Kenya Stops Exhumations At Cult Site After Finding Remains

Kenya Stops Exhumations at Cult Site After Finding Remains Kenya Authorities in Kenya have suspended exhumations at a suspected doomsday cult site after discovering new remains near where hundreds of bodies linked to a cult were found two years ago, the Associated Press reported. The latest exhumations at Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County, in southeastern Kenya, uncovered 34 new bodies and more than 100 body parts, Africanews noted. Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja said a multi-agency team was investigating the circumstances that led to the deaths. Eleven suspects were arrested a month ago after a woman reported the deaths of her children. The investigation is ongoing. Authorities are analyzing money transfers to the suspects’ phones from individuals they suspect of funding the operation. Police said the cult members rented homes in the town of Malindi, on Kenya’s western coast, before moving to the remote Chakama Ranch area, where they built mud huts next to where the shallow graves were found. This marks the second instance where bodies have been uncovered in the area, which has been linked to cult activities. Two years ago, the remains of more than 400 followers of a doomsday cult were found near preacher Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Church in the Shakahola area, about 1.2 miles from where the new remains were found. Mackenzie is in custody on murder charges. The discovery sent shockwaves across Kenya. According to the police, the new remains were found during the regrouping of the cult by former members. The number of missing remains is unclear.

Eswatini Is Accepting US Deportees

In this week’s Analysing Africa newsletter John McDermott, The Economist’s Chief Africa correspondent, wrote about how the continent is handling the deportees that America is sending. Here is an abridged version. For more reporting on and analysis of Africa, sign up to the newsletter. I first heard of the Matsapha Correctional Complex, a prison in Eswatini, when two MPs were jailed on what human-rights groups say are spurious charges. As both were arrested for participating in and supporting pro-democracy protests, their real offence may have been to challenge the rule of King Mswati III, Africa’s fifth-longest-serving leader. His royal court includes at least 11 wives; courtiers drive Rolls Royces while most of his 1.2m subjects live in poverty. In Matsapha at least one of the MPs is said to have been beaten and deprived of food and medical care. The prison is in the news again because it houses five migrants sent by America as part of Donald Trump’s increasingly theatrical and aggressive deportation policy. The autocracy, once known as Swaziland, is one of four African countries, alongside South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda, that have recently agreed to take deportees. I suspect the appeal to Mr Trump is twofold. First, African deportation deals fire up those in the MAGA base who enjoy performative cruelty towards migrants. Second, they are a deterrent—migrants would rather be sent home than to an African country they know nothing about. But what is in it for African countries? For Eswatini and South Sudan, neither of which has much to offer the world’s most powerful country, it is ad hoc deal-making. Eswatini wants cash (more than $10m to take more than 150 deportees, according to the New York Times) and exemption from high tariffs on sugar exports. South Sudan wants to undo a decision by America in April to bar its citizens from the country and revoke visas that have already been issued. Politicians see taking deportees as a way of getting back into Mr Trump’s good books. And both Rwanda and Uganda have a history of striking deals with larger powers to take in unwanted migrants. African countries’ eagerness to help solve Mr Trump’s migration problems underlines the narrowing of America’s relationship with the continent. For America the policy can be summed up by three Ms: mercantilism, minerals and migrants. African leaders can benefit from appearing to help America in these areas. But I still find it sad that, whereas American diplomats once decried, however inconsistently, the conditions in African prisons, the very grimness of these places is now part of their appeal.

