🔅 The Congo Floods: Devastation and Tragedy
Plus: 🛫 Trending African Destinations: Your 2023 Bucket List, 🇸🇩 Looters Make Polio Vaccines Unavailable in Sudan, 🇰🇪 Kenya's Protest Party Ends Early, ☕ And much more...
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CLIMATE CHANGE
The Congo Floods: Devastation and Tragedy
What happened in the Congo will go down in history as one of the deadliest natural disasters of recent times.
Over 400 people have been killed, more than 5,500 people remain unaccounted for, and the Red Cross estimates that 8,000 people are in need aid.
What happened?
Floods ripped through two riverside villages in the Congo’s South Kivu province, devastating homes, destroying crops, and washing away entire neighbourhoods.
The survivors are still trying to find their loved ones and are camping in the limited public buildings that remain intact.
There’s a shortage of sanitation and the penetrating smell of dead bodies in the air.
The government has donated blankets, food, and a few coffins, as well as money to a local clinic and around 200 affected families.
But there have been complaints that the dead have been thrown into mass graves, prompting the government to promise more dignified burials.
What was the cause?
It’s likely that the flooding is an early result of climate change. Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure means that many African countries are vulnerable to extreme weather, and this tragedy serves as a wake-up call.
Residents are understandably scared, and are asking for help to rehouse them away from the dangerous river.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
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🇸🇩 Looters Make Polio Vaccines Unavailable in Sudan | Looters have destroyed more than a million polio vaccines intended for children in the country. That’s a lot of kids who won’t be protected from the virus, which can cause paralysis and death. UNICEF, which was in the middle of a vaccination campaign, was among the agencies that reported the looting. Polio has been making a comeback in Africa since last year, with cases reported in Malawi, Mozambique, and Sudan. Other humanitarian facilities have also been targeted in the Sudan crisis, with the World Food Programme saying it lost $13-14 million worth of supplies.
🇰🇪 Kenya's Protest Party Ends Early | The anti-government protests shaking up Kenya for weeks have been put on pause. The opposition Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) alliance, led by Raila Odinga, has suspended this week’s protests, citing an agreement with President William Ruto's ruling Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) alliance. The agreement's details weren't released, but whatever it was, it was enough to get the opposition to stop their rallies. The protests had been going on since January, with thousands of Kenyans responding to Odinga's call to action against the high cost of living and alleged fraud in the election. Things got a bit tense at times, with police and protesters fighting, property getting torched, and using tear gas. The opposition had suspended the protests once before, when they agreed to talks with Ruto’s representatives, but they resumed after they felt the government wasn’t negotiating in good faith.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands.”
— Nigerian Proverb.