The operation, which started on Monday and saw the closure of Shell filling station in the area, is to be replicated in all communities in the Municipality.

Speaking to Citi News, the Municipal Engineer, William A. Kpoti, said the safety exercise is meant to keep standards in the Municipality following the gas explosion in Accra over the weekend.

He added that a committee has been formed which is spearheading the programme.

“Some of the fillings stations have had their fire service permits expired for up to two or three years. Others have their permits with the EPA, expired so we have to close them down. Some have not been paying their property rates as well as their business operating permits. Yesterday  [Monday], we closed down the GOIL filling station which is a state company; they had to rush down from Cape Coast to furnish us with all their documents before they were allowed them to continue their operations.”

“We close down Shell; the committee went through their documents before they were allowed to continue operations,” he added.

There have been several of such instances in the past where supervisory agencies close down fuel stations over some infractions, yet few days after, the affected stations are allowed to operate again.

Mr. Kpoti promised that, their move “is not a nine-day wonder,” saying “we are going to maintain it in order to have sanity in our municipality.”

–

By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Kenya was vulnerable because it was a major transport hub, with many flights from West Africa, a WHO official said.

This is the most serious warning to date by the WHO that Ebola could spread to East Africa.

Health experts are battling to contain the outbreak in West Africa, where it has killed more than 1,000 people.

Canada said it would donate up to 1,000 doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine to help fight the outbreak.

Airport health checks

Ebola was first reported in Guinea in February, before spreading to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous state, is the latest to be affected, reporting a third Ebola-related death on Tuesday.

The WHO’s country director for Kenya, Custodia Mandlhate, said the East African state was “classified in group two; at high risk of transmission”.

Health checks at the main airport in the capital, Nairobi, have been stepped up in recent weeks.

The government said it would not ban flights from the four countries hit by Ebola.

“We do not recommend ban of flights because of porous borders,” health cabinet secretary James Macharia said.

Kenya receives more than 70 flights a week from West Africa.

The West African regional body, Ecowas, said one of its officials, Jatto Asihu Abdulqudir, 36, had died of Ebola in Nigeria.

He had been in contact with Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian government employee who was the first to be killed by the virus in Nigeria on 25 July, Ecowas said in a statement.

Mr Sawyer had flown in from Liberia, when he was diagnosed with Ebola after collapsing at the airport in Lagos, the biggest city in sub-Saharan Africa.

There is no cure for Ebola and the outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the WHO.

On Tuesday, it approved the use of untested drugs on Ebola patients.

However, experts say supplies of both the vaccine and the experimental drug Zmapp are limited and it could take months to develop more supplies.

Dr Gregory Taylor, deputy head of Canada’s Public Health Agency, said he saw the vaccines as a “global resource”.

He said he had been advised that it would make sense for healthcare workers to be given the vaccine, given their increased risk of contracting the disease.

What drugs exist currently ?

There are a handful of drugs that have been shown to work well in animals.

One is Zmapp – the drug requested by the Liberian government. This contains a cocktail of antibodies that attack proteins on the surface of the virus.

Only one drug has moved on to early safety testing in humans. Known as TKM-Ebola, this interrupts the genetic code of the virus and prevents it from making disease-causing proteins.

The drug was trialled in healthy volunteers at the beginning of 2014 but the American medicines regulator asked for further safety information. The manufacturer says human studies may soon resume.

Another option would be to use serum from individuals who have survived the virus – this is a part of the blood that may contain particles able to neutralise the virus.

Vaccines to protect against acquiring the disease have also been shown to work in primates. American authorities are considering fast-tracking their development and say they could be in use in 2016. Trials are likely to start soon, according to the WHO.

But experts warn that ultimately the only way to be sure a drug or vaccine is effective is to see if it works in countries affected by Ebola.

Zmapp has been used on two US aid workers who have shown signs of improvement, although it is not certain what role the medication played in this.

A Roman Catholic priest, infected with Ebola in Liberia, who died after returning home to Spain is also thought to have been given the drug.

Ebola’s initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas such as eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure. Patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

Ebola virus disease (EVD)

• Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
• Fatality rate can reach 90% – but the current outbreak is about 55%
• Incubation period is two to 21 days
• There is no vaccine or cure
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
• Fruit bats are considered to be virus’ natural host

Source: BBC

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“All of you who have stolen money #Kenya, we are coming after you,” reads one post.

