Congo Doctor is ‘African of the Year’ Dr. Denis Mukwege, who operates a clinic treating rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been named “African of the Year” by a Nigerian newspaper. He says his award of $20,000 will be put toward funding a center to help rape victims come back into their societies, reports the BBC. In the conflict-ridden Congo, all of the warring sides have “declared women their common enemy,” Mukwege said.  His clinic, the Panzi hospital, assists women who’ve been raped with both physical and psychological injuries, including some who have contracted HIV from their attackers. “I am pleased to accept this award if it will highlight the situation of women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” he told the BBC after accepting the award at a ceremony in Nigeria. This is the newspaper’s first African of the Year award. Former Tanzanian leader, Salim Ahmed Salim, was on the newspaper’s selection panel. “This is a person who has been involved in the protection of women under difficult circumstances, often at the risk of his own life,” he told the BBC. Mukwege was also given the Olof Palme prize for outstanding achievement in promoting peace.
Zimbabwe’s Cholera Deaths Near 2,000 The death toll from Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic has reached 1,937, reports CNN. The outbreak of the water-borne disease started in August, and since then almost 40,000 people have been become infected by the illness, according to the World Health Organization. The spread of cholera is preventable, and some health experts blame the Zimbabwean government, led by controversial longtime President Robert Mugabe. The spread of the epidemic, they say, is mainly due to the failure to import enough water-cleansing chemicals. Many residents have had to get drinking water from rivers and wells because the water taps are dry; the nation’s trash-disposing systems aren’t operating. These factors serve only to worsen the situation, as it keeps many from having access to clean water. After Mugabe declared the epidemic a national emergency last month, worldwide charities such as WHO, Oxfam, USAID as well as some foreign governments have tried to help with the situation but there has been little improvement in that span of time.

Police are wondering how he got his hands on that much money.
Nigerian official allegedly spent $4 million on a witch doctor. Nigerian police arrested a government employee for allegedly hiring a witch doctor to kill a fellow employee, reports CNN. Sam Edem, the head of the Niger Delta Development Corporation, was suspended after the local press got word that he allegedly spent $4 million on the witch doctor to hex and kill another official in his agency. Edem wanted him killed because he believed the employee had ill will against him, police say. He also wanted the witch doctor to influence a state governor to give him “juicy contracts,” said a police statement. Edem became upset when none of the things he asked the witch doctor to do actually happened, and demanded a refund which the witch doctor refused to give him. Both police and those in the federal government are trying to figure out how Edem got his hands on that much money to give to the witch doctor in the first place. He, although not available for official comment, has not denied any of the charges against him, according to the government. Since the nation’s independence from Britain in 1960, about $400 billion of the Nigerian government’s money has been stolen or wasted, according to investigators.

Rival Zimbabwe leaders will resume talks later today. This weekend’s power-sharing negotiations between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ended without an agreement, reports CNN. But they are scheduled to resume the talks later today. “We have not finished. We obviously have sticking points like in any talks, but we look forward to overcome them,” Mugabe told the press after talks adjourned early on Monday. Tsvangirai did not answer any questions, instead referring reporters to the meeting’s mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki who also had no comment. In June, following violent weeks which saw people killed and beaten, longtime leader Robert Mugabe was re-elected in a runoff election that many in the international community dismissed as a sham. Tsvangirai had dropped out of the runoff days before voting, saying that he was fearful for his life and the lives of his supporters. Tsvangirai’s party, Movement of Democratic Change, says that 100 of its supporters were killed by members of the president’s political party, Zanu-PF. But just last week, in a written statement, both parties took responsibility for the violence that occurred ahead of the runoff and pleaded with their supporters to stop fighting, reports the news service. “We further reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the law is applied fairly and justly to all persons irrespective of political affiliation, to take all necessary measures within our power to eliminate all forms of political violence,” the said statement.