Foreigners will no longer be allowed to hold freehold land title deeds in Kenya, Lands, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has said.
Speaking at the Muyeye Health Centre in Malindi town during the handover of a Ksh 48 million maternity wing constructed by her ministry, Wahome directed that all freehold titles held by foreigners be surrendered and converted into 99-year leasehold titles.
The CS clarified that while the government has no intention of dispossessing foreigners of land they legally acquired, any freehold title deed held by a foreigner will no longer be valid for transactions.
“The Constitution of Kenya 2010 allows only Kenyans to hold freehold titles, while foreigners are restricted to leases of 99 years or less,” said Wahome.
“Therefore, I declare here in Malindi that those titles should not be transacted or used in land registries. If you are not a Kenyan, you cannot have a freehold title.”
She emphasized that the directive is not a declaration of hostility towards foreigners but rather an enforcement of constitutional provisions, noting that some individuals had been misled into acquiring freehold titles.
Wahome further warned corrupt land registry officials engaging in fraudulent dealings with land titles, particularly in the Coast region, to desist or face prosecution.
She underscored the government’s commitment to reclaiming any public or illegally acquired private land.
During the same event, Wahome announced the opening of a newly constructed land registry in Malindi, which will serve residents of Malindi and Magarini sub-counties, previously reliant on services in Kilifi town.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro, who was also present, pledged Ksh 45 million to equip the new maternity wing and unveiled plans to transform the Muyeye Health Centre into a women’s hospital.
“We will demolish the old buildings and replace them with modern facilities,” Mung’aro stated. “Once fully equipped, this facility will be renamed the Mekatilili wa Menza Memorial Women’s Hospital after public participation.”
The governor also announced plans to introduce a Geographic Information System (GIS) to monitor county projects and put rogue contractors and officials under strict scrutiny to prevent the implementation of fictitious projects.
The event was attended by Kilifi County Commissioner Josphat Biwott, Malindi MP Amina Laura Mnyazi and other leaders. By Beth Nyaga, KBC
Armed police near the scene of the London Bridge terror attack in 2017 (PA)
The UK is facing a ”smouldering” terror threat, a top Met officer has warned. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, who is senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, made the comment at a Scotland Yard briefing on Wednesday.
Describing the terror threat, she said: “I use the word smouldering really, because we have some really deep, dark hot spots, some pockets where we cannot leave the activity and the groups unattended, and we need to continue to maintain our focus on them to keep the threat at bay.”
The senior officer also revealed counter-terrorism police are seeing a rapid increase in the number of suspects fascinated with extreme violence, whose search histories are like “a pick and mix of horror”.
She said the youngest people in their caseload are children of 10 or 11. Ms Evans told journalists: “Becoming far more common and more prevalent is this rapidly increasing fascination with extreme violence and extreme content that we’re seeing throughout our case work.
“The type of material that we’re encountering, and my officers and staff are encountering in casework, is absolutely staggering and horrific. We have some really deep, dark hot spots, some pockets where we cannot leave the activity and the groups unattended Vicki Evans
“So we are seeing search histories which contain violence, misogyny, gore, extreme pornography, racism, fascination with mass violence, school massacres, incel, and sometimes that’s coupled with terrorist material.
“Sometimes it’s not, but what it absolutely is is a pick and mix of horror, horrific content.”
She added: “These sort of grotesque fascinations with violence and harmful views that we’re seeing are increasingly common.”
Investigators see a lot of young people accessing extreme material, which is “hugely worrying”, she said.
“We most definitely need to think differently about how we stop that conveyor belt of young people who are seeing and being exposed to this type of material, and unfortunately, sometimes then going on to commit horrific acts.”
Police and security services have stopped 43 late-stage terror plots since 2017, three in the last 12 months.
Some were “goal line saves”, Ms Evans said.
The most recent three attacks were two Islamist plots and one extreme right-wing, that were aimed at causing mass casualties.
Counter-terrorism police are reviewing their caseloads after events in Syria, Ms Evans added.
The group that has taken control of the country, HTS, remains banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK and expressing support for it is a crime.
Ms Evans said: “In light of events in Syria, I can absolutely confirm that we’re proactively reviewing our casework, proactively identifying whether there are any new risks in our system that have been inspired or committed by the events, and we’ll continue to do that.”
The caseload faced by counter-terrorism police linked to hostile state activity has risen by four or five times in the last few years, Ms Evans told reporters, so these investigations plus inquiries into war crimes make up about a fifth of their workload.
