Around Africa This Past Week (03/04/16)
President Jacob Zuma on Friday apologised to South Africa but did not resign as was expected by some quarters of the South African political fray.
Shootings in Mogadishu claim 7
Seven people died in three shootings in the Somali capital on Saturday. Three intelligence officers were among those killed in the wave of violence that came after the USA confirmed an airstrike had killed Hassan Ali Dhoore, a senior al-Shabaab member on Thursday. A commander of al-Shabaab in Jannaale town, Qorilow is also suspected to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike on Friday. Two of the three shootings involved masked men and the third occurred when government security forces opened fire on a group of protesters. The security forces shooting killed three people and injured one. Somalia is one of the worst hit countries by al-Shabaab, a jihadist appendage of the famed al-Qaeda terrorist group.
A Year after the Garissa University Disaster
Saturday the 2nd of April marked a year after the Garissa University shootings which claimed 148 people. The victims of the al-Shabaab attack are still haunted by the massacre a year later while confidence in the government’ ability to protect citizens has waned off. The Garissa attacks came after the 2013 Westgate attacks which killed 67. With the terror group sporadically attacking the outer fringes of Kenya and hiding in the Bono forest, another strike is not a far-fetched prospect at all. There is no reason to feel safe. If anything, schools now seem to be recruiting grounds for terrorist groups. However, it is not all doom and gloom, Garissa and the greater Kenya are on a path to normalcy and though it will take time, there is hope yet.