The hacked posts were signed as being from activist group Anonymous.

Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir often uses Twitter to give updates of the war against Somalia’s al-Shabab militant group.

The hackers criticised the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta, saying it only protected the interests of the elite and was not doing enough to tackle poachers and drugs traffickers.

Col Willy Wesonga said no internal military systems had been infiltrated, reports the AP news agency.

He said military technicians were trying to find out who was behind the attack.

The BBC’s Frenny Jowi in Nairobi says the insecurity around the defence ministry’s Twitter feed is embarrassing for a government that has been criticised for its response to a number of security challenges recently.

Last year, a group called Anonymous Africa hacked into the account of Zimbabwe’s defence ministry, and targeted the website of South Africa’s governing African National Congress.

Anonymous, a loosely-knit group, has been involved in a number of high-profile online protests and attacks in recent years.

–

Source: BBC

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Dressed in a silvery tuxedo, baby-faced Saneie clutched the hand of mother-of-five Helen Shabangu, as they repeated their vows a year on in front of 100 guests at their wedding. At the ceremony, which took place at Ximhungwe village in Mpumalanga, South Africa, was witnessed by the brides’ children who are aged between 28 and 38.

Saneie said he held the ceremony to make the marriage, which he entered into last year official but other villagers described it as sickening. Among the guests at the ceremony were Helen’s long-term husband Alfred Shabangu, 66.

Mr Shabangu said: “My kids and I are happy because we don’t have a problem with her marrying the boy.

I don’t care what other people say.”   Both families claim the wedding is simply another ritual after Saneie was told by his dead ancestors to marry last year and his parents forked out £500 for the bride and another £1,000 for the ceremony.

However the schoolboy wanted to follow South African tradition and insisted they have the second ceremony this week to make their marriage official.

Saneie, the young groom said he still hoped he would have a proper wedding to a woman his own age when he was older. He added: “I told my mother that I wanted to get married because I really did want to.

“I’m happy that I married Helen but I will go to school and study hard. When I’m older I will marry a lady my own age.”

Recycling worker  Helen, said: “I’m very happy that the boy chose me and my family support and understand that it is part of making ancestors happy.”

Source: Nigerianwatch

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The case led to widespread shock in Kenya and around the world after police ordered some of the alleged attackers to cut grass as punishment.

On Monday, hundreds of people marched through the town of Busia to demand justice for the girl, known as “Liz”.

She suffered a broken back and serious internal injuries.

The girl was attacked and repeatedly raped in June as she returned from her grandfather’s funeral in Tingolo village in western Kenya’s Busia County.

The BBC’s Robert Kiptoo reports from outside court in Busia town that the trial is being held in-camera because the accused and alleged victim are minors.

He understands that the girl has already testified, and will now be cross-examined by the defence lawyer.

Her family has been barred from the courtroom, along with the family of the accused, our reporter says.

There are no protests outside the court, he adds.

More than 1.3 million people have signed an online petition demanding that the attackers are prosecuted.

Police say they are continuing investigations into the five other alleged attackers.

Her case caused an uproar after Kenya’s influential Daily Nation newspaper reported that police in Busia had ordered three of the suspects she identified as her rapists to cut grass as punishment and had chosen not to prosecute them.

Police chief David Kimaiyo then intervened, and promised that a thorough investigation would take place.

Under Kenyan law, anyone convicted of gang rape face a sentence of between 15 years and life in prison.

Source: BBC

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The advice comes after two days of attacks on Kenya’s coast earlier this week left more than 60 people dead.

They started in Mpeketoni as people were watching football on Sunday.

The interior ministry said that although security had been beefed up across the country, bar and restaurant owners should take extra precautions.

Somalia’s Islamist group al-Shabab said it carried out the attacks over two days in and around the town of Mpeketoni in revenge for the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia and the killing of Muslims.

But President Uhuru Kenyatta has said “local political networks” were to blame for the violence as members of one ethnic group were targeted.

Most of the dead were ethnic Kikuyus, like the president. Non-Muslims were singled out to be killed.

In some parts of northern Nigeria, public screenings of the World Cup have been banned because of threats by the militant Islamist Boko Haram group.

The militants were blamed for a suicide bombing which killed more than 20 people watching a match in Damaturu on Tuesday.

