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Uganda Women Won’t Let Police Check their Breasts

Geof Magga, Afrik-News

Women in Uganda have protested against their breasts being checked for bombs at entry points to public places.

The protest comes after a directive from the police demanding that womens’ bras should be checked thoroughly. They argue that terrorists are now manufacturing suicide bombs similar to bras.

Uganda police counter terrorism expert, Lodovick Awita while addressing public places operators in Kampala said “Terrorits are devising new methods of attack to beat the tight security measures. They are now making suicide bomb vests similar to bras. We therefore appeal to security personnel to check women’s bras.”

Anger

But women in Uganda have not taken the information lightly. “That is tatamount to abusing our privacy. Why should they touch our breasts simply because they claim they are checking for bombs. Breasts are among the most private parts of women and should no be touched by anyone,” said women’s activist Salama Namuddu during a press interview in Kampala today.

Namuddu believes that instead of giving security personnel a valid pretext to touch women’s breasts, the police should rather place metal detectors at all entry points to public places.

According to her “In this modern world there are gadgets which can be used to detect bombs rather than physical checking of individuals. They can use metal and bomb detectors.”

A women’s rights advocate, Beatrice Akie, has also spoken against the directive. “If they insist on checking us with their hands we will demonstrate against it” says Beatrice.

But whilst Namaddu argues that modern gadgets should be used, Beatrice Akie She explains that although women should be thoroughly checked for security reasons, it should be done in a way that does not abuse their rights, like the use of scanners.

Uganda is under threats of attacks by Al Shabab who accuse it for taking its troops Somalia for peacekeeping missions.

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Ingestion of ‘modified’ starch could be a new malaria vaccine strategy

Electron microscope image showing starch (white shell) containing a peptide of Plasmodium (black dots of gold particles) coupled with the GBSS of the green algae Chlamydomona. Credit:Stan Tomavo, CNRS

There is no efficient vaccine against malaria, although nasal and oral vaccination seems to be the most promising and suitable solution in countries where the parasite Plasmodium, which causes the disease, is rife. Researchers from two laboratories in northern France have successfully vaccinated and protected mice by feeding them starch derived from green algae and genetically modified to carry vaccine proteins. These encouraging results, which make it possible to envisage a simple and safe vaccination for children in countries at risk, are available online, on the scientific journal PloS One’s website.

According to the WHO, malaria affects approximately 300 to 500 million people worldwide and kills one million each year, mostly young children. Insecticide-resistant carrying the disease and multi-drug resistant are on the increase. In this context, the development of a vaccine that alleviates symptoms and reduces mortality would be a valuable new tool in the fight against malaria. Researchers aim to test the efficacy of vaccine candidates among proteins that allow the parasite to penetrate host cells and infect them, in order to devise the best strategy for vaccine delivery.

Researchers from the Centre d’Infection et d’Immunité de Lille and the Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle have developed a new vaccine strategy based on the ingestion of genetically modified starch. They used antigens that have shown their efficacy in “conventional” vaccinations as vaccine candidates. They fused these antigens to an enzyme (GBSS) in a starch granule from the , Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This enzyme has the particularity of functioning inside the starch granule and of being protected, along with the antigens grafted to it, against degradation by other enzymes. In this way, the researchers were able to produce several murine and human antigens of Plasmodium within starch grains. These grains were then ingested by mice inoculated with the parasite. The researchers demonstrated that the mice were vaccinated by the starch grains, which significantly protected them against infection.

Starch is the insoluble and semi-crystalline polysaccharide that is the most commonly found in photosynthetic organisms. A starch grain can easily be produced from a plant extract and purified, in large quantities. It has a very stable structure and can be stored for months with no particular precaution, even if it undergoes temperature variations. It is easily assimilated through digestion and has a major ecological and financial interest, with very low production costs.

The starch of edible plants could be transformed in the same way as that of the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Researchers are thus looking at the possibility of using starch from multi-cellular algae used in Africa as a food supplement, but also from maize and potatoes. Administered to children under 3 years of age, who are at high-risk of malaria-related mortality, such plants could be both a food source and a vaccine. This strategy would allow simple vaccination, avoid storage problems and syringes, and thus eliminate potential HIV contamination.

The strategy based on the ingestion of genetically modified starch is protected by a patent.

The researchers now plan to test the efficacy of various Plasmodium antigens and determine whether such strategy can be applied to humans by verifying it has no side effects.

physorg.com
More information: PloS One, 15 December 2010: http://www.plosone … pone.0015424 .
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African governments urged to allocate more resources to fight malaria

The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), an advocacy network of scientists and journalists, has urged African governments and policy makers to allocate more resources to the prevention and control of malaria.

“The success of various malaria initiatives depend on political will, dedication of health workers, and above all, the willingness of the individual to seek prompt treatment and use the available tools to prevent or treat the disease,” it said.

A statement issued in Accra on Friday and signed by Madam Charity Binka, Executive Secretary of AMMREN, noted that by the time the Christmas festive period was over, 21,000 children worldwide would be killed by malaria, majority of them from the African continent.

