studies on the continent.

He said it was the first country in Sub Saharan Africa to undertake underwater archaeological works and recognize the value of underwater cultural heritage.

This was in 1977 during excavation of ‘Santa Antonio de Tanna’ shipwreck in Mombasa whose exhibition is now in Mombasa Fort Jesus Museum.

The archaeologist said over the years the country has undertaken underwater archaeological surveys to document and understand the underwater cultural heritage.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Africa offers answers for small-scale fisheries

Artisanal fisheries are the lifeblood of coastal African communities, but they have largely been neglected. Small changes can make sure they don’t disappear.

Feeding more than 200 million people across the continent, small-scale fisheries are intrinsic to African traditions, identity and economies. But they are under immense threat. Compared to the industrial fishing sector, the small-scale industry is marginalised, poorly planned and underfunded. Targeted solutions can ensure these vital fisheries survive as development marches on.

The small-scale fisheries sector makes up 85 percent of harvesters in Africa and employs 5.2 million people – a significant number for communities with few other ways to make a living. Fish represents 19 percent of protein consumption, providing essential vitamins and minerals, as well as omega-3 fatty acids crucial in ending malnutrition. In West Africa alone, 47 percent of fish caught in the region comes from small fisheries, with regional catches exceeding 1.8 million tonnes and generating more than US$2 billion per year. Even so, small fisheries in Africa are a low priority in national economic policies.

Catch amounts have been declining since 2004 despite an increase in fishing effort, such as from longer trips, more advanced equipment and industrial catches. Stocks have become overfished. The costs of fishing have increased, making it too expensive for many African coastal communities to continue. Fish depletion leads to poverty, but poverty also leads to fish depletion because of destructive fishing practices and mismanaged resources. Fishing communities and local fisheries are interdependent.

Ecosystems damaged by extractive industries such as mining, industrial fishing and climate change cannot support fish populations big enough to regenerate unless significant steps are taken. And small fisheries are urgently needed to provide for local communities in the meantime. Diversifying fish products, reducing waste, increasing community awareness and sharing knowledge between local communities are small but powerful ways to support small fisheries.

Bycatch – fish too small to sell, or other species unintentionally caught alongside targeted fish – can be very high and often go to waste. As much as 70 percent of targeted fish can also be wasted: often only the flesh is eaten and the skin, carcass, bones and scales are removed in processing — a huge missed opportunity, especially in communities where healthy food is not always available and starch-based staples decrease iron and zinc absorption. Affordable and innovative methods to transform byproducts into edible nutrient-rich powders using local hammer mills have been trialled in Uganda with the support of the EU-funded project SmartFish. The powders enrich local diets and school meals, and are an emergency food supplement for refugees. They could also be replicated in other regions.

Poor hygiene and handling of fish cause spoilage, threaten livelihoods and generate more waste. The SmartFish ‘Clean Fish, Better Life’ campaign involved the community in creating their own educational videos on post-harvest hygiene and good practices along the shores of Lake Victoria, which borders Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The campaign provided an opportunity for communities to exchange information, work together on pressing issues and solve their own problems.

The first SmartFish video, Usafi Ni Pesa (Hygiene Saves Money), was screened in 44 landing sites and fishing communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Open discussions allowed the audience to establish the important link between established practices and new practices proposed by the videos. The program’s videos can reach people of different ages who may otherwise not have had access to the information because of illiteracy or limited financial means. The videos deliver educational messages in local contexts at low cost and can cover topics including illegal fishing, fishery laws, good environmental management and diversification of livelihoods.

In 2004 the Vezo community of fishers in the village of Andavadoaka, Madagascar, created the Velondriake locally managed marine area, with octopus-fishing closures, after catches continued to decline. Government policies allowed traditional laws and indigenous knowledge to inform ways of governing local resources, including periodic closures to let stocks recover. In turn, the octopus closures significantly boosted individual catches and fishers’ income.

The management practices have since evolved to include two mangrove reserves and five coral reserves, with significant support from the international community and not-for-profit organisations. The coral reserves have seen a 189 percent increase in fish, relative to the size of the area, within six years. Increased income has supported better access to health services, in turn leading to improved community health and smaller families. Community members say the livelihood interventions associated with the marine area have led to more small businesses and reduced reliance on fishing, decreasing pressure on the ecosystem.

The successes of the Velondriake marine area led many other communities to take similar action through Fishermen Learning Exchanges – gatherings where people from different communities exchange information and experiences. Quiwia village in coastal Mozambique was the first to implement its premier octopus closure based on learnings from Velondriak. Today, delegations from other parts of Mozambique travel to Quiwia to learn about the closure model. Around 200 locally managed marine areas have since been established, many with octopus closures, and these have also spread to Mauritius and Tanzania – and as far away as Mexico.

Giving communities the tools to manage their own resources empowers them and improves environmental stewardship. Even more importantly, bringing different fishing communities together yields powerful results. Deepened understanding leads to more successful management systems that prioritise healthy environments and encourage communities to manage fishery resources cooperatively.

Antaya March is a senior researcher at the Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth. Pierre Failler is a director at the Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth.

The Centre is the home of the UNESCO Chair in Ocean Governance. It focuses on supporting and delivering sustainable and equitable governance mechanisms for the ocean and aquatic resources, with a strong emphasis on enhancing the synergies between nature conservation and economic development.

The research was undertaken with financial assistance from the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).

All views represented in this article are those of the author and do not reflect those of AU-IBAR.

Source: 360info

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Eastern African Standby Force meets in Seychelles to review simulated military exercise

Member states of the Eastern African Standby Force (EASF) are attending a workshop in Seychelles to review data collected in its Command Post Exercise (CPX) in Kenya in March, to better prepare for incidents requiring its instant mobilisation and peace support operations.

During the five-day workshop, organised in collaboration with the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF), participants will review the four main points of the first exercise – training, advocacy, media awareness and logistics.

In his opening address, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka, said that “this after-action review of the CPX is an important opportunity for the Secretariat and member states to examine their experiences and perceptions of the exercise, to identify the successes, challenges, as well as make recommendations following the exercise.”

Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, is one of 10 countries that make up the EASF alongside Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Somalia.

“From the inception of EASF, and since signing the Agreement on establishing the Standby force in June 2014, Seychelles has continually demonstrated its commitment by participating in the activities organised by the Secretariat,” added the minister.

Representatives from the African Union are also attending the conference and the chief of staff for the military component of EASF, Colonel Solihi Abdallah Rafick, told SNA that this is because “they are the chief highest control because we are part of the five regions on standby.”

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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