‘Take advantage’

The interior ministry said Kenyans “should be cautious and vigilant while watching World Cup football matches”.

“Where possible, Kenyans are strongly advised to watch the World Cup matches from the comfort of their homes instead of crowded and unprotected open places,” the statement said.

Bar and restaurant owners should increase security to ensure they are “safe from criminals who may try to take advantage of the World Cup to perpetrate acts of criminality and violence”, it said.

“I would rather that our troops were pulled out and brought along the border to secure our border”

The BBC’s Paul Nabiswa in the capital, Nairobi, says Kenyans regularly go to bars to watch football and the advice will disappoint many fans.

It comes at a time when many foreign governments, including the US and UK, have warned against travelling to the border region with Somalia, Mombasa and the slums of Nairobi, he says.

Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to help the weak UN-backed government defeat the militants.

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was prime minister in 2011, has said it is now time to re-evaluate the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia.

“I don’t think this is enhancing our national security, I would rather that our troops were pulled out and brought along the border to secure our border,” he told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

But he said he did not regret sending forces into Somalia in the first place as Kenya’s tourism industry had been under threat.

The Mpeketoni attacks were the deadliest in Kenya since Somalia’s al-Shabab militants killed 67 people in an attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi last September.

Mpeketoni has long-standing political and ethnic divisions, and correspondents say local ethnic Somalis or Oromos may have targeted them and tried to blame al-Shabab by flying the group’s flag.

Many locals accuse the government of helping Kikuyus get rich by giving them land – the same complaint that was behind the deadly ethnic violence that swept Kenya after disputed elections in 2007.

Source: BBC

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Reports say an unknown woman, possibly Ms Lewthwaite, was given a police escort to visit a Kenyan army base in Somalia before disappearing.

She is accused of links to Somali Islamist group al-Shabab, which has attacked Kenya several times.

Ms Lewthwaite’s husband died in a 2005 suicide attack.

Her husband Germaine Lindsay was one of the four bombers who carried out the 7 July bombings in London that year in which 52 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

Different identity

Kenyan police officers in the coastal town of Lamu provided an armed escort to a white woman who disappeared after her attempts to enter Somalia were blocked by immigration officials.

Well-placed security sources have told the BBC they have reliable information that Ms Lewthwaite is in the country and they have launched a massive operation to find her.

But Lamu Police Commander Leonard Omollo told the AFP news agency the woman had been identified as a Spanish tourist who had since returned home, without giving further details.

Kenyan army spokesman Willy Wesonga has confirmed that a team of detectives is investigating whether the woman was Ms Lewthwaite and, if it was her, why she intended to visit the Kenyan army camp.

After last year’s attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya sought an international warrant for her arrest.

She was reported to have been linked to the attack but this was not mentioned on the warrant.

An Interpol statement said she was “wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011”.

Kenya has several thousand troops helping the UN-backed government battle al-Shabab in Somalia.

Source: BBC

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It is not clear what caused the blasts but Kenya has been hit by a spate of attacks in recent years.

They have mostly been blamed on the al-Shabab militant Islamist group from neighbouring Somalia.

Hundreds of British tourists have been evacuated from the coastal resort area of Mombasa amid warnings of an attack.

British tour companies have suspended flights to Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city.

High threat

The Kenyan National Disaster Operation Centre said the first explosion occurred in a minibus, the second in the large open-air Gikomba market.

Police officials told the Reuters news agency they suspected the blast had been caused by an improvised explosive device.

Pictures from the scene showed clothing blown onto telephone wires above. Fire engines and the Red Cross were at the scene tending the injured.

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi said at least 70 people had been wounded.

“Many of the injured are bleeding profusely. We need a lot of blood,” a spokesman said.

President Kenyatta vowed to fight “evil” terrorism following the attacks.

“All of us around the world must be united to ensure that we are able to fight this particular terror,” he said at a news conference.

Earlier this week, authorities tightened security at bus stations, requiring all passengers to be screened before boarding. They also ordered all vehicles to have clear glass windows.

Friday’s bombings took place two days after the UK, France and the US warned there was a high threat of attacks in Kenya.

Kenya had rebuked the countries for issuing their warnings, saying the tourism industry would be affected.

Correspondents say many Kenyans are expressing their frustration at the worsening insecurity.

