Two Thirds of Benin Are Underwater Due to Months of Heavy Rain.

October 24, 2010

Benin –

            The small West African nation of Benin has been hit with the worst flooding since the 1960’s. Months of intense rain have left more than two thirds of the extremely poor nation underwater and helpless. Much of the country is made up of rural villages that have no modern technology what so ever. Almost 700,000 people have been affected according to the estimates done by the UN refugee agency. Areas that were not previously vulnerable to flooding have likely been effected and many entire villages have been completely whipped out.

Amidst the after math there are several major concerns. The first is the health factor; about 800 cases of cholera have been reported and each day this number drastically rises, with about 100 more everyday. The water that has now engulfed these villages and trapped villagers on their roofs is very contaminated, due to the lack of swage systems in the area.  Clean water for drinking and bathing is also needed immediately. The worst part of this is that the rain is not supposed to let up for some time according to meteorologists interviewed by the BBC.

There is help on the way, medical supplies, and shelter will be flown in from Denmark in the coming days. This disaster has proved to be a trying tine for the small nations infrastructure that will be heavily tested as so many people need to utilize the few shelters, hospitals, and clinics that the country has.

Power Sharing In Zimbabwe Facing Some Difficulties

Zimbabwe-

Zanu-PF vs MDC

For the last 18 months there has been a power sharing agreement between the 2 major political groups in Zimbabwe. Between the infamous Robert Mugabe, president, and the leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party, and Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s new prime minister and the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Mugabe brought on Morgan Tsvangirai to help him rebuild his legacy which has been lost due to his power abuse and corruption. Morgan Tsvangirai had serious doubts about taking the job and working with what he considered a horrid leader. However things seemed to be going fairly smoothly for nearly 178 months until recently.

The two leaders were supposed to pick members to be on a 15 person regional organization that would help negotiate between the two parties. This organization was supposed to be up and running by September 1^st and as of now very little has been done. However it’s what little Mugabe has done that has made the prime minister so mad. One of the main principals of the organization was that the representatives would be from both parties and equally selected by both leaders. Mugabe went ahead and selected leaders that were entirely from his Zanu-PF party without consulting anyone. 

Morgan Tsvangirai was so irritated by this that according to the Economist, made remarks saying “war between those who believe in freedom and democracy and those who seek to maintain and abuse privilege is immanent”. He has even asked citizens of Zimbabwe and foreign governments not to recognize the appointments made by Mugabe. The only comment Mugabe has made is that fresh elections are needed and that the prime ministers 2 year term is almost up.

Mining Ban In Nigeria

Nigeria –

The Nigerian government has temporarily banned mining as the number of lead poisoning cases rapidly increase. Throughout northern Nigerian towns, soil that was extracted from gold mines was often carelessly dumped near water sources and areas where children played causing 18,000 known cases of lead poisoning and 400 child deaths.

The small village of Anka in Northern Nigeria was the first site found to have contaminated soil spread throughout the village. Shortly after many more sites where identified, after this discovery in June 2010 the government banned gold-mining in all of Zamfara, the northern city state home to Anka and other small villages like it. However the ban was largely ignored by most villagers and small time mining operations who make a meager living off  mining for minerals. Lead poisoning is estimated to have infected 18,000 people, and has killed 200 children in a single month. Lead poisoning causes lowered IQ, learning difficulties, behavioural disorders, high blood pressure, kidney damage, anaemia, muscle weakness, infertility in men and stillbirths in women, and when young children are heavy exposed if often leads to death.

The UN is now conducting water tests throughout mining areas in Nigeria. The results have been shocking as nearly all public-drinking wells tested well above the World Health Organization standards. Even more shocking is that privately owned wells tested even higher. Meaning that the full extent of the poisoning and actual numbers of those affected is not yet known. Despite the seriousness the UN has said that for the government to ban mining all together is not the best decision for the developing nation. 

A New Country In Africa

Sudan-

Sudan has been another area of extreme violence in Africa. The northern part of sudan is controlled by Muslims who have tried to impose there laws and religion on the mostly black Christian African in the south. This is essentially what caused Africa longest cicil war which ended in 2005 and had staggering causality rates of almost 2.5 million people, and displaced many more millions. The two sides formed the CPA (comprehensive Peace agreement) the terms of the agreement are that a new party, the SPLM ( Sudan people's liberation movement) will control the south led by President Omar al -Bashir, along with the right to succeed from the rest of Sudan. 

In early January of this year souther sudan will take a vote on whether or not to break away from sudan and form a new country. It is expected that they will vote to do so and if so, Africa will have a fresh new country called South Sudan. The vote is such a sure thing that the region has already started to go ahead and build state of the art (for the region) offices for its new government. The new capital will be Juba, home to 8 million souther Sudan people. Still there is a lot of concern over how well the new country would function in coming years and also as to whether  or not the northerners will abide by this agreement and let the region proceed with the vote.