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African press review 24 March 2017

President Salva Kiir shops for weapons while Nigerian lawmakers dismiss Kaduna stand-by international airport as a "disaster waiting to happen".

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We start with disturbing reports from South Sudan that while almost half of the country's population faces famine, half of the country's budget is spent on weapons.

Kenya's Standard Digital says the findings are contained in a confidential UN report by monitors who put revenue accruing from oil sales between March and October 2016 at 225 million euros.

The document reportedly states that the panel continues to uncover evidence of the ongoing procurement of weapons by President Salva Kiir's government despite the scale and scope of the political, humanitarian, and economic crises.

The United Nations has declared a famine in some parts of the world's youngest country, where nearly half its population - some 5.5 million people - face food shortages. At least one quarter of South Sudanese have been displaced since 2013, according to the United Nations.

In Nigeria, a warning by lawmakers that Kaduna airport is a disaster waiting to happen is causing deep concern in the country. The ageing facility in the northern city was chosen four weeks ago as a temporary alternative to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, in Abuja, under renovation.

But as Punch reports members of the House of Representatives on Thursday ruled in a dramatic U-turn that it did not fulfill safety standards.

According to the newspaper, one ranking lawmaker told colleagues during a House debate that he personally witnessed security breaches at key sections of the facility while another said security personnel are overwhelmed by passengers since the transfer of international flights to Kaduna.

And in South Africa, Mail and Guardian, likens Johannesburg’s new mayor, Herman Mashaba, to US President Donald Trump as he targets undocumented immigrants in his alleged mission to clean up Africa’s richest city.

According to the paper Mashaba recently urged the government to close the border due to what he called a massive influx of undocumented immigrants living in the city.

Mail and Guardian carries a warning from the national director of Lawyers for Human Rights Jacob Van Garderen about Mashaba.

It said that he has been playing on the fears that migrants are taking over our economy.

The publication also carries a warning from the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, that the Johannesburg mayor's comments run the danger of inciting violence against foreign nationals.

 

 

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