The incident, which took place in the early hours of last Friday morning is said to have happened when an 18 seater vehicle locally known as “Gele Gele” with registration number BJL 2680 B carrying passengers accidentally plunged into a river.

According to reports gathered, three out of the five dead bodies that have already been recovered are from Kiang Jataba whiles the two are from Kalagi, both are males.

Eyewitnesses also informed The Point that the vehicle was coming from Kiang Jataba heading towards the Kombo’s when it got drowned into the said sea.

Meanwhile, the vehicle is also said to have been removed from the sea since the very day of the incident.

The Financial Controller of Senegambia Beach Hotel was yesterday found dead in his room, this paper can confirm.

The naked body of 61-year-old Peter Sumption, a British national, was reportedly found dead in his room at the Senegambia Hotel.

Our sources however added that the late Mr Sumption reportedly complained of fever the day before his untimely death.

Meanwhile, the body has been taken to the mortuary at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) in Banjul for pre-burial processes.

"I can confirm 11 have died in Dhahar hospital since the outbreak," Abdulkadir Isse, a doctor at the hospital, said. At least 750 cases have been recorded since 10 March.

"Today [17 April], we have 400 patients in the hospital," he said. "We had 42 cases on 13 April, which was the highest for one day."

Most affected, apart from Dahar itself, were the villages of Barkadaha Qol, Bali Busle, Buran and Boda all in the same district.

However, Bashir Mohamed, country director for the NGO Horn Relief, said the situation had stabilised in the past few days. "We have been collecting people from the outlying areas for treatment," he added.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA-Somalia) in a report last week said AWD was spreading to rural and pastoral settlements in the district.

Health staff, it added, were not able to deal with increasing cases due to a limited capacity of only one doctor and two nurses.

Isse said the Somaliland administration and Horn Relief had sent medicines and fuel. Eastern Sanaag is claimed by both the self-declared republic of Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland.

The outbreak, according to Isse, started after people used water that had been standing a long time and was probably contaminated. The only borehole in the town had broken down earlier.

"The movement of pastoralists looking for water and pasture for their livestock during the current drought may also have contributed to the spread of the AWD," he added.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said he was encouraged by the latest positive political developments taking place regarding Somalia.

"I am particularly encouraged that President [Abdullahi] Yusuf emphasised that he is willing to do whatever it takes to promote peace and stability and former Speaker Sharif Hasan Shaykh Adan declared that the Somali problem cannot be solved militarily," Ould-Abdallah said in a statement on 16 April.

The dead body of a member of the judicial police, which reports to the country’s justice department, was dumped in front of a judicial police station on 12 April. A day earlier, the policeman who was killed had allegedly killed a policeman from the special intervention force which answers to the interior minister.

“In this country everyone takes the law into their own hands,” said a diplomat in Bissau who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s not just civilians who don’t trust the justice system. Those who are supposed to enforce the system don’t trust it either.”

The judicial policeman was killed just hours after the interior ministry’s special intervention force raided the judicial center where he was being held, pending criminal charges. In the confusion of taking him, 10 other accused criminals reportedly escaped from the centre and may still be at large.

International organisations have frequently alleged that Guinea Bissau’s security forces commit human rights abuses and are involved in drug trafficking. Amnesty International reported in August 2007 intimidation and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders who report on drug trafficking.

“The organization has received information that four journalists as well as a leading human rights defender, Mario Sa Gomez have all gone into hiding for fear of being arrested and possibly tortured,” the report said. Gomez had stated on national radio that the most effective way of tackling drug trafficking was to dismiss all the civil and military officials who are implicated.

The director of the judicial police, Lucinda Aukarie, who diplomats say is untainted by drug trafficking and corruption, is reported to have submitted her resignation following the recent actions by the interior minister’s force. She said she could no longer uphold the law or guarantee the safety of the judicial police for whom she is responsible.

The interior minister, Certorio Biote, said in a press conference on 14 April that a commission would be set up to investigate the killings although he dismissed them as isolated incidents.

The justice minister, Carmelita Barbosa Rodrigues Pires, who also took part in the press conference, said she would ask Aukarie to reconsider her resignation.

Nyanza Province, with 750 infections and 45 deaths, has felt the brunt of the outbreak. Over 1,200 cases have been reported in the provinces of Nyanza, Rift Valley, North Eastern and Western. According to Agence France-Presse, officials have reported 45 people dead in Nyanza Province, 12 in North Eastern Province and seven in Rift Valley Province. Health officials have stated that the actual number of deaths due to the outbreak could be higher due to under reporting.

