Security Fears Over Mugabe's Children

President Robert Mugabe's two sons have reportedly relocated to South Africa from Dubai and Zimbabwe respectively amid fears their personal security might be "compromised" in the neighboring country.

                                        The Mugabes.

Kenya: How to Deal With Kibera's 'Flying Toilets'

 Boys sit on a boulder overlooking the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Nairobi — Wherever you walk in Kibera, the Kenyan capital's biggest slum, there's one golden rule that must always be observed, local resident Abdul Abdallah says.

"Don't step on any plastic or paper bag you see on the road."

Among the endless piles of rubbish that line Kibera's streets are what are known as "flying toilets".

"People poo in the bags at night, and they tie it and throw it and throw it away," Abdallah tells Al Jazeera.

The flying toilets are a symptom of Kibera's lack of a proper sewage system.

Hardly any in this impoverished corner of Nairobi has the luxury of a toilet inside their home. Some have an outdoor toilet, shared between multiple dwellings, but these are simple pit latrines that need to be emptied - usually into the open sewers outside.

"You remove it from your face and put it to another person's face," Harun Wainaina, another local resident, says with a bitter laugh.

Inside his compact - but neat and tidy - home, his two children play video games. He says he's had to take them to the doctor on more than one occasion to treat diseases they picked up after playing in the streets.

"If you go to the hospital, you will find many cases like this," Wainaina tells Al Jazeera. "This is a crisis."

Al Jazeera spent time with several of Kibera's residents, examining the effect of the slum's waste crisis and the innovative solutions some locals have developed to tackle the problem.

Kenya: Man Dies As He Attempts to Retrieve Sh3000 From Pit Latrine

A man suffocated to death while trying to retrieve money from a pit latrine in Ngiriambu village, Kirinyaga County.

The victim, 30, and his two friends went down into the pit to remove their neighbour's Sh3,000 that had accidentally dropped.

According to a witness, the woman had promised to share the money with the young men if they recovered the money.

Excited, the men descended into the 50-feet hole and got to the bottom. But as they were searching for the cash they started suffocating due to lack of sufficient oxygen.

On realising the situation was getting worse, they hurriedly started climbing up but the victim got stuck inside.

The survivors raised an alarm, attracting dozens of villagers who embarked on rescue mission.

The shocked villagers tried to rescue the man for but they were unsuccessful.

Police were alerted and they managed to get the body out the latrine.

A villager, Beatrice Muthoni said it took the police six hours to remove the man's body from the latrine.

Kirinyaga police boss Hussein Arur said it was unfortunate hat the young man died painfully.

He said investigations were underway to establish the actual circumstances of the man's death.

Tanzania: Why Jakaya Kikwete Got Hero's Welcome in Bunge

Dodoma — MPs from across the political divide yesterday cheered Retired President Jakaya Kikwete for ten minutes in Parliament, prompting debate as to what message the lawmakers were trying to convey.

MPs from both the ruling CCM and Opposition burst into applause after the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Job Ndugai, announced that Mr Kikwete was among visitors following proceedings from the public gallery.

The former head of state was in Parliament to witness the swearing-in of his wife Salma as an MP. President John Magufuli nominated the former first lady as a lawmaker last month. "We miss you!" some of the MPs shouted as they gave Mr Kikwete a standing ovation.

Mr Ndugai had a difficult time trying to restore order as MPs ignored his repeated calls for House business to resume.

Mr Ndugai admitted that the reception Mr Kikwete received in Parliament was unprecedented.

"This is my fourth term in Parliament, but I have never seen a visitor get such a reception. I can see that people are missing him. Let's give him a standing ovation," said Mr Ndugai as ear-splitting applause shook the debating chamber.

"Let him come and greet us," some MPs were heard saying as others asked the Speaker to temporarily revoke Standing Orders to allow the former head of state to address the House.

MPs speak out

Lawmakers who spoke to The Citizen said MPs communicated an "important message" by wildly cheering Mr Kikwete.

