Welcome to the Development Diaries weekly roundup of top African stories for Sunday, 22 October, 2023.

Last week, we reported the third anniversary of the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria and the persistent cases of police brutality in the country, Sheikh Gumi’s reckless comments about the FCT minister, latest education barriers in Kenya, how Africa should respond to poverty, regulating artificial intelligence in Africa, enforced disappearance and violation of the rights of activist Youba Siby in Mauritania among other top stories.

Three Years after #EndSARS, Police Brutality Persists

Three years after the #EndSARS youth-led protests against police brutality in Nigeria, 15 protesters are still being arbitrarily detained by the police, according to Amnesty International. Most of these protesters are being detained without trial in the Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and the Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos. Read more

Sheikh Gumi and ‘Satanic’ Wike: Our Concerns

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s labelling of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, as ‘Satanic’ is reckless. Sheikh Gumi, in a video sermon posted on his official Facebook page, labelled Wike as ‘Satan’ for receiving the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria in his office in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Read more

Kenya: Children with Disabilities Face Education Barriers

Many children with disabilities in Kenya still lack access to school, a new report by the country’s Ministry of Labour shows. In the report, Support Needs Assessment for Persons with Disabilities and their Primary Caregivers 2022, the ministry noted that more than half (55 percent) of children with disabilities aged six to 13 years were out of school due to severe disabilities. Read more

Zimbabwe: IOM Launches Migrants Support Initiative

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Zimbabwe, with the support of Koica, launched a project to support returning migrants and host communities. Over 126,000 migrant returnees are expected to benefit from the initiative. Read more

Sudan: MSF Raises Alarm over Blocked Surgical Supplies

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), revealed that war victims in need of life-saving surgical assistance at the Bashair Teaching Hospital in South Khartoum, Sudan, are now at risk following a shortage of surgical materials. The hospital, currently run by MSF in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Health and volunteers, was running out of surgical supplies due to a three-week blockade of medical supplies by the military. Read more

Liberia: CSOs List Election Concerns as Citizens Await Results

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Liberia raised concerns over the slow pace of election result counting and reporting by the National Election Commission (NEC) as the country awaits the announcement of the winner of the 10 October polls. The coalition highlighted multiple post-election challenges faced despite acknowledging the successful and peaceful participation of Liberians in the electoral process. Read more

Poverty Eradication Day: What Africa Must Do

Despite significant economic growth and progress in various sectors, many Africans continue to live in extreme poverty. Read more

Artificial Intelligence and Regulation in Africa

Regulations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) should be on the radar of African countries following the recent attempt to impersonate the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU). The African Union Commission became the victim of cybercrime after fraudsters deployed AI to impersonate Moussa Faki. Read more

Nigeria: What New NIPOST Boss Must Address

The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Tola Odeyemi, promised to ensure that the agency develops into a world-class e-commerce and logistics hub. Development Diaries reports that Odeyemi also promised to leverage technology and make NIPOST logistics, e-commerce, and other arms of the agency efficient. Read more

Mauritania: Activist Siby Faces Rights Violation

Mauritania’s human rights record came under scrutiny following the enforced disappearance and violation of the rights of activist Youba Siby. Siby, who was arrested in Senegal on 14 September, 2023, was a victim of enforced disappearance for 20 days, while the government failed to provide any information as to his fate or whereabouts. Read more

That is the roundup of some stories that made headlines last week. More headlines are available on Development Diaries.