The head of MI5 Ken McCallum warned in October that Russia was intent on causing mayhem in the UK, while authorities had stopped 20 state-backed plots hatched by Iran in the UK since 2022.
Ms Evans said: “These state threats manifest themselves in increasingly aggressive and shameless tactics.
“They’re aimed at individuals. They’re aimed at our communities, businesses and sometimes even our democratic institutions, and we won’t tolerate this.”
She appealed to the public to be vigilant and to businesses to think about whether they are vulnerable to hostile state activity. By Margaret Davis and Michael Howie, The Standard
The Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Ms. Anita Kiki Gbeho, has released US$8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to support the multisectoral response to the cholera outbreak in six priority locations across the country: Renk, Malakal, Maban, Aweil East, Rubkona and Jamjang. “People in these high-risk locations face elevated risks due to significant population movement and limited access to critical health and sanitation services. This allocation will address their most urgent health and water, sanitation and hygiene needs to mitigate the impact of cholera,” explained the Humanitarian Coordinator.
The $8 million allocation by the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund comes at a critical time, prioritizing urgent multisectoral interventions in health, water, sanitation and hygiene, logistics and multisector refugee response in the six hotspot areas to curb the spread of cholera. The multisectoral response will focus on early detection, treatment, infection control measures, and the provision of clean water and improved sanitation for approximately 730,000 people in Renk, Malakal, Maban, Aweil East, Rubkona and Jamjang, where fragile health systems and population movements exacerbate the impact and spread of cholera.
Since the declaration of cholera in Renk on 28 October, over 5,900 cases of cholera have been reported from seven out of ten states in South Sudan. Rubkona, Unity State accounts for 47 per cent of all reported cases, followed by Malakal, Upper Nile State at 20 per cent. The vaccination campaign that was rolled out in Renk on 10 December targeting 105,000 people has been completed. Additional vaccination campaigns are planned for Malakal, Juba, Aweil West and Canal/Pigi counties to contain the outbreak.
In her visit to Malakal on 17 December, the Humanitarian Coordinator underscored the importance of coordination between the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and partners for an effective, multisectoral response to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with cholera and prevent the spillover to other areas. “We sincerely thank our donors for their generous contributions, which enable us to provide life-saving assistance to those in critical need. We appeal for their continued support to sustain our efforts in saving lives and building the resilience of vulnerable communities,” said Ms. Gbeho.
The South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) is a multi-donor humanitarian financing mechanism. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, the SSHF is managed by OCHA. The donors to the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund in 2024 are: The Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Luxembourg and Jersey. Ocha
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of South Africa Ronald Lamola
South African ministers held talks Wednesday with a delegation of their visiting Mozambican counterparts on the violent post-election protests in Mozambique and its effect on both economies.
“We looked into the political situation in Mozambique and we have agreed that we will await for the outcome of the Constitutional Council,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said at a news conference in Malelane -- 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Mozambique.
Lamola said the outcomes of the Constitutional Council are important to South Africa on a bilateral level and for multi-lateral forums South Africa sits on, like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.
Mozambique’s Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda, who led the delegation to South Africa said President Filipe Nyusi has been working to resolve the election dispute.
Ronda said Nyusi encouraged dialogue among the candidates disputing the election but Mondlane did not turn show up.
The ministers exchanged views and agreed on measures to mitigate the disruption at their ports of entry, particularly at the Lebombo and Ressano Garcia crossings.
They also agreed that both countries will endeavor to protect and secure the infrastructure for trade facilitation and continued collaboration to ensure minimum disruption for regional integration, including associated cross-border value chains.
Mozambique has seen a wave of protests after its Election Commission declared Daniel Chapo, the 47-year-old candidate from the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the winner of the Oct. 9 election.
Chapo received 71% of the vote, defeating Venancio Mondlane of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), who garnered 20%, according to the commission.
Mondlane rejected the results, alleging widespread vote-rigging and urged supporters to protest.
Last month, South Africa temporarily closed one of its busy border crossings with Mozambique due to the post-election violence in the neighbouring country.
Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, charged with resolving electoral disputes, will make its ruling Dec. 23.
At least 110 people have been killed since protests erupted Oct. 21, according to Plataforma Electoral Decide, a group that monitors elections in the southern African country. Anadolu Agency
Like many other East African countries, Ethiopia has long faced significant shortages of essential medications, including large-volume infusions, primarily due to the lack of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. For Africa at large, the lack of medical supplies left it particularly vulnerable to epidemics like malaria, cholera and smallpox.
