January 20, 2021 Watipaso Mzungu - Nyasa Times 17 Comments
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) and the Blantyre Small Scale Business Operators led a peaceful demonstration against the Tonse Alliance government in Blantyre on Tuesday with dozens of protestors giving the leadership a demand for an immediate reduction on fuel prices in light of Covid-19 lockdown measures and governance queries.
Protesters during their march in Blantyre
Some of the scenes during Cdedi led protests
The protesters marched peacefully unlike in the past when demonstrators led by HRDC under the leadership of Timothy Mtambo would damage property
The message on the placards carried by the protesters was clear
Africa lags in COVID-19 vaccination drive
Officials say 60% of Africa s 1.3 billion people will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to achieve continent-wide herd immunity. But with cases surging, governments are scrambling to secure supplies.
COVID-19 vaccine trials have been carried out in South Africa but the country has yet to roll out a vaccine program to the general public
Africa is in danger of being left behind in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines as countries in other regions strike vaccine deals, the World Health Organization has warned. It is deeply unjust that the most vulnerable Africans are forced to wait for vaccines while lower-risk groups in rich countries are made safe, said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a statement on Thursday.
Officials say 60% of Africa's 1.3 billion people will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to achieve continentwide herd immunity. But, with cases surging, governments are scrambling to secure enough supplies.
CDEDI and the business operators had initially planned to hold the protests on January 8 2021.
But Blantyre City Council (BCC) withheld its permission to CDEDI and the business operators on the pretext that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was outside Lilongwe.
This prompted the organizers of the mass protests to file a fresh application for permission to BCC to hold peaceful demonstration on January 13 2021.
However, this was cancelled after President Lazarus Chakwera declared three days of mourning following the sudden death of the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Lingson Belekanyama, and his Transport and Public Works counterpart, Sidik Mia.
President Chakwera, whose governing coalition was already in troubled waters, lost two ministers and a permanent secretary to Covid-19 in a matter of days this week. One of them, Sidik Mia, was his