African press review 6 July 2015

We begin with reactions in South Africa to the drama unfolding in Greece after the massive rejection in a referendum of the bailout plan proposed by international creditors to prevent the country from slumping into bankruptcy.

Mail and Guardian says those seven years of sacrifices and one austerity measure after another have finally brought the people of Greece to a crossroads.

The Greek government shut all banks for three days this week and limited all ATM withdrawals to 60 euros a day, following the European Central Bank’s limiting of the liquidity facility provided to Greek banks.

For Mail and Guardian, the illness is very serious and no doubt the doctor is ugly and has bad breath. But as the paper puts it, it is up to the patient with the illness to decide, not the doctor with the bad breath.

In Kenya, Daily Nation exposes the ravages of an elephant fight which could hamper the fight against terrorism. According to the journal rivalry between the director of criminal investigations, Ndegwa Muhoro, and the deputy inspector-general Grace Kaonde is threatening to paralyse the security set-up.

Daily Nation says the revelations come at a trying moment for Kenya’s police force. The publication reports that more and more cop bosses have been breaking their oath to slam moral-sapping indiscipline and chaos in the ranks.

"The Kenya Police Service is like a woman in labour," one commander told the newspaper. He spelled out to the journal his demands for “drastic action” to weed out corruption, tribalism and weak leadership which have brought the Kenya Police to its knees.

Daily Nation quotes insiders as saying that because of unfair assignment of rank, there has been a breakdown of what police call “forced respect”, the requirement that you respect your superior at all times. Many previously senior officers reportedly find it impossible to respect superior officers who either did not earn that seniority or were previously their juniors.

The ordeal of a Nigerian woman whose husband fled their home after learning that she was expecting a third set of twins is making headlines in Nigeria.

Vanguard reports that Ruth and Emeka, married since 2009, had been blessed with two sets of twins: Goodness and Goodnews, aged six and currently in nursery, and John and Joyce who came two years later. The arrival of Daniel and Daniella last month turned their life into a nightmare.

According to the paper, Emeka is a factory worker from Abia State and with a history of twins in his family. He vanished into thin air after leaving their one-room home in Lagos for work months ago. His wife told the publication that their last exchange followed a television interview she gave outside the office of the Lagos state governor in which she promised to hand the children over to an orphanage so they don’t die of hunger.

As Vanguard later learned, when the woman reached her runaway husband, his main issue of concern was not how the children were doing but why she went to the media with the family problem. Vanguard also found out that Ruth, a teacher in a private school, earns 10,000 naira (45 euros) per month   the amount she needs to pay for her children’s school fees.

According to the newspaper, as Ruth’s ordeal made headlines in Nigeria several men lined up in Emeka’s defence. One neighbour told Vanguard that as a man, he understands why he deserted. As he put it, "Emeka did not prepare for twins, moreso as their house rent was overdue, his earnings insufficient to feed the family, with nobody to render him assistance."