African Briefs

Niger aid for flood victims stolen NIAMEY – Niger said on Saturday that international food aid intended for victims of flooding in the West African state was being stolen by those meant to distribute it. Niger, one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries, had sought 6 300 tonnes of emergency food aid from donor nations after heavy rains that have killed 68 people since August and left half a million others homeless.

“We have information that aid is being diverted to other places, that is, not to the victims of the flooding,” Abdou Labo, minister of the interior and public security, said at a press conference.
He said those responsible would be prosecuted, but did not say how much of the aid, organised by the United Nations, had been stolen.

Zim AIDS activist sues prisons
HARARE – An AIDS awareness campaigner is pressing Zimbabwe’s highest court to force police and prison authorities ensure HIV sufferers receive life prolonging medication.
Douglas Muzanenhamo said in papers filed at the Supreme Court that he was denied appropriate antiretroviral treatment in jail for three weeks last year and his condition worsened..
Muzanenhamo, who has been HIV-infected for 18 years, was freed without charge in March 2011 after police arrested bystanders at a lecture in Harare on the Arab Spring. Police claimed the presentation was to prepare for a revolt in Zimbabwe.
In court documents released on Friday, Muzanenhama said he was kept in filthy cells making prisoners with HIV susceptible to fatal infections.
He said he was held in solitary confinement for demanding his drugs.

Tsvangirai to tie the knot
CAPE TOWN – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has invited nearly a dozen African leaders and other global high-rollers to his wedding on September 15, in a telling show of the MDC leader’s pulling power, a report says.
The Daily News online reported that Tsvangirai’s courtiers would not release the guest list citing security reasons and other protocols, and his spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka would neither confirm nor deny the number of available heads of state.
The report said about 500 invites had been sent out to friends and relatives.
Tsvangirai is tying the knot with businesswoman Elizabeth Macheka following the death of his first wife Susan in a March 2009 car crash.
The wedding is set to take place at the scenic and exclusive RainTree Gardens in Umwinsdale, Harare.

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