KENYA

Cyber-attack on eCitizen platform cause of outage, says Owalo

The downtime being experienced on the eCitizen portal has been caused by hackers attempting to jam the portal through an overload of data requests, ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo has revealed. Speaking during a morning show with a local radio station on Thursday morning, the CS said that no personal data had been accessed or lost and that every effort was being made to restore normalcy.

The kind of hacking experienced on the eCitizen portal is known as a Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which disrupts a network, server or website by flooding it with meaningless internet traffic to prevent legitimate users from accessing services.

(Business Daily)

RWANDA

Rwanda ‘regrets’ refusal to approve ambassador to Belgium

While any country has the right to accept or refuse an appointed envoy’s letters of credence, it would be “unacceptable and illogical” for Belgium to reject the endorsement of Amb.Vincent Karega due to pressure from the DR Congo government as well as propaganda from genocide negationist organisations and activists, analysts told The New Times.

Joseph Mutaboba, a former diplomat and political analyst, said that what is happening is further proof that Rwanda is yet again a victim of an international conspiracy in a “failing multilateralism.” 

(The New Times)

TANZANIA

African leaders commit to retaining human capital

African leaders have expressed their commitment to ensure the continent retains human capital and discourage brain drain. They made commitments during the African Human Capital Heads of State Summit held at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday.

In the summit discussion panel that involved President Samia Suluhu Hassan and various leaders from African countries, the leaders discussed ways of improving the education sector, so as to invest in human capital in the continent. 

(Daily News)

SOMALIA

Somalia and Serbia enter deal to improve security sector

In a move aimed at enhancing security in Somalia, the Federal Government of Somalia has entered a deal with the government of Serbia to work together in improving the security sector.

The deal was struck during a meeting between Somali Police Commissioner Gen. Sulub Ahmed Firin and Serbia’s interior minister and Chief of Police Bratislav Gašić in Belgrade, Serbia.

The leaders discussed avenues of cooperation in counter-terrorism, anti-corruption, cross-border crime, and criminal investigation departments.

As part of this cooperation, 44 Somali police officers will soon receive training in Serbia, adding to a growing number of Somali security forces who have received training in the country, including the Somali presidential palace guards.

(Radio Dalsan)

UGANDA

Basalirwa offers to help resolve FDC fights

Asuman Basalirwa, the President of the Justice Forum-Jeema political party and Member of Parliament for Bugiri Municipality has offered to mediate a conflict between Forum for Democratic Change-FDC senior leaders.

A conflict in the FDC spiralled into public view last week after a section of senior leaders led by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, the spokesperson accused the President of the party Patrick Oboi Amuriat and Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi of accepting President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s money that was allegedly used during the 2021 presidential election. 

(The Independent)

ETHIOPIA

Ethio-South Africa experts meetings kicks off in Addis Ababa

In his opening remarks, the Director-General of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Fisseha Shawl stated Ethiopia and South Africa enjoy long-standing diplomatic relations that date back to the days of the anti-apartheid movement in the southern African nation. 

Ethiopia is keen on further strengthening the ties, the Director-General underscored. 

He said the experts’ deliberations would allow them to reflect on the existing areas of cooperation and to further explore new areas of possible cooperation. 

(ENA)

SUDAN

UK targets Russia’s Wagner group in new Sudan sanctions

The British government has selected five new targets for sanctions in Sudan, including three companies that they allege are a front for the Russian Wagner Group. According to an official communique last week by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office, they identified a web of mining and investment companies, all inextricably linked to one another.

Andrei Sergeevich Mandel was identified as a target for sanctions for his role as Director-General of M-Invest. Both M-Invest and Mandel are under intense scrutiny for their reported responsibility in undermining Sudan’s peace and security. 

(Dabanga Sudan)