The government recently round up all refugees of Somali origin in an attempt to rid the city of terror suspects they believe to be hiding among refugees.

The al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab has launched a series of attacks against Kenyan targets in recent years, claiming to be retaliating for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia since 2011.

Last September, at least 67 people were killed when al-Shabab fighters seized the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi for four days.

Earlier this year, there were riots in Mombasa after a radical Muslim cleric who was accused of recruiting youngsters for al-Shabab was shot dead.

Source: BBC

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Tour operators Thomson and First Choice cancelled all flights to Mombasa until October and said some 400 holidaymakers would be flown back as a precaution.

The FCO advised against non-essential travel to areas within 37 miles of the Kenya-Somali border and Nairobi.

The main threat has been linked to the militant Islamist al-Shabab group.

TUI Travel, which operates Thomson and First Choice, said those already in the country would be flown home by Monday.

A spokesman confirmed a flight carrying some of the tourists landed at Gatwick on Friday morning, and that some holidaymakers were due to touch down at the airport at around 21:40 BST.

The FCO’s warning against non-essential travel covered the Mombasa Island area, Kiwayu and coastal areas north of Pate Island, the Garissa district, the Eastleigh area of Nairobi and the slum areas of the Kenyan capital.

But it said its advice did not include the Diani beach resort or the nearby Moi International Airport.

It said the main threat was from terrorism, which included kidnapping, and that westerners could be targeted.

While Thomson and First Choice have cancelled flights until October, long-haul travel company Kuoni said it was not offering holidays to the Kenyan coast for the time-being.

It said in a statement: “Although the advice does not include Moi International Airport, Diani beach or Malindi, the main road to access these resorts goes through the restricted area defined by the FCO advice. This means that we are no longer able to offer holidays to the Kenyan coast at present.”

Meanwhile, holidaymaker Alex Dolphin from Surrey arrived back at Gatwick having spent three days at a resort on Diani Beach.

He told the BBC: “I didn’t feel uneasy until we were in a convoy of three coaches parked on the roadside waiting to leave for the airport.

“I was keeping an eye open as we drove through Mombasa.”

The United States, France and Australia issued similar alerts, prompting the Kenyan government to criticise the advice as “obviously unfriendly”.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the authorities may have been given a tip-off from an informant that al-Shabab was planning an attack.

“What sources are saying is that it is specifically westerners they are after – either by kidnap or blowing them up,” he said.

Our correspondent added that the Kenyan government was “upset” by the FCO warning, but he said this was a threat that the UK could not ignore.

Fearing the impact on the country’s tourism industry, Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said: “The threats are perpetual, we are at war. But we have not received any specific threat on the hotels.”

Holidaymakers had been told they were being evacuated “under armed guard”, British tourist John Bonar said on Twitter from Kenya on Thursday.

Vigilance

Al-Shabab have carried out a spate of attacks in the region in response to the Kenyan military’s intervention in Somalia.

In April, a radical Muslim cleric, Abubakar Shariff Ahmed – alleged to have been recruiting young Muslim men for al-Shabab – was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Mombasa.

His death, the third such killing since 2012, led to riots in the city, which has a large Muslim population.

“There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping,” the Foreign Office said in its travel advice.

“There has been a spate of small-scale grenade, bomb and armed attacks in Nairobi (especially the area of Eastleigh), Mombasa, and North Eastern Province.

“You should take care in public places where people gather, and exercise a heightened level of vigilance. ”

Shopping centre attack

Three people were killed and more than 80 wounded in explosions on two buses in the capital Nairobi earlier this month.

The Kenyan government said al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, was behind the attacks.

The most high profile of the group’s recent attacks saw 67 people killed when its fighters stormed the Westgate shopping centre in September.

In a statement, the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said “around 500 British tourists” travelling with tour operators at the time the FCO issued its warning had been “safely repatriated”.

It urged anyone still travelling to contact their tour operator.

Thomson advised customers due to fly to Mombasa before November to contact its call centre or their travel agent.

It said it understood customers would be disappointed about the flight cancellations, but “in these types of situations we have to follow the FCO advice”.

Customers travelling on a Thomson Airways flight-only booking were advised to contact the airline’s resort office on +254 (0) 716979338 or its 24-hour holiday line +44 2476 282228.

Source: BBC

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