SK Sharif, senior deputy director of health services in Nyanza, commented on contributing factors to the outbreak: "The mass movement of people during the post-election crisis may also have contributed to the outbreak of the disease as people found themselves in areas with inadequate water and sanitation facilities".

Health workers are working to contain the outbreak, and are focusing efforts on areas affected by violence related to the December elections. Suba, Migori, Homabay, Rongo, Siaya, Kisumu, Bondo, Nyando, Kisii, Wajir, Mandera, Naivasha, Nakuru and Bunyala are among the worst affected districts.

The possibility of a disease outbreak in Kenya was previously raised by health officials, specifically in camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced people reside. Revenge killings, tribal fighting and upheaval following the December elections in Kenya has displaced many in the country.

Titus Mung'ou, spokesman for Kenya Red Cross Society, told Agence France-Presse "We are trying to reduce the prevalence of the mix up that may happen by scrutinising food donations that are brought in the camps, but mostly we are ensuring that all the water is well treated".

In a news conference Thursday in Nairobi, Director of Medical Service Dr. James Nyikal said that if urgent measures were not undertaken to control the outbreak, it could become much worse. "Most deaths occurred at home or on the way to hospital," said Dr. Nyikal. Medicines worth KSh17.3 million (GBP 2.4 million) and other equipment worth KSh700,000 (GBP 5,700) has been sent to the affected areas. The Kenyan government has allocated KSh38 million (GBP 11.75 million) to contain the outbreak.

On Friday the Health Ministry requested aid from the United Nations Children's Fund, and Dr. Nyikal stated: "Health workers are a problem and we have written to Unicef, requesting assistance. Already some staff have been dispatched". Dr. Nyikal voiced concerns over high risk areas: "We are particularly concerned by risk areas such as eating premises and bus stops in major towns such as Busia, Kisumu, Kericho, Nakuru, Naivasha, Nairobi, Voi, Mtito Andei and Mombasa".

World Health Organization Country Director Dr. David Okello emphasized the importance of hygiene, stating: "We need to emphasise the importance of water safety and the public needs to adopt the measures of keeping water safe." Dr. Okello stressed that "Boiling drinking water or treating water with chlorine and practising good toilet manners are necessary to avoid contamination".

Cholera is a waterborne disease and causes serious diarrhea and vomiting. The disease can be fatal if it is not treated within 24 hours. Spread of the disease can be prevented by avoiding contaminated drinking water, and practicing proper hand washing before touching food. Southern Sudan also reported an increase in cholera cases recently.

Fifteen people have died and hundreds more were left homeless after days of torrential rains in Kasai Occidental and Bandundu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a humanitarian official told IRIN.

"At least 500 people have been left without shelter; some are still sleeping in the rubble of their houses while others have found refuge with their neighbours," Marie-Madeleine Kaneku, the director of the NGO Carotas in Luebo district of Kasai Occidental, said.

The dead included three children aged between six and 10, who died when the walls of their homes collapsed. Others were seriously injured.

At least 100 houses were destroyed by the torrential rains and the accompanying strong winds on 2 April in the town of Tshikapa, Kaneku said.

"Two schools have also been damaged by the rains," she said.

Heavy rains were also reported in Tshikapa, 101km away, where a hospital was destroyed. "The main building at the health centre of Kapemba was damaged," she said.

"Following the damage to the health centre we were forced to evacuate all the sick," François Kamudji, the medical director at the hospital, said.

Kamudji said the damaged building was one of two that had remained after three other buildings had been destroyed by previous heavy rains. The hospital was built in 1950.

"We are in a very difficult situation and we will not be able to deal with any cases of emergency surgery; the medication and healthcare equipment was destroyed by the rain," he said.

The heavy rains covered a stretch of 350km. Kaneku said those affected by the rains had not yet received help.

The Anglican Mission

Dear Reader,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

In the words of St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ,

“Praise be to God … who in his great mercy gave us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!”

(1 Peter 1: 3)

At this time we are celebrating the Feast of the Resurrection, or Easter.  Incidentally, we have not had Easter this early for Ninety five (95) years and the next time we are going to have Easter this early will be in Two Hundred and Twenty (220) years’ time – 2228! Be that as it may, early or late, Easter continues to be celebrated joyously annually. This celebration recalls happenings that are at the heart of the Christian Faith – the time when Jesus rose from the dead.  After the events of darkness and death on Good Friday, the light and life of Easter is truly something to celebrate.  When we consider “life” in general, we tend to think of our own personal lives, the lives of our loved ones and the life of the world around us.  Life and hope seem to go together.  As the saying goes – “where there is life, there is hope”.

