Prof Murwira. Photo The Herald

Zimbabwe and South Sudan are working towards strengthening ties in the education sector, with the two countries expected to sign another cooperation agreement after the Government agreed to release certificates of Sudanese nationals, who graduated from different local universities.

The certificates had been withheld for various reasons.

Last Friday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira met South Sudan Higher Education Minister, Gabriel Changson Chang, to map how the two countries could strengthen ties in the education sector.

In the meeting, Mr Changson Chang expressed commitment to fulfilling the agreement signed between the two countries.

Speaking at the certificates handover ceremony, Prof Murwira said Harare will continue engaging Juba in areas of enhancing education.

“As you know, we have a sacrosanct relationship with South Sudan,” he said. “We struggled together and we are still struggling together to make sure that our continent is emancipated from poverty, oppression, disease, so that we have an Africa that is full of hope. 

“Hope alone is not enough, it has to be filled by capability.” 

Prof Murwira urged the South Sudan students who received their certificates to fully utilise the knowledge they received Zimbabwe.

“Go there and do things out there,” he said. “We need courage and focus as we move this country forward. It needs a spirit of a never die.

“This is why in this country we have revamped our education from a three mission education of research, teaching and community engagement to a five mission education type which talks about teaching research, community engagement, innovation and industrialisation.” 

Minister Changson Chang thanked the Zimbabwean Government for releasing the certificates and made an undertaking to fulfil what they agreed to.

He extended an invitation to Prof Murwira to visit South Sudan so that they explore other areas of cooperation in the education sector.

“The relationship will not stop from here,” said Mr Changson Chang. “The next step is to invite Prof Murwira and his team to South Sudan. While in South Sudan, you will see what we have. We will have cooperation agreement and we plan to make a draft, share it with him and he will put his input so that by the time he comes to South Sudan it will be ready for signature.

“We will also make sure that it will not break on its way. We will also want to benefit as a Ministry and as a country from your education system, so we would like to compare your governing documents and how your universities do their work. We would like also to exchange views on programmes. 

“We would like to say thank you for what we did within a short period of time.” 

The handover ceremony was also attended by South Sudan Head of Delegation to Zimbabwe Ambassador Gabriel Riak. - Nyore Madzianike, The Herald

Photo International Organization for Migration

The government has banned flights to and from India following a sudden increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths in the Asian country.

India has so far recorded more than 18 million cases of COVID-19 with over 218,000 deaths. The country is also in a crisis with an acute shortage of essential supplies such as oxygen and ventilators for the overflowing critical cases to health facilities. Today, Sunday India recorded another 3,072 new coronavirus deaths and 350,715 new cases. 

Health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng told journalists on Friday that Uganda has so far recorded one case of the Indian strain of the COVID-19 virus that is feared to be lethal. She said starting May 1, only those Ugandan nationals will be allowed back in the country. 

The ban also affects travelers that have traveled through India in the last 14 days. For travelers arriving from India Aceng says they are expected to have a negative PCR COVID-19 test certificate conducted 120 hours from the time of sample collection and will undergo another mandatory PCR test on arrival.

Once found positive, Aceng says they will be isolated at their own cost in a designated hotel whereas those that test negative will undergo self-quarantine at their residences. The only exempted flights from the ban are cargo flights, technical stops where travelers don’t leave the flight and operations related to humanitarian work, medical evacuation, or approved diplomatic flights.  

Currently, there are five circulating strains of coronavirus in Uganda including the Ugandan strain which has already been seen in 34 other countries. The other strains include the South African, Nigerian and the one from the United Kingdom. 

Considering these circulating strains, the ministry of Health has also recommended that travelers coming from UK, United Arab Emirates, the US, Turkey, South Africa, South Sudan, and Tanzania which countries they named category two should consider postponing non-essential travel to Uganda.  

She however noted that travelers who have been fully vaccinated don’t need to test on arrival in the country. Currently, while India has vaccinated 11 per cent of its entire population, Uganda has only vaccinated 0.7 per cent of the population with the first jab in an exercise that is only picking up now with fears of resurging infection.

Dr. Yonas  Tegegn Woldermariam, the World Health Organization country representative said even with such small vaccination figures Uganda is among the countries performing well as far as uptake in Africa is concerned. He urged countries not to be worried about the circulating news of vaccine expiries noting that countries that have destroyed or returned their jabs have only wasted them. - URN/The Observer

Police officers patrol at the Lamu Port following the arrival of the first batch of equipment on April 28, 2021. Photo KEVIN ODIT/NMG

Officials will start testing operations of the new Lamu port at the end of next month ahead of the June 15 commissioning.

The first batch of equipment including low load trailers, extension cargo handlers and trailers to be used at the multibillion-shilling facility arrived at the port on Wednesday.

The second batch including rubber tyred gantries, forklift and utility vans are expected by mid-next month.

Lamu Port general manager Abdullahi Samatar said testing of the equipment will begin on May 20 before the first vessel from Maersk makes a maiden call to the facility.

“We have complied with all port requirements and have temporary International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code to use in our berth number one,” said Mr Samatar.

The viability of the port, which has seen the first three berths completed at Sh5.1 billion ($48 million) has been put into question over low demand as it was expected to attract transshipment business, mainly from Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The port is a key part of the wider Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor, which is being implemented at a total cost of Sh2.5 trillion ($24 billion).

Mr Samatar sought to allay fears the port could become a white elephant project, saying a number of shipping lines have visited the port and were willing to use the facility

Commissioning of the port has been delayed thrice over the past two years on funding shortages and operationalisation of all three berths is likely to be pushed to end of the year as authorities seek at least Sh9.5 billion for the purchase of basic equipment to run the berths.

To make berth 2 and 3 operational, there is a need for the full establishment of the port structure and acquisition of new equipment.

Due to constrained budget, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is transferring some equipment and staff from Port of Mombasa to Lamu.

According to an official document from KPA, 263 staff will be deployed to run the facility, the majority of them from Mombasa. - Anthony Kitimo, The EastAfrican