Day: February 28, 2023

KIGALI, Rwandans are living at least nine years longer than the majority of East Africans, according to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Statistics on Monday.

Rwanda’s life expectancy is now 69.6 years, up from 51.2 years in 2002, data from the fifth Population and Housing Census 2022 indicates.

This puts Rwanda ahead of its peers in East Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high-income), according to 2020 World Bank figures.

East Africans have a lifespan of slightly above 60 years, with Tanzanians coming second after Rwanda at 66 years, Kenya and Uganda at 63 years, Burundi at 61 years, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at 60 years.

South Sudan has the lowest life expectancy at 55 years. World Bank in 2020 put Rwanda’s life expectancy at 67.

Rwanda’s population is now 13.2 million, up from 10.5 million in 2012, with an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent.

There are more females than males at 51.5 percent and 48.5 percent, respectively.

The data was released during Rwanda’s 18th National Dialogue, Umushyikirano, which kicked off Monday. The two-day forum is being held in person this year after suspension due to the Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings.

The event chaired by President Paul Kagame brings together citizens, local government officials, Cabinet and parliament representatives, private sector leaders, and members of the religious and diplomatic communities.

The annual dialogue, held since 2003, provides a platform for stakeholders to discuss the most pressing issues facing the country.

Source: Nam News Network

South Darfur activists staged a protest vigil in front of the secretariat of the state government in Nyala on Monday, to condemn the practices of the mining company that operates in the Aghbash gold mine in Radoom.

Hamid Hammad told Radio Dabanga from the vigil that they are against the mining practices of the Al Junaid company, and accused it of “monopolising thousands of kilometres”, calling for opening the area to all companies.

He explained that mining has caused the spread of diseases and the deterioration of the environment, pointing to ponds that violate specifications and mining laws using toxic mercury and cyanide, and called for the use of safe methods.

He accused the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company of lack of transparency in collecting fees, calling for electronic collection.

Northern State

On Monday, a sit-in in Abu Sara in Delgo, Northern State, entered its seventh week, rejecting the mining activities using cyanide and mercury in the area.

Protester Hatem Hasan confirmed to Radio Dabanga the protesters’ insistence on resolving the dispute between them and the Delgo Mining Company through the judiciary, after all attempts to end the dispute between them failed.

He said that the sit-in committee announced the escalation of the protests to the national level, by carrying out a protest vigil in front of the Embassy of Qatar in Khartoum on March 9, with the participation of Nubian king Mohamed Ibrahim Kaboush.

Charges

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the Delgo Mining Company is pressing charges against five protesters in Sudan’s Northern State for ‘causing the suspension of a gold mining plant’, which uses the highly toxic cyanide. In response, activists from Abu Sara in Delgo accused the company of not complying with the agreement signed between the local community, the local authorities, and the company itself, which stipulates that the plant should be relocated to a ‘safe distance’.

Sudan has been witnessing various protests against the behaviour of gold mining companies, especially against the environmental and health risks posed by the use of highly toxic chemicals such as cyanide and mercury. Protests are also taking place in Red Sea State, Kordofan, and Darfur.

Environmental and health risks

Environmentalists have been warning of the health and environmental hazards of using toxic mercury and cyanide to extract gold from ore for years. Five years ago, a Sudanese environmental protection expert already warned that the pollution caused by the use of cyanide and mercury in gold mining “constitutes the largest and most dangerous threat to the country’s environment”.

A recent report on mercury poisoning in Sudan points out that “years of indiscriminate use of dangerous chemicals such as mercury, cyanide, and thiourea without protective measures for miners or local populations has exposed millions of citizens across Sudan to lethal risks”.

Throughout the years, there have been plenty of reports of livestock, birds, and fish dying and medical issues amongst humans, such as miscarriages and kidney failure, as a result of environmental pollution caused by gold mining activities.

In 2018, Northern State education authorities had to close the Sawarda school complex after students suffered from coughing, vomiting, and shortness of breath. The situation was attributed to activities of the International Company for Mining, which spread mining waste and dust in the area.

The Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) 2022 report on foreign trade states that gold still remains the largest export commodity from Sudan.