In a world that seems to have much darkness in it, we may hear people question - where is this hope?  We hear from our newspapers, radios and televisions that many people in our world do not have sufficient food to live on – let alone a nourishing diet to nurture body, mind and spirit.  We hear of global warming and environmental degradation.  What future do we have?  I would like to present the case for hope; and further to state that, under God, the cause for hope can be in our hands.

First and foremost, God, revealed in the form of man (Jesus), opted for life.  In order to conquer sin Jesus was prepared to undergo the most appalling pain – of body, mind and spirit.  He was prepared to die – to die the death of a criminal – for us.  Whatever we may suffer here on earth, we can be sure that God understands this, through His own experience, and is alongside us in our pain.  The good news and hope we have to share is to be found in the events of the third day from Good Friday.  On this day Jesus overcame death and rose from the dead.  This is what we celebrate today – and what greater evidence can we have in the cause for “hope”.  This is what we celebrate today – the resurrection to life of Christ Jesus.  In conquering death, Jesus obtained for us the chance of eternal life – in this world and in the world to come.  This is the backbone of the Christian Faith.

Although God, in Christ, has won the war against sin and death, we too can participate with God in creating a better world to live in.  A large proportion of the world’s problems are due to the sin of greed and pride in humankind.  So, it is logical to deduce that we can be part of the solution. 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and all that is in it.  At that time, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1: 31).  The creation of man and woman was the pinnacle of God’s creation, and for a while all continued well.  However, when man and woman sought equality with God the downward spiral began.  Adam and Eve represent God’s creation of humankind in the beginning – a creation that was perfect, but which fell through sin.  We are “re-created” through Jesus Christ, who, in the words of St. Paul, “did not think to snatch at equality with God” (Philippians 2: 7).  The way we live our lives, under God, determines whether and how we continue to be re-created or re-generated, or whether we degenerate.  Our actions can be “life giving” or “death dealing”.  Our actions can cause us to turn to God, or they can cause us to turn away from God.  God is the great life giver.  Jesus said, “I have come that man may have life, and may have it in all its fullness” (John 10: 10).

We have turned away from God and God’s ways in the way we have misused our planet.  We have lost our reverence for God’s perfect creation.  As we relate more and more to a material world, we lose our spiritual connection with the earth and with God.  Our ancestors, and probably even our older generation today, maintained a kinship with the land.  We are in danger of losing this – to our own detriment.  The satisfaction we can attain through our connectedness with the land and our environment can so easily be lost, but is inevitably replaced by something else.  In order to satisfy our deeper longings, we are in danger of developing other “addictions”.  These would most drastically be found in alcohol or drugs, but can also be found in other forms of materialism.  As we strive to satisfy our inner longings by artificial means, we can so easily move away from God.  We would also find that our relationships with our neighbours will suffer.  The more we are caused to look in on ourselves; we more and more fail to notice the need in the person next to us.  If we believe that our neighbour is made in the image of God, to look at them is to look at God, and to serve both.  All major Faiths in our world advocate concern for our neighbour.  Where have we gone wrong?

Let us return to the fundamental teaching of our Faith – to love God and our neighbour.  Let us return to the basic moral teachings of our Faith, which is based on respect for God and respect for our neighbour.  Let us re-own the principle of the “bantaba”, where all views can be heard, and where we can maintain the art of gracious disagreement when opinions vary.  Let us seek the truth and true justice for all.  When one of our brothers or sisters falls from grace, may there still be the due process of justice, but with mercy.  In the words of the prophet Micah,  “And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  (Micah: 6: 8)

What, then, is our cause for hope?  It is our knowledge of a loving God who would take the form of a man and die for us, but then rise to new life.  It is our knowledge that, by this intervention by God, sin and death have been overcome.  It is our knowledge that, by God’s grace, we can be empowered to work with God for a better world of justice and peace.  This truly is good news.

It is my ardent prayer that God’s gifts of peace with justice may come to our world and our lives.  May you and yours know God’s peace this Eastertide, and always.

Happy Easter! 

Your Friend and Bishop,

+Tilewa