It said as families got together for the festive occasion, it was also important that they spared a moment and reflected on malaria, a disease that can be prevented and treated yet continues to kill unnecessarily.

The statement said 10 years ago in Abuja, African leaders promised to halve malaria mortality as well as agreed that at least 60 per cent of those suffering from the disease would have prompt access to, and were able to correctly use, affordable and appropriate treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

The leaders also said at least 60 per cent of those at risk of malaria, particularly children under five years and pregnant women would benefit from the most suitable combination of personal and community protective measures such as insecticide treated mosquito nets.

However, the statement said: “A whole decade has passed, yet we are nowhere near achieving the targets set.”

It also observed that some countries have taken up the challenge to introduce some policies that are yielding results such as the launching of a nationwide distribution of mosquito nets.

The statement said there was the urgent need to step up education on malaria prevention and treatment to end the needless deaths and loss of man hours that are affecting productivity.

AMMREN, it said, was also calling on partners and stakeholders to keep up the pressure at this time where a lot of global effort had gone into helping Africa to deal with the scourge of malaria.

The good news, the statement said, was that the existing tools for malaria prevention and treatment such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), are reliable and can protect lives.

“What is needed now is the willingness of those afflicted by the disease to take action to push out malaria from Africa,” it said.

GNA

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Press Release: First International Conference on Rice for Food, Market and Development

Dear Editor,

Rice is a central part of many cultures and some countries even credit
rice cultivation with the development of their civilization. It is the
staple food for more than half of the world population. Rice is the
world’s most consumed cereal after wheat. It provides more than 50 percent
of the daily calories ingested by more than half of the world population.
It is the most rapidly growing source of food in Africa, and is of
significant importance to food security in an increasing number of
low-income food-deficit countries.

International Trade in rice is only around 28 million tonnes [less than 8%
of global production]. Africa and Asia import over 85% of the
internationally traded rice volume.
Dear Sir,

With a vision to spur the development of competitive sustainable and
inclusive rice industry and rice business in Africa as a pathway to
increased economic growth and food security in the continent, rice-Africa
(A PPP, Not-For- Profit Initiative of Leap Domiciliares Limited) will
host, 1st International Conference on Rice for Food, Market and
Development in Abuja, Nigeria, March 3-5, 2011.

We seek to facilitate the regional integration of rice value chain and
strengthening of rice- industrial linkages that improve opportunities for
added value and serve as effective means of achieving economic
transformation and sustainable livelihoods.

The conference will bring together STAKEHOLDERS from Africa, Asia, South
Asia, South America, Canada, and China that deal with the specificities of
Rice Producers, processors, Grain Merchandisers, Equipment manufacturers,
Exporters, Importers, Traders, Brokers, Freight Brokers, Commodity
Surveyors and Inspector, Procurement Official, Importers, Shipping
Industry Officials (liner and Bulk), Fertilizer and Agro-chemicals
Suppliers, Seed Suppliers and  Scientists.

IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE WE REQUEST FOR YOUR Publication of our Press Releases
on site.

Please find enclosed our recent press releases and the full up-to-date
programme on our website www.rice-africa.com.

Much Thanks.

Dale Idoko
dale@rice-africa.com
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Cote d’Ivoire: Several die in clashes between protesters and security forces

Solomon Aben

Several people died on Thursday when demonstrators calling for President Laurent Gbagbo to step down clashed with security forces in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, reports said. Reports put the number of dead between four and 20. Journalists reported seeing four bodies in Abidjan, while a spokeswoman for Gbagbo said 10 protesters and 10 members of the security forces had died.

It was unclear if those casualties were in Abidjan or other parts of the country as well. The BBC said clashes had erupted between Rebel New Forces fighters and troops backing Gbagbo near the town of Tiebissou, just south of the ceasefire line agreed in 2003 to end the country’s brief civil war.

Alassane Ouattara, the man that the international community says won last month’s run-off vote in Cote d’Ivoire’s long-delayed presidential election, had called on protesters to take to the streets on Thursday to protest Gbagbo. Gunfire was heard from many parts of the city as demonstrators attempted to make their way to the state-run television downtown. Gbagbo has been using state-run media to spread his claim of legitimacy.

He says the elections were fraudulent, and both he and Ouattara have established rival governments.

Ouattara is holed up at the luxury Golf Hotel in Abidjan’s east and is protected by United Nations peacekeepers. Troops loyal to Gbagbo have positioned themselves outside the hotel.

allAfrica.com

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Born and raised in Nigeria, John Abraham Godson is Poland’s first black member of paliament

John Abraham Godson, Poland's first black MP
John Abraham Godson, Poland's first black MP

John Abraham Godson, a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, has been sworn in as the first black member of Poland’s parliament.

Mr Godson had served as a councillor in the city of Lodz before taking up a parliamentary seat, vacated by a party colleague after local elections.

His entry into parliament has created a media stir in the mainly white country.

He came to Poland in the 1990s, opening an English-language school and working as a pastor in a Protestant church.

He has since married a Polish woman and the couple have four children.

Beaten up twice

A member of the centre-right Civic Platform party, he was appointed to the seat vacated by party colleague Hanna Zdanowskaafter after she became mayor of Lodz.

