00:00Hello and welcome to Ion Africa, I'm Clarisse Fortuné and these are the stories making
00:06headlines across the continent.
00:08They were demanding action against a wave of femicides in Kenya, but hundreds of women
00:13were met by tear gas fired by police.
00:16At least three people were arrested.
00:20Uganda's main opposition leader will stay in prison for Christmas.
00:23Kitsa Besidje's trial has been postponed to next year.
00:26She's accused of threatening national security.
00:31And to the Gambia, where some residents can't get access to health care or to employment
00:35just because they were born Ugandan parents, we'll take you to this fishing village called
00:40Ghanatown.
00:45Stop killing women, the chants of hundreds of women who took to the streets of Nairobi
00:49to protest against femicides and to demand action.
00:53But things quickly turned tense when Kenyan police fired tear gas.
00:57At least three people were arrested, including Amnesty's Kenya's director.
01:01Amnesty and three other organisations have condemned the police response, calling the
01:05protest a courageous stand against the ongoing killings of women.
01:09Our Kenya correspondent Olivia Bizot has the details.
01:14Kenyan police didn't even give the women five minutes before breaking up the protest against
01:19gender-based violence.
01:21They barely had enough time to display their Stop Killing Us posters before the tear gas
01:26was unleashed.
01:27Now, the march was meant to wrap up the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence,
01:32bringing together women, human rights activists and allies.
01:36Instead, it was met with arrests and police violence.
01:40Earlier, our team spoke to some of the protesters who were there, trying to make their voices
01:45heard.
01:47We are unarmed.
01:50We want them to stop killing women.
01:53This is a constitutional right.
01:54We are supposed to be here and we are not leaving.
01:57We came here for a reason and they're throwing tear gas all over.
02:01Women are dispersed all over.
02:03I'm assuming they're here to offer protection, to protest and not to throw tear gas at them
02:10and chase them away.
02:11Because they already knew that this was going to happen.
02:12It's an organized march, so it's like something that sprang out of nowhere.
02:17A few weeks ago, President William Ruto voiced his support for gender protesters, pledging
02:22to stand with them in the fight against gender-based violence.
02:26But after today's violent crackdown, it's hard to ignore the gap between his words and
02:32what's actually happening on the ground.
02:35Between August and October of this year, at least 97 women were killed in femicides across
02:41Kenya.
02:42It's an alarming reminder of just how urgent this issue really is.
02:49More than 120 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in two days in Sudan bombardments
02:54as the conflict between the army and RSF intensifies.
02:58The army has stepped up air strikes in half of the country that the RSF controls, while
03:02the RSF has staged raids on villages and intense artillery strikes.
03:07Both have targeted densely populated civilian areas.
03:11On Monday, the Sudanese army's air strike hit Kabiya, a town about 100 kilometers west
03:18of Al-Fashir, the state capital that has been under siege from the paramilitary Rapid Support
03:23Forces.
03:27In Uganda, Kisa Besije's trial has been postponed to January 7th next year.
03:32The opposition leader is accused of threatening national security.
03:35His supporters are demanding his immediate release following his controversial abduction
03:39in Kenya last month.
03:41Besije and his close aide have now been imprisoned for nearly a month and he'll most likely
03:45spend Christmas imprisoned until next year.
03:48Details from the region, Clément Diorama.
03:53Ugandan opposition leader Kisa Besije was supposed to appear before a military court
03:59this Tuesday, but the hearing was postponed because his lead counsel, a former Kenyan
04:04minister of justice, was not authorized to represent clients in Uganda.
04:09Besije faces charges of threatening national security and illegal possession of firearms.
04:14He was arrested by Ugandan agents during a visit to neighbouring Kenya in November and
04:19has been detained for nearly a month since.
04:22A team of 40 lawyers is working on his release, with proceedings now set to resume on January 7th.
04:29On Monday, a group of about 10 opposition leaders in Uganda gathered at the national
04:34parliament to call for his release and an end to the trial of civilians in military
04:39courts within the country.
04:40Besije's legal team has also filed a lawsuit for extra-territorial abduction against the
04:47Kenyan and Ugandan governments at the East African Court of Justice.
04:53The World Health Organization chief said that 10 early samples from patients in Democratic
04:58Republic of Congo suffering from a mystery illness has tested positive for malaria, an
05:04outbreak of what has been dubbed disease X has killed dozens in the Democratic Republic
05:09of Congo.
