African music legend Salif Keita has called for people with albinism to be protected, as Tanzania begins campaigning for general elections with fears growing over a rise in witchcraft attacks.
“It is completely unacceptable for humans to sacrifice other human beings, it comes from ignorance,” the Malian musician, himself an albino, said in an interview during a visit to East Africa. “Albinos are born, they grow up just like everyone else. It is unacceptable to attack them.”
Rights groups have warned of the risk of a rise in attacks against albinos in Tanzania, which has just begun campaigning for general and presidential elections on October 25.
Some politicians have been accused of buying albino body parts for witchcraft and lucky charms.
At least 76 albinos in Tanzania have been murdered since 2000, with their dismembered body parts selling for around $600 (528 euros) and entire bodies fetching $75,000, according to United Nations experts.
Dozens more have survived having parts of their bodies hacked off.
Keita said he hoped that by speaking out, and by playing his world-acclaimed music, he could send a message to stop the attacks, which often target children.
“When people hear me on the microphone and see me on the camera, that has an impact, because I show that I am a complete human being, just like everyone else,” Keita said. “Just like every human, albinos need to be loved, and seen as normal people.”
Keita was speaking in the Kenyan capital where he is to play a concert to raise money for a music foundation for a Nairobi slum, as part of Kenya’s Safaricom Jazz Festival.
His Afro-pop music, nominated for several world music awards, fuses both African and Western styles.
“I am proud to be an albino and I am proud to be who I am,” added Keita, who runs a campaign to support people with albinism.
“I work to promote acceptance and understanding of people with albinism.”
Outgoing Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said in March that attacks against people with albinism were “disgusting and a big embarrassment for the nation”.
But the problem is not confined to Tanzania alone.
Kenyan lawmaker Isaac Mwaura, who also has albinism, said Tanzanian gangs have carried out abductions in Kenya, and he looks after two children he rescued from attempted kidnappers.
“Africa has had a long history of racial discrimination, but we work to stop that,” said the MP as he met Keita.
“Albinos are black people with white skin.”
Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition which causes a total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes.
As well as discrimination, associated risks include skin cancer -- expensive sun creams are often difficult to obtain -- as well as eyesight problems.
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Wicked
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Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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- not be younger than 25 years old
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- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
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