NAIROBI _ Kenya’s police chief ordered an internal investigation on Tuesday a day after officers were seen viciously beating an unresponsive fallen protester as they broke up demonstrations.
Police fired tear gas and beat opposition demonstrators with truncheons on Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission in Nairobi.
Some of the demonstrators, who were demanding the dissolution of the commission, threw stones at police.
“I condemn the lawlessness visited on the public by rioters yesterday and an internal inquiry is underway to determine whether any police officer broke any law while quelling the riots,” Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet told reporters.
A video of the incident shows a man in a green sweatshirt running from police before falling to the ground. Three officers then take turns striking him with batons and kicking his motionless body as it lies slumped on the curb.
Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) by police wearing body armour and carrying shields. There have been several such protests in recent weeks.
“The officers who have violated the rights of citizens by their brutality must face both disciplinary process and criminal prosecution,” said Isaac Okero, president of the Law Society of Kenya, condemning the “bludgeoning of an apparently unconscious and unresponsive, unarmed man”.
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8 Fastest Growing Economies In Africa In 2016
African economies have experienced high growth in recent years as the continent attracted investors due to its vast natural resources and growing middle class. Infrastructural and technological developments have also opened up the continent to the rest of the world.
Despite a recent slowdown in some economies, including Nigeria and South Africa, due to a commodities price slump globally, African countries are still among the fastest growing economies in the world in 2016.
Below are eight African economies that are expected to maintain high growth rates this year.
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The controversial plan to give Kuwait’s stateless people citizenship of a tiny, poor African island
Comoros, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is one of the smallest countries in Africa.
Excluding the contested island of Mayotte, the Comoros archipelago covers about 1,650 square kilometres, roughly one and a half times as big as Hong Kong.
Fewer than a million people live on the islands, made up of a variety of ethnicities that reflect the nation’s location at a historical crossroads.
But if a new plan gets the go-ahead, Comoros may gain significantly more people – by offering “economic citizenship” to thousands, if not many more, of stateless people from Kuwait.
And many experts are not so sure this is a good thing.
Kenya to investigate police “brutality’ at protest
NAIROBI _ Kenya’s police chief ordered an internal investigation on Tuesday a day after officers were seen viciously beating an unresponsive fallen protester as they broke up demonstrations.
Police fired tear gas and beat opposition demonstrators with truncheons on Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission in Nairobi.
Some of the demonstrators, who were demanding the dissolution of the commission, threw stones at police.
“I condemn the lawlessness visited on the public by rioters yesterday and an internal inquiry is underway to determine whether any police officer broke any law while quelling the riots,” Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet told reporters.
A video of the incident shows a man in a green sweatshirt running from police before falling to the ground. Three officers then take turns striking him with batons and kicking his motionless body as it lies slumped on the curb.
Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) by police wearing body armour and carrying shields. There have been several such protests in recent weeks.
“The officers who have violated the rights of citizens by their brutality must face both disciplinary process and criminal prosecution,” said Isaac Okero, president of the Law Society of Kenya, condemning the “bludgeoning of an apparently unconscious and unresponsive, unarmed man”.
Source
WHO calls emergency meeting on yellow fever outbreak in Angola
GENEVA – The World Health Organisation will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday on the yellow fever outbreak that has hit hardest in Angola but risks spreading further if vaccinations are not ramped up.
The UN agency often convenes such meetings before the declaration of an international health emergency, as happened amid the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the current surge in neurological disorders linked to the spread of Zika virus in the Americas.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told AFP the meeting had been called to underscore the severity of the yellow fever outbreak and to re-emphasise the need for mass vaccination against the viral disease.
As of May 12, Angola had reported 2,267 suspected yellow fever cases and 293 deaths in an outbreak that began in December and is most heavily concentrated in the capital, Luanda.
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