At Lancet General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a nurse is expertly administering a saline drip to a patient, who is visibly relieved as the treatment takes effect. Such scenes are quite common at the hospital, where dedicated healthcare workers strive to provide quality care under challenging conditions.
Like many other East African countries, Ethiopia has long faced significant shortages of essential medications, including large-volume infusions, primarily due to the lack of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. For Africa at large, the lack of medical supplies left it particularly vulnerable to epidemics like malaria, cholera and smallpox.
In recent years, however, an increasing number of Chinese pharmaceutical companies have set up factories across the continent, boosting local medicine production and strengthening healthcare autonomy for African countries.
In 2018, Chinese company SanSheng Pharmaceutical set up a factory in Ethiopia. With an average annual output of approximately 10 million IV bags, 300 million injection vials, and 5 billion solid tablets, the factory significantly reduced Ethiopia’s reliance on imported essential drugs. Inaugurated in the Eastern Industrial Zone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, the factory primarily produces essential medicines in tablets, capsules, large-volume infusion, small-volume injectables, and oral solid dosage forms, said Jiang Zhiwen, general manager of Sansheng Ethiopia Pharmaceutical, in an interview with Xinhua.
“Previously, the country was importing a significant percentage of large volume parenterals while the current national demand is fully covered by local producers where Sansheng is taking the largest portion”, said Kassahun Alemu, technical manager of the company. “The company produces the medicines Ethiopians truly need,” Jiang said.
“Previously, most of these medicines had to be imported, but now there’s no need to source them from abroad. This not only saves foreign reserve for the country but also gradually helps Ethiopia develop its basic industries.”
Sansheng is among several Chinese pharmaceutical companies that have invested in and established factories in Africa in recent years to localize the manufacturing of medicines and medical supplies. In 2015, Chinese company Humanwell Africa Pharmaceutical established a factory in Bamako, Mali’s capital, the first localized drug factory in Mali, and a modern pharmaceutical factory in West Africa with high standards.
Former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said the project would help the country produce drugs independently. “Humanwell put an end to the history that Mali couldn’t make medicines, and will benefit Malians,” Keita once said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese biotech firm BGI Genomics set up diagnostic reagent factories in multiple African countries, including Ethiopia, Togo, Angola, Gabon and Botswana. It also established laboratories across Africa to support COVID-19 detection efforts.
In October, Chinese company Jijia International Medical Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation for the construction of an oral cholera vaccine plant in the country. The agreement will make Zambia the first African country to manufacture the cholera vaccines, said Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. “This partnership will save lives, boost productivity, and serve humanity,” he said.
At the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China unveiled 10 partnership action plans, one of which focused on health, where China pledged to “encourage Chinese businesses to invest in the production of medicines and vaccines in Africa to increase local medicine production capacity.”
Fosun Pharma, the Chinese pharmaceutical company that introduced Artesun — an innovative injectable artesunate malaria treatment — to Africa over a decade ago, has started construction of its first industrial park on the continent, with the first phase of the project to be completed in 2025.
The park, located near Abidjan, the largest city of Cote d’Ivoire, is expected to produce 5 billion tablets per year once all three phases are completed, benefiting the entire West African region, said Su Li, vice president of Fosun Pharma. “Once completed, Ivory Coast Industrial Park will bring nearly 1,000 job opportunities to the Grand-Bassam area east of Abidjan,” she said.
In addition, Chinese pharmaceutical companies, including Fosun and Sansheng, have launched training programs and provided scholarships and internships for healthcare workers and pharmacy students from African countries, cultivating more local talent for the African pharmaceutical industry. In August, Africa Bio Chem, a Chinese pharmaceutical firm, signed an agreement with Tanzania’s Zanzibar government to produce advanced innovative medicines and set up a bio-vaccine production base.
“The Chinese have brought in a lot of medicines, they have trained our people, they have built the capacity of our people, so we are very thankful for that, and we are hoping to continue this cooperation,” said Tanzania’s Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
“We have to ensure that Africans can start to manufacture their vaccines and medicines thanks to the support we are getting from China,” said Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in an interview with Xinhua.
Noting the importance of promoting local manufacturing of medical products and building strong healthcare systems in Africa, Kaseya emphasized that working with China enhances the ability of the Africa CDC in particular and African countries in general to achieve their priority goals.
“My vision of Africa is that Africans have to take the lead on their development. They need technical support on specific topics like the development of local manufacturing. The idea is to strengthen and reinforce local skills,” said Jean-Marc Bouchez, executive president of Tridem Pharma, a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma. “Chinese pharmaceutical companies share this vision of ‘producing in Africa, for Africa’,” he said. Xinhua
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