Mr Peter Msigwa (Iringa Urban-Chadema) said they accorded Mr Kikwete a standing ovation in recognition of his role in promoting democracy in Tanzania.

"Mr Kikwete had no problem when opposition MPs walked out as he addressed Parliament. That is democracy. He knew that people could express themselves in various ways in a democratic setting. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be tolerated today," he said.

Ms Esther Matiku (Tarime Urban-Chadema) said opposition MPs had in the past walked out of Parliament as Mr Kikwete spoke not because they hated him.

 MPs walked out in protest, and Mr Kikwete showed that he was a true democrat who could stomach criticism and divergent views. This is not something we are seeing today. People are now victimised for dissent," she said.

Mr Zitto Kabwe (Kigoma Urban-ACT Wazalendo) said MPs honoured Mr Kikwete for cherishing freedom of speech.

"Mr Kikwete allowed freedom of speech. He even allowed Parliament to review the Budget, something which is unthinkable under the current government," he said.

Ms Margaret Sitta (Urambo-CCM) said the standing ovation was MPs' way of remembering Mr Kikwete's achievements during his ten years in office.

"He did a wonderful job. I will not forget how hard it was to reach Tabora from other parts of the country before Mr Kikwete was elected as president. The roads were terrible back then. So, why shouldn't we celebrate him?" she asked.

Dr Raphael Chegeni (Busega-CCM) said it was normal for people to be happy when they reunite after not seeing each other for a long time.

Mr Marwa Ryoba (Serengeti-Chadema) said MPs' reaction was partly driven by the current "grim" economic situation.

"Although the Fifth Phase government often brags about substantially increasing revenue collection, the fact is that very little goes to development projects. People are feeling the pinch at all levels," he said.

Mr Masoud Abdallah Salum, (Mtambile-CUF) said Mr Kikwete was affable and easily accessible during his time at State House, adding that he used to listen to people and address their concerns.

"If you want to appreciate a person's good qualities, you have to compare them with someone else, and that is what has happened. In the past there was greater democratic space compared to the present," he said.

Ms Pendo Peneza (Special Seats-Chadema) said Mr Kikwete never interfered with Parliament, adding that this enabled the House to exercise its oversight role freely and effectively. "I praise Kikwete because he was a dignified man. He respected people irrespective of political affiliation."

South Africa: New Social Media Research Finds Xenophobia Rife Among South Africans

A new study of social media posts has found that a large number of South Africans are xenophobic.

Director of the Citizen Research Centre Stuart Jones has been conducting research on xenophobia in terms of social media since 2011.

The organisation isolated and analysed all public social media posts pertaining to xenophobia across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, forums, chat rooms, comments and blog posts in SA.

Jones said he chose social media because he felt strongly that the data represented the truest expression of people's views on any given subject.

The data excluded social media posts from other countries.

"The remaining comments made by individuals constituted a data set of almost two million relevant posts since 2011... If we isolate just the Twitter posts from this data set, they had a total of 5.7 billion potential impressions. This effectively means that collectively these posts landed in 5.7 billion twitter feeds," said Jones.

'All foreigners should leave the country'

The findings and analysis of the posts provided Jones with clear lessons in how social media was linked to xenophobia on the streets as well as in how to help moderate the conversation.

"From 2011 to now, the average number of posts has ticked along at 760 posts per day."

Jones said social media responded to real life and the number of posts increased dramatically during times of crises in the country.

Two important xenophobic incidences have been noted in the research, one in April 2015 and one in February 2017.

In April 2015, Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini reportedly said that "all foreigners should leave the country".

Jones said violence directed at African foreigners erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and rapidly spread to the rest of the country as a result of the comments made by Zwelithini.

"During the violence, social media conversation around xenophobia grew to 5 670 posts a day."

'Holding our country to ransom'

In January and February 2017 there was an average of nearly 2 000 posts per day on the subject.