05:10The deaths occurred in the Penzi health zone of Quango province.
05:14Primary symptoms include fever, headache, cough and difficulty breathing.
05:19But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus does not rule out other concurrent diseases.
05:25Less than two weeks ago, WHO was informed of an undiagnosed disease in the Democratic
05:31Republic of the Congo that has now caused 416 reported cases and 31 deaths.
05:40Most of the cases and deaths are in children under 14 years of age in the district of Penzi
05:46in the western Quango province of DRC.
05:51Of the 12 initial samples collected, 10 tested positive for malaria, although it's possible
05:58that more than one disease is involved.
06:03Further samples will be collected and tested to determine the exact cause or cause.
06:13Zambia's top court has barred former president Edgar Lungu from standing for re-election
06:17in 2026.
06:19The constitutional court ruled that the politician had already served the maximum two terms allowed
06:25by law.
06:26Lungu was first elected president in January 2015 to serve the remaining 20 months of his
06:32predecessor's term.
06:33President Michael Satter had died in office in October 2014.
06:37Lungu argues that this should not count as he did not serve a full five-year term.
06:44But this candidate was able to reclaim the top seat.
06:47Again, as opposition leader, John Mahama has won the country's election.
06:51He promised a new beginning in spite of the job ahead of him.
06:54This election comes amid the worst economic crisis in a generation.
06:58Let's listen to the president-elect.
06:59The journey is not going to be easy, my brothers and sisters, because the outgoing government
07:10has plunged our dear nation into an abyss.
07:16However, we are determined to work together with you to build the Ghana we want.
07:25I promise you that I will assemble and lead a government that will carry the weight of
07:32those hopes and dreams, whether you voted for me or not, because every victory is a
07:39victory for the people, all of the people.
07:45Ghana's new president-elect there.
07:48And from Ghana to The Gambia, where many residents of a coastal fishing village called Ghanatown
07:54are stuck in a legal limbo.
07:56Though they were born and grew up in and now live in The Gambia, they have been unable
08:02to get citizenship because their parents are from Ghana, which makes it difficult to access
08:07health care or formal employment, or even to travel.
08:10Laurent Bersecher has more on the story.
08:15Nestled on the Gambian coastline, this small fishing village is officially known as Ghanatown,
08:22a reference to the Ghanaian migrants who settled here in the late 1950s and whose descendants
08:28are still waiting to obtain Gambian citizenship.
08:32As I said, even if you are a Ghanaian born in The Gambia, you are still a foreigner.
08:39Just like their elders who arrived over 60 years ago, Ghanatown residents mostly make
08:44a living through fishing.
08:46Without official documents, it's impossible for them to apply for a job or even to go
08:51seek opportunities abroad.
08:54I had a scholarship to study in India.
08:56Whenever I go to the immigration department, they say I'm a Ghanaian, I'm from Ghanatown.
09:00So they deny me from having a passport.
09:03Still now I'm here, I couldn't get a passport.
09:06In order to obtain Gambian citizenship, one must be born in the country to at least one
09:11Gambian parent.
09:13This means Ghanatown residents, who are also unable to claim Ghanaian passports, are essentially
09:19stateless and are forced to live on the margins of society.
09:23Hoping to tackle the issue, the UN and The Gambia's Commission for Refugees recently
09:28carried out a series of interviews in the small fishing village.
09:33This assessment is geared towards establishing facts concerning what are some of the challenges
09:39they face when it comes to nationality, what are some of the reforms that will be needed
09:47in order to address the issue of people of Ghanatown.
09:52The Commission will now present its findings and recommendations to Parliament.
09:57Among its proposed solutions, reforming nationality requirements to allow Ghanatown residents
10:03to obtain Gambian citizenship.
10:08Well, not all is doom and gloom.
10:10Parts of Lagos has been transformed into a winter wonderland with dazzling bright lights.
10:16As you can see, ahead of a holiday in an Algerian city is already in a Christmas spirit.
10:21The festive illumination to bring a much-needed respite to the residents.
10:25A way to forget, even for a little moment, the economic hardships.
10:29And this Christmas lights display has become a tradition that residents are said to look
10:34forward to every year.
10:38And this festive moment to conclude our edition of Iron Africa.
10:42Thank you for watching and stay tuned to France 24 for more news.
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