Category: #newsinsouthafrica

Sudanese protesters built burning barricades on Tuesday night as they took to the streets for a second day in protest against a military takeover that saw the detention of several civilian ministers and politicians.

Monday’s military takeover brought a halt to Sudan’s transition to democracy, two years after a popular uprising toppled long-ruling Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

Sudan’s armed forces chief defended the military’s seizure of power, saying he had ousted the government to avoid civil war, while protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against the takeover after a day of deadly clashes.

Demonstrators on the streets of Khartoum said they were blocking roads in protests they had organised themselves, in the absence of a political leadership.

They added that a mass protest against the military takeover was scheduled for October 30.

Speaking at his first news conference since announcing the takeover on Tuesday, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army had no choice but to sideline politicians who were inciting against the armed forces.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was arrested on Monday along with other members of his Cabinet, had not been harmed and had been brought to Burhan’s own home, the general said.

Later on Tuesday, a source close to Hamdok said he and his wife were at their home and under tight security.

Family sources said they were unable to reach Hamdok or his wife by phone.

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BioNTech says it has signed an agreement with the Rwandan government and Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal on the construction of a first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Africa starting in mid-2022.

This is to help the continent ease health inequalities compared to other world regions.

In a statement, BioNTech, which developed the western world’s most widely used COVID-19 shots with partner Pfizer, says it will initially build a production line with 50 million doses annual capacity, which could be also used for COVID-19 vaccines.

This will be branched out into a wider production network making several hundreds of million mRNA vaccine doses per yea with the goal to transfer ownership and know-how to partners on the continent.

The firm says the goal is to develop vaccines in the African Union and to establish sustainable vaccine production capabilities to jointly improve medical care in Africa.

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Telecommunications were interrupted in Sudan, a Reuters witness said on Tuesday, a day after the country’s military seized power in a coup and a health ministry official said seven people were killed in clashes between soldiers and street protesters.

There was no official confirmation of the communications interruption. A Reuters witness said internet and phone services were severely limited.

Life is at a standstill in the capital Khartoum, where shops and services are closed and some roads are still blocked by the military after a mostly quiet night.

The leader of the takeover, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dissolved the military-civilian Sovereign Council that had been established to guide the country to democracy following the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

Burhan announced a state of emergency, saying the armed forces needed to protect safety and security. He promised to hold elections in July 2023 and hand over to an elected civilian government then.

Events in Sudan mirror those in several other Arab countries, where the military has consolidated its grip following popular uprisings.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an activist coalition in the uprising against Bashir, has called for a strike. The call for a general strike could be heard from the loudspeakers of mosques in Khartoum.

The Sudan information ministry, which is still loyal to ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, said on its Facebook page the transitional constitution gives only the prime minister the right to declare a state of emergency and that the military’s actions are a crime. Hamdok is still the legitimate transitional authority, it said.

Hamdok, an economist and former senior UN official, was detained and taken to an undisclosed location after refusing to issue a statement in support of the takeover, the information ministry said.

The governments of the United States, UK and Norway condemned the coup in Sudan, saying they were deeply concerned about the situation in the country.

They called on security forces to release those who were detained unlawfully, according to a joint statement released by the US State Department.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned the ongoing military coup in Sudan and called for the immediate release of political detainees, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

A tweet from Guterres condemned the military’s illegal power grab and called for the full respect of the country’s constitutional charter in order to protect the hard-won political transition in the country.

United Nations condemns coup in Sudan:

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