"This was in the build-up to the march at the end of February. Again this was inflamed by a public figure, with Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba linking foreigners to crime. He was quoted as having said, 'You see, for me, when I call these criminals, criminals, I want them to understand that they are criminals. They are holding our country to ransom and I am going to be the last South African to allow it.'"

Looking at the conversations in detail, Jones said, xenophobic social media posts made up between 8% and 28% of all conversation, depending on the year.

"There is a recent tendency to associate foreigners with criminal activity. This was aggravated by, if not caused by, Herman Mashaba's recent comments.

"As a result, hateful speech against foreigners associating them with crime has risen threefold to 13% of the total conversation since his statement."

Jones said what would be classified as extreme hate speech and incitement to violence had remained a fairly small component of the total conversation.

Pacifying voices

"In 2015 there were 21 660 posts that could be classified as such and in the first two months of this year there have already been 1 100 posts that fit this description."

Research also found that pacifying voices increased in times of crisis, and range from 15% to 42% of the conversation.

"Crucially, pacifying voices have been weakest before xenophobic violence and protest hit. For example, only 15% of posts spoke against xenophobia."

He said politicians and community leaders played an important role in pacifying sentiments.

"Their anti-xenophobic views are widely distributed and discussed on social media. [EFF leader] Julius Malema, [Police Minister] Fikile Mbalula and [DA leader] Mmusi Maimane all tweeted strong statements against xenophobia.

"Julius Malema, though, had the biggest effect in countering xenophobic views, probably because he engaged early and because he has an active support base on social media."

Anti-white posts

Jones said that in 2016 there had been a dramatic shift in the xenophobia conversation.

Data showed that anti-xenophobic and anti-colonialist or anti-white South African posts have also grown exponentially.

"The typical narrative here is that we shouldn't take our anger out on fellow Africans, but rather on 'the real enemy', colonialism or white South Africans. This is allied to the #FeesMustFall movement."

 ones said this sentiment was less than 1% of the conversation in 2011. In the first two months of 2017, it made up 24% of the total conversation around xenophobia.

"In other words, in January and February this year, one in four posts referring to xenophobia from any angle, positive or negative, on social media in SA fell into the anti-white or anti-colonial category. This points to a dramatic shift in South Africa's political landscape, especially among young black South Africans."

Politicians 'must do more'

Jones said government needed to admit that there was a problem.

"Saying that South Africans are not xenophobic does not change the fact that a great many South Africans are xenophobic. The first step toward dealing with a problem is acknowledging that it exists. Various politicians, including President Jacob Zuma, have denied that there is a xenophobia problem."

Jones said politicians also needed to be more responsible about what they say to communities.

"It may be more helpful to start calling xenophobia what it is in the South African context, it is Afrophobia. The most hateful, unpublishable bile that is said on social media is directed toward Africans from other countries."

He said politicians can provide the necessary momentum in the counter narrative against xenophobia.

"Very few politicians entered the conversation, rather sitting silently by, and more can definitely be done here," Jones said.

Source: News24

South Africa

New pyramid remains discovered south of Cairo

A top antiquities official said that an Egyptian excavation team has discovered the remains of a new pyramid that dates back to the 13th Dynasty, some 3,700 years ago.

The head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afifi, said in a statement on Monday that the remains were located north of King Sneferu's bent pyramid in the Dahshur royal necropolis, about 40km south of Cairo.

Owing to the bent slope of its sides, the pyramid is believed to have been ancient Egypt's first attempt to build a smooth-sided pyramid.

The necropolis was the burial site for courtiers and high-ranking officials.

Adel Okasha, the head of Dahshur necropolis, said that the remains belong to the inner structure of the pyramid, including a corridor. Other remains included blocks showing the interior design of the pyramid.

congratulations Dr. Mwele Malecela

Dr. Mwele Malecela is the new Director of Africa Centres for diseases and control and prevention - Who. She will be living at Congo.