It is still quite rare to see black people even in the Polish capital Warsaw, Poland’s most cosmopolitan city, the BBC’s Adam Easton reports.

Racism is still a problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to make racist jokes, our correspondent says.

Mr Godson was beaten up twice in the early 1990s but he says attitudes to black people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the country joined the EU six years ago.

Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr Godson said: “I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here and I want to be buried here.”

(BBC)

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GHANA STUDENTS JEER NUJOMA OVER MUGABE REMARK

Nyarko Benso, Accra

ACCRA, – One of Robert Mugabe’s close regional allies and former Namibian President Sam Nunjoma became a pile of embarrassment when students he was addressing at the University of Ghana laughed and jeered at him when he said Mugabe was a great leader.

Nunjoma said: ‘although Africa has finally attained Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of a free continent, it is yet to reach a healthy level of intra-trade.’

Nunjoma went on to tell the students that political leaders on all frontiers stood side by side to wage the war against colonialism and his mentioning of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe as among other great leaders at various frontiers, elicited huge laughter and jeers from the students who asked him to step down from the podium.

For close to five minutes Nunjoma stood silent and embarrassed as the rowdy students took issues with him at the mention of the Zimbabwean dictator as great leader.

They booed and jeered him and some threw stuff at the bemused former Namibian leader. Organisers then pleaded with the students for him to finish his lecture.

On resumption and taking note of the mood in the University Hall, Nunjoma said, “We made mistakes [as African leaders fighting colonialism],” said Nujoma, a reference to elimination of hunger and poverty that continue to grip the continent even after the successful elimination of colonialism.

“It is now up to you young people to analyse [the mistakes made] on how to eliminate poverty and hunger [from the continent],” he said in his lecture.

One student asked, with much bravado, the feelings of Nujoma about Africa’s tendency for some African dictators to hang onto power when people want change.

“We do not know how Kwame Nkrumah would have felt now because he is not here.

However, how do you feel as a Pan-Africanist?” the student asked with such gusto common in university students.

Others wanted to know whether Nujoma does not have a sense of guilt or regret regarding the direction that Africa took on Pan-Africanism, after all he was among the first attendees of Nkrumah’s All African People Conference as well as many other conferences on Pan-Africanism that followed.

“Have we perhaps not missed the boat for not going in the direction of USA [on a united state of Africa],” was another question.

The queues of questions kept getting longer and longer, prompting the professors to cut the session short – Nujoma only had 30 minutes set aside for the lecture and interaction.

Nujoma repeated one of Nkrumah’s often-repeated sentences: “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of the African continent.”

Elaborating on what brought up the liberation movement of that time, Nujoma pointed out that as much as colonialism was the factor, part of the problem was also the economic strangle on the continent.

Hence, political leaders on all frontiers stood side by side to wage the war against colonialism. His mentioning of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe among other great leaders at various frontiers elicited huge laughter from the crowd.

(newsdzimbabwe)

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Esoko Software of Ghana Gets Equity Partners in IFC and Soro

West Africa Business Communities

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Soros Economic Development Fund have both invested $1.25 million of equity into Esoko, a Ghanaian technology firm.

The investment in Esoko will give small holder African farmers and businesses timely crop information that can be shared via text messaging, enabling farmers to increase their incomes.

Esoko’s software takes advantage of rapidly growing mobile-phone usage in Africa. The technology allows farmers affordable and timely access to market information that can help them negotiate better prices and improve the timing of getting their crops to market.

“Our platform was developed by African software engineers here in Accra, Ghana, and has been a totally local, market-driven initiative” said Esoko CEO Mark Davies. “IFC and SEDF have a strong track record of helping local companies get the funding and advice needed to expand into new regions and markets. With their support we hope to export this African technology all around the world.”

EsA farmer in ghana on mobile phone allows different parties in the agricultural value chain to exchange real-time market information. Farmers receive current demands, prices of crops, and the location of seeds and fertilizers directly on their mobile phones. Businesses can track how their products are used and market themselves to new customers. Associations and governments can share critical information with thousands using a simple bulk-text messaging feature. Esoko’s technology is being used in nine African countries and expanding quickly.

“SEDF’s investment helps break the information barrier for African farmers so they can generate more income,” said Stewart J. Paperin, president of the Soros Economic Development Fund, a nonprofit investment fund that works to alleviate poverty and community deterioration. “A more transparent marketplace enables farmers to negotiate fair prices, improve their timing on getting goods to market, and move between markets to sell products.”

Esoko is also publishing the first commodities indices in Africa, a powerful tool in helping ensure that farmers are fairly compensated for their crops, as formal commodity exchanges are very rare on the continent.

The company is initially publishing two indices that provide prices for 12 agriculture commodities in seven markets in Ghana.

“African technology firms are innovating and expanding beyond their domestic markets and we see a great opportunity to help ensure they have the proper financing for long-term growth,” said Kent Lupberger, Global Head of IFC Technology, Media, and Telecom. “Esoko is giving people practical tools to improve their lives and lift themselves out of poverty.”

 

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