Mocambique: Jihadists Attack Resource Development Projects

Bloody Rich: Mozambique Sees Resurgence of Militant Attacks As It Tries To Develop Its Resources Mozambique Fifty years after Mozambique gained independence from Portugal, the southeast African country is struggling to contain surging jihadist violence in its northern coastal Cabo Delgado province. In August, Islamic State-affiliated militants known as al-Shabaab attacked eight districts in Cabo Delgado. Seeking to install their harsh version of Sharia law and seize the region’s natural gas reserves and ruby mines, the militants have attacked villages, fought Mozambican troops, and set up roadblocks on back roads to extort resources from travelers. Christian drivers stopped at these roadblocks must pay tolls to pass or face capture. The United States-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) warned that the Islamic State fighters were also beheading Christians and burning down churches and schools, calling the tragic situation a “silent genocide.” “What we see in Africa today is a kind of silent genocide or silent, brutal, savage war that is occurring in the shadows and all too often ignored by the international community,” Alberto Miguel Fernandez of MEMRI told Fox News. “That jihadist groups are in a position to take over not one, not two, but several countries in Africa – take over the whole country or most of several countries – is dangerous.” Mozambique has been battling the Islamist insurgents in Cabo Delgado since 2017, struggling to contain the violence, while relying on support from troops sent by Rwanda, South Africa, and other regional partners. In 2020, the insurgents initiated a wave of attacks in which they beheaded dozens of people, including children. Now, observers say there has been a resurgence of attacks and child kidnappings this year, which have been overshadowed by Mozambique’s deadly and long-running post-election protests, recent cyclones, and US cuts to foreign aid.  More than 95,000 people have been displaced due to the violence, the United Nations said. UN officials also warned that the militants were preventing vital humanitarian aid for those who remain. More than 6,000 people have died in the region since 2017. Around a third were civilians. The political dominance of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which fought for independence and has run the country since 1975, is one reason why the jihadist problem as well as other issues – poor infrastructure, scant civil institutions, ethnic tensions, extreme inequality and endemic poverty despite tremendous natural resources – persist in the country, argued the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs. “The persistence of protests and the country’s economic paralysis underscore a revolt that extends beyond electoral disputes,” it wrote. “The opposition has evolved into a broader challenge against a one-party system tainted by repeated corruption scandals in recent years, whose promises of development have left behind a particularly vulnerable population.” When President Daniel Chapo won office last year, defeating Venâncio Mondlane of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique, a party that split off from FRELIMO, for example, voters eager for change took to the streets to protest for months, accusing Chapo of fraud. The government responded with a harsh crackdown, resulting in more than 300 deaths in the demonstrations. In July, the government charged Mondlane with incitement to terrorism. Among the government’s failings over the years is the failure to bring together different parties to figure out how to address the root causes of the jihadism in Cabo Delgado, noted the Center for Strategic Studies. Compensating those who have suffered violence, offering amnesty to those who have run afoul of government officials for expressing their dissident political opinions, and funding more youth initiatives would help defuse the instability in the region, Center researchers argued. Chapo hopes money can help. He recently announced a $40 million, World Bank-supported fund to finance small and medium businesses, reported Al Jazeera. More importantly, Qatar’s Al Mansour Holding recently signed a $20 billion deal to fund energy and agriculture projects, Reuters wrote. But the insurgents are likely not to be defeated that easily, say analysts. As of June, insurgents have kidnapped more than 120 children from the Cabo Delgado province, to ensure their mission goes on: Witnesses told the Associated Press that children abducted from towns and villages have been used as fighters in subsequent attacks. “When al-Shabab fighters enter or attack certain areas, they tend to abduct children,” Augusta Iaquite, coordinator at the Association of Women in Legal Careers in Cabo Delgado, told Human Rights Watch. “They take them to train them and later turn them into their own fighters.” 

Burkina Faso Outlaws Homosexuality

Burkina Faso Outlaws Homosexuality Burkina Faso Burkina Faso’s transitional junta parliament passed a law criminalizing homosexuality and instituting prison sentences of up to five years as punishment this week, the latest African country to impose anti-gay legislation, France 24 reported. The law was unanimously adopted Monday by 71 unelected members of the transitional parliament, in power following two coups in 2022. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala told national broadcaster RTB that homosexual acts are “bizarre behavior” and added that foreign nationals would be deported under the law, Africanews wrote. Officials presented the law, which is part of a broader family and citizenship legislation reform, as a recognition of “marriage and family values,” adding that it will be “popularized through an awareness campaign.” Homosexuality is banned in around 30 African countries, but it was not deemed a criminal act in Burkina Faso before the military seized power through coups they said were meant to stabilize the West African country amid a worsening security crisis. Rights groups, however, have criticized the junta for undermining human rights with widespread arrests and military conscription of critics. Mali, an ally of Burkina Faso and also led by a military government, passed a law banning homosexuality in November 2024. Ghana and Uganda have also recently imposed stricter anti-homosexuality laws. In Uganda, “aggravated homosexuality” is a capital offence, while consensual same-sex relations can be punished with a life sentence. Analysts say that while these laws are widely criticized abroad, they are often popular in African countries where the public is often critical of homosexuality, framing it as a behavior imported from abroad.

Guinea: Its Junta Suspends Opposition Parties Ahead Of Constitutional Referendum

Guinea’s Junta Suspends Opposition Parties Ahead of Constitutional Referendum Guinea Guinea’s military government over the weekend suspended the country’s three main opposition parties, including the party of ousted former President Alpha Condé, ahead of a constitutional referendum that critics warn could help the junta consolidate power, Al Jazeera reported. The order released Saturday names the Rally of the Guinean People, led by Condé; the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, led by former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo; and the Party of Renewal and Progress. All three are barred from taking part in any political activity for 90 days. The suspension came as Guinea prepares for mass protests starting Sept. 5 against a constitutional referendum slated for Sept. 21 that opposition parties and civil society groups consider an attempt by junta leader Gen. Mamady Doumbouya to grab further power, according to Africanews. Parties had been allowed to advertise their proposals for a new version of the constitution since Friday. But in a separate order, the junta announced that the start of the election campaign period would be delayed by a week to Aug. 31. Critics say the effort to rewrite the constitution could allow Doumbouya to run for president despite a previous ban established in the “transition charter” drafted by the junta after the 2021 coup that ousted Condé. Such protests have been banned by the military government since 2022, and it has already arrested, prosecuted, or forced into exile a number of opposition leaders. Earlier this year, dozens of other parties were suspended or dissolved for failing to meet new regulations. According to analysts, this new suspension solidifies the conviction of Guinea’s opposition parties that the transitional government was never working to protect democracy, despite Doumbouya’s promises to give more space to political parties and civil society. International rights groups have condemned the junta’s harsh actions, warning that Guinea’s fragile democracy is at risk as the country undergoes this critical transition.

