African press review 01 July 2016

Tackling racism in South Africa, school pupils protesting about school safety, an increase in the number of students attending public universities in Kenya, questions over the government in the state of Abia in Nigeria and the UN Mission to South Sudan expressing concern about kidnappings and rapes in the north-east - there's all this and more in today's African press.

DR

Tackling the problem of racism in South Africa continues to make headlines in today's Mail and Guardian.

The paper reports that the Department of Arts and Culture has released a song to battle the racism scourge that has gripped the country. The song is an appeal to South Africans to love one another instead of spreading hate.

The lyrics borrow a famous quote by Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

SA pupils protest

The Mail and Guardian also reports on a school student protest outside a politician's home yesterday.

Around 80 pupils and activists representing the Equal Education organisation demonstrated outside the home of Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer in a two-hour protest about school safety.

They claimed an audit on school safety sent to her office two months ago was being ignored and that their protest was an act of desperation.

A video posted on Twitter by Equal Education shows Schäfer walking out of her front gate to her car while police stand in front of the organisation’s representatives.

According to the report, Schäfer did not engage with the protestors, saying that Equal Education’s “intimidatory grandstanding” offers no solution to improving real education issues.

Kenyan university student numbers soar

Education also features as news in Kenya's Standard this morning. The paper reports that school leavers’ chances of going to public universities increased yesterday when admission slots rose by 6,000.

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service placed more than 74,000 students into the country's 33 public universities, an increase from the 68,000 admitted last year.

The board also placed more than 12,000 students in colleges for diploma courses. Apart from gender, the selection also considered affirmative action in favour of minorities and people with disabilities.

One state, two governments in Abia, Nigeria?

Nigeria's Vanguard reports on constitutional chaos that broke out in Abia State yesterday, after the Independent National Electoral Commission issued a certificate of return to the Peoples Democratic Party governorship claimant, Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah.

The Vanguard reports that the commission said its action was on the basis of a court ruling on Monday by an Abuja Federal High Court, which removed Okezie Ikpeazu from office as governor of the state, allegedly for failing to fulfil requirements expected of a candidate for the governorship.

Yesterday's proceedings prompt the Vanguard to ask whether Abia is one state, with two governments.

Fears voiced by UN Mission in South Sudan

In Sudan Newstime Africa reports on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan having expressed growing concern about “continuing and consistent reports” emanating from two north-eastern counties regarding a surge in kidnappings and rapes.

The publication reports that the violence has forced the UN and other aid agencies to withdraw staff from the region.

According to information collected by the UN Mission, many towns and villages in Guit and Koch counties, located in Unity State, have reportedly been “burned” amid killings, abductions of males as young as 10, rape and abduction of girls and women and the forced displacement of civilians.
 

Mysterious death of colonel in Egypt

And the Egypt Independent carries the story of a soldier who was found dead on a rooftop, apparently killed by a head injury.

Colonel Ayman Awad Mossad's body was found by his 18-year-old son on the roof of the family home yesterday at dawn. According to the victim's family, he was on a sick leave from work at the time of his death.

Colonel Mossad prayed at a mosque with his wife on Wednesday night, then asked his wife to go home ahead of him, saying he would follow a while later, according to his wife and eyewitnesses. When he was late arriving home, his family tried to reach him on his cellphone but he didn't answer.

They began to search for the colonel and the doorman said that he had already returned home. Mossad's son then went to the roof and found his father's dead body.

The paper reports that investigations into the death are ongoing and no official statements have been made regarding the likely cause of death.