THIS WEEK

 

13: Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered the re-opening of all schools today. This is after he postponed the second term reopening until further notice due to the prevailing dire weather conditions. Infrastructures, including classrooms, dormitories, halls, toilets, latrines, fences and perimeter walls, in various schools had also been destroyed by the devastating floods leading to postponement of schools reopening.

 

13: Harry and Meghan end their three-day trip to Nigeria at the invitation of General Christopher Musa. The visit is primarily to promote the Invictus Games and comes after Harry met the Nigerian team and General Musa at last year's competition in Dusseldorf. They also attended a training session for charity organisation Nigeria: Unconquered, which collaborates with the Invictus Games, as well as a reception where military families will be honoured (Abuja).

 

13: The deputy chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdallah al-Lafi to meet the DRC’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Claude Gakosso, whose country chairs the African Union's High-Level Committee on the Libyan issue, the challenges and obstacles that have led to the postponement of the inclusive National Conference (Tripoli).

 

13-16: Africa’s Travel Indaba. The trade show showcases Africa’s travel and leisure tourism products and services.  There are 990 confirmed exhibitors from 26 African countries, including newcomers Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Guinea, and more than 1 000 buyers representing 36 countries (Durban).

 

14: Deadline for Malawi’s Director of Public Prosecutions to formally inform Parliament of the reasons that led to the decision to drop the charges against Vice-President Saulos Chilima as required by the Constitution. Chilima was detained in November 2022 on allegations that he accepted funds to influence the awarding of contracts to Xaviar Ltd and Malachitte FZE, two companies linked to UK businessman Zuneth Sattar.

 

15: President Cyril Ramaphossa will deliver the memorial lecture on the life of Elijah Barayi. The labour law lecture is organised by the Department of Labour in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg. Barayi was a trade union leader who sacrificed his life in the struggle for the dawn of peace, freedom and the building of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic society in South Africa (Johannessburg).

 

OTHER

 

* South African Cabinet Minister Zizi Kodwa has instructed government’s legal department to investigate legal steps to be taken against the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) for its controversial ‘burning flag’ television commercial. The DA released the commercial a week ago as part of its campaign for the 29 May national elections. It portrays a burning South African flag to symbolise the nation's deteriorating state and warning that “life will only get worse” under the ruling ANC.

 

* Consultations between Pretoria and the EU on the financially debilitating phytosanitary trade regulations imposed on SA citrus are set to take place before the World Trade Organisation (WTO). SA has declared a second dispute before the WTO after its citrus farmers have been at loggerheads with their European counterparts for the best part of a decade. The EU claims that two diseases – citrus black spot (CBS) and false codling moth (FCM) – threaten their orchards.

 

* Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into TotalEnergies to establish whether the energy giant can be charged with involuntary manslaughter linked to an Islamist militant attack on its facilities in Mozambique. It follows a legal complaint lodged by survivors and relatives of people who died in the attack. They accuse the company of failing to protect subcontractors and not adequately assisting with evacuations – claims the company categorically rejects.

 

* Applications are open for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in June. The flagship programme of the Young African Leaders Initiative, empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities, and local community engagement. The fellowship, which is in its 10th year, brings 25 to 35-year-old innovators and leaders from sub-saharan Africa to the US for training. The six-week programme will give participants the opportunity to interact with US leaders in business, government and non-profit organisations, and network with other young leaders from sub-saharan Africa and the US.