The CBoS trade report indicated that Sudan saw its trade deficit lessen from last year’s $4.7 billion deficit to this current year’s deficit of $1.5 billion. The trade deficit reflects Sudan’s import commodities exceeding its exports.

Amid growing concerns of economic and food insecurity in the region, as well as the political crisis currently embroiled in Sudan, the United Nation’s Secretary-General António Guterres stated in a report on September 2 that Sudan is at risk of being “constrained economically” and this will likely “deter investors”.

Sudan is one of the largest producers of gold in Africa, however production is often driven by unregulated, artisanal (individual subsistence) mining, and routine gold smuggling across international borders is a constant problem.

It is estimated that between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of Sudan’s gold is smuggled out of the country, with proceeds frequently used to finance the internal conflict.

Source: Radio Dabanga

The body of child 13-year-old boy who disappeared on Friday after paying for a seat on a donkey cart was found in Wadi Beleil on Sunday. In Nyala, a 48-year-old mother of four was killed instantly, allegedly by a stray police bullet. A Wadi Salih farmer is in hospital in Nyala after a savage assault, reportedly at the hands of a herder.

Awatif Abdelrahman, a resident of El Salam camp for the displaced in Beleil, east of Nyala, capital of South Darfur, told Radio Dabanga that Adam Zakaria (13) disappeared on Friday after paying for a seat on a donkey cart driven by unknown persons. She said that the cart had not been found yet and the investigation into the circumstances is ongoing.

In Nyala, mother of four Rugaya Sharaf (48), died instantly when she was hit in the head by a stray bullet at the city’s bus station, allegedly fired by a policemen in pursuit of a suspected drug trafficker.

Witnesses said that the policemen opened fire after the suspect threatened him. Sharaf, who was passing by, was killed instantly.

Farmer Mohamed Abdeljabbar sustained multiple injuries in an assault by a herder on his farm near Mukjar in Wadi Salih, Central Darfur, on Sunday.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a relative of the victim reported that the herder beat the farmer, injuring him in the head and limbs.

Abdeljabbar was transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital, a report of the accident was filed with the Mukjar police, and the alleged perpetrator handed himself over to the police.

Ed El Fursan

The authorities in Ed El Fursan, South Darfur, reported that calm has returned to the Amsheitir area, 20 km southwest of Ed El Fursan town, after tensions over the killing of three people due to a dispute over a goat.

Mohamed Ishag, the director of Ed El Fursan locality, said that the police arrested the killer and his accomplices. The Security Committee sent police reinforcements, as a precaution for any clashes between the various communities that might result from the incident.

In North Darfur, sources reported that the Saraf Omra police department has detained a policeman in connection with the killing of Degel Adam while he was being held in police custody on Friday.

The results of the autopsy in the El Geneina Teaching Hospital proved that Degel died as a result of torture.

Dagal’s family refused to autopsy him at Saraf Omra Rural Hospital and demanded that the body be transferred to the morgue of the El Geneina Hospital.

Fire

A child died in a fire that broke out in Buram, South Darfur, on Sunday, and the fire caused property losses.

People denounced the absence of the firefighting police from the event. The director of Buram locality, Adam Mukhtar, called on the South Darfur government and civil defence force to maintain the fire engine in the locality. Most of the houses in Buram have thatched roofs and walls, which are often exposed to frequent fires with the advent of the summer season.

Fires that broke out in Mershing and Manawashi in South Darfur destroyed more than 80 homes in two weeks this February.

Hammad Ishag, Sheikh of the Manawashi camp for displaced people, told Radio Dabanga that the fires destroyed 13 homes in the camp and 66 houses in Niteaga, in addition to huge property losses, including 300 sacks of beans and other crops.

In El Safaa in El Taweisha, North Darfur, a fire broke out on Sunday evening, destroying 13 houses, agricultural crops and local building materials.

Eyewitnesses explained that heavy winds contributed to the spread of the fire, calling on the government authorities to provide shelter, food and aid for those affected.

People living in Hejeir Tono in Beleil in South Darfur demand replanning of the area and widening of the main streets in order to avoid the recurring fires every year, in light of the fires that broke out during the past two weeks and destroyed more than 150 homes and led to huge losses of property.

Source: Radio Dabanga