South African Breeder Is Accused of $14 Million Rhino Horn Smuggling Ring

South African breeder is accused of $14 million rhino horn smuggling ring By Michelle Gumede, 10 hours ago South AfricaRhino Syndicate Crime Invision South African prosecutors have accused a well-known rhino breeder of operating a global rhino horn smuggling network alongside five other people. John Hume, 83, owns one of the world's largest rhino herds at his Johannesburg ranch. He and the others are accused of a scheme involving 964 rhino horns valued at $14.1 million. Hume has not publicly commented. Hume was granted $5,000 bond by the Pretoria magistrates court, according to the National Prosecuting Authority, after he and the others handed themselves over to police on Tuesday. Bail conditions included turning over their passports. Prosecutors said they next appear in court on Dec. 9. A seven-year investigation by South African authorities found the suspects allegedly secured permits under false pretenses to buy and sell rhino horns domestically while funneling the horns into illegal markets in Southeast Asia. Under South African law, domestic trade is permitted with valid permits. However, international commercial trade in rhino horn is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. According to a blog promoting the private reserve that he opened in 2009, Hume and his staff at Rhinos of Buffalo Dream Ranch care for over 1,600 rhinos, including over 1,000 that have been bred there. The six suspects, including a lawyer, insurance broker and game reserve manager, are charged with 55 counts including racketeering, fraud, theft and money laundering. The country's environment minister, Dion George, called the investigation “a powerful demonstration of South Africa’s resolve to protect its natural heritage.” South Africa fights an ongoing battle to protect endangered rhinos, with a reported 103 killed between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to the government. Authorities have focused in recent years on criminal syndicates they believe are behind much of the poaching. The country has the world's largest rhino population with an estimated 16,000 to 18,000, according to conservation groups. That includes white rhinos and the critically endangered black ones.

Angola: Nothing To Lose Protestors Will Continue Despite Crack Down

Nothing to Lose: Frustrated Angolans Say They Will Continue Protests Despite Crackdowns Angola A few weeks ago, the National Association of Taxi Drivers of Angola called a strike to protest a 33 percent increase in the price of fuel in the capital city of Luanda. The local police department, however, banned the strike, calling it a rebellion. The strike morphed into a popular uprising in Angola, one of Africa’s leading oil producers. Thousands of people hit the streets in cities across the country for three days to protest the ban, the petrol price increase, and the rising cost of living. “The fuel price issue is just the last straw that has reignited widespread public discontent,” Laura Macedo, who was participating in the protests, told the BBC. “Hunger is rife. People are fed up.” There were violent clashes between protesters and police, who used live ammunition and accused the strike leaders of terrorism. When the violence was over, dozens lay dead, hundreds more were injured, and more than 1,000 had been jailed. Analysts say such events are routine for Angola, which has been ruled with an iron fist by the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But many Angolans are tired of the situation now, say observers. “The protesters are frustrated not only by the fuel hike, but also …the perceived indifference of the government to the struggles of everyday Angolans,” wrote Deutsche Welle. The government says the petrol price hike is necessary: Subsidies for fuel account for about 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and debt exceeds 60 percent of GDP. It adds that the crackdown was justified because of the looting and vandalism that occurred during the protests, calling the unrest “unpatriotic” and a threat to “unity, reconciliation, peace and progress.” But observers say almost all protests, no matter how peaceful, elicit harsh responses. For example, earlier this year, the Angolan Student Movement took to the streets to demand more investment in public education and improved conditions for teachers and students. Police responded with violence and arrested at least 50 students and three journalists covering the protest. A protest in early July against the rise in fuel prices and the elimination of subsidies for public transportation was also met with excessive force, wrote Human Rights Watch. Desperate conditions in Angola mean that protesters are going to keep coming back, say analysts. The capital may be full of gleaming skyscrapers and colonial architecture, but that shiny exterior hides grim statistics. Despite its oil-rich soil, Angola’s minimum monthly wage is under $76, one of the lowest globally. The average person earns $200 a month, and more than 80 percent of those with jobs work in the informal sector. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among 15-24 years old is 54 percent. As a result, the MPLA has sunk deeply in the polls. President João Lourenço came to power after a disputed election in 2017, replacing José Eduardo dos Santos, who ran the country for 38 years. Lourenço promised to reform the economy, restore democracy, and crack down on corruption. But midway through his second and final term, he hasn’t delivered, observers say. Instead, the opposition has made gains, with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) winning the capital in the 2022 elections and the MPLA just barely squeezing out a majority nationwide. Now some worry that the protests will continue and become more violent, eliciting harsher crackdowns and threatening the stability of the country. “A greater use of force won’t stop future protests,” David Boio, a sociology professor in the central Angolan city of Huambo told Bloomberg. “These young people have nothing to lose.”