Peace Talks Between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda Break Down

No Quarter Democratic Republic of the Congo / Rwanda Peace talks between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) collapsed this week, further derailing efforts to end the protracted conflict in the eastern DRC, and leaving the region’s escalating humanitarian crisis unresolved, Al Jazeera reported. On Sunday, Angola – which mediated the talks – announced that the summit between DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame would not take place in the Angolan capital Luanda. While Angolan officials did not elaborate on why the meeting was canceled, the DRC presidency blamed Rwanda’s refusal to participate in the meeting as the reason for the breakdown. The government in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, reportedly demanded direct talks between the DRC government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, a largely ethnic Tutsi group that has seized sizeable territory in resource-rich eastern Congo since 2021. However, the DRC maintains that the M23 is a proxy for Rwandan military forces and has refused direct negotiations without Rwanda’s withdrawal. Sunday’s talks, mediated by Angolan President João Lourenço under the African Union’s auspices, had been seen as a critical opportunity to broker peace after years of conflict. Their collapse comes after months of fragile ceasefires and renewed fighting. A truce brokered by Angola in August briefly stabilized the frontline, but clashes reignited in October. Last week, the DRC military accused M23 rebels of killing 12 civilians in North Kivu province. The armed group denied the allegation, calling it government propaganda. M23 is one of about 100 other armed factions that have contributed to decades of violence in the eastern DRC, displacing over seven million people, according to Africanews. Rwanda has long denied supporting M23 but admitted in February to deploying troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, citing security threats from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a militia formed by ethnic Hutus involved in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Recent negotiations outlined plans for a phased withdrawal of Rwandan forces and neutralization of the FDLR, but no significant progress has been made, according to Agence France-Presse. Meanwhile, international observers, including the United States, continue to express grave concern over the ceasefire violations. Share this story

Three Countries Withdraw From West Africa Trade Bloc

A Tale of Two Blocs West Africa West African leaders approved the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) next month, but offered a six-month grace period until July 2025 in a final bid to prevent the bloc’s fragmentation and preserve regional unity, the BBC reported. During a Sunday meeting in Nigeria, ECOWAS leaders described the decision as “disheartening” but emphasized ongoing mediation efforts led by Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé. However, the three countries’ military juntas have shown little inclination to reverse course, with Niger’s leaders calling their decision “irreversible.” The withdrawal will be effective on Jan. 29, but ECOWAS officials noted that the trio can be readmitted should they decide to rejoin the community by July 29. The decision follows the announcement by the three junta-led Sahel nations earlier this year to leave the 49-year-old bloc after refusing ECOWAS demands to restore civilian rule following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2020 and 2023. The bloc suspended their memberships, imposed sanctions and even threatened military intervention following Niger’s coup last year. In response, the three Sahel nations announced their withdrawal and recently formed their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Observers described the departure as a major blow to ECOWAS, which will lose 76 million people and over half its geographical area, undermining efforts to boost regional economic and security cooperation, Bloomberg added. The Sahel states have also pivoted toward alliances with Russia, Iran, and Turkey, accusing ECOWAS of being overly aligned with Western powers. Established in 1975, the regional bloc promotes free movement of goods and people among its members. Analysts cautioned that the withdrawal of the three landlocked Sahel nations will be a challenge for trade and integration because they are heavily reliant on coastal ports in countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Senegal. Even so, the AES bloc noted that the rights of ECOWAS citizens to “enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the territory” of the new bloc would be maintained, which signals a willingness to maintain good relations despite their withdrawal.

Cape Town Steak House Named One Of The Top Ten In THe World

Cape Town restaurant makes global list of the 10 best steaks Cape Town has once again earned international acclaim in the food and drink scene, this time for its outstanding steak. By Nick Pawson 11-12-24 15:43 in Featured Cape Town steak While Cape Town is often celebrated for its seafood offerings, its steakhouses are equally impressive. Image: Pixabay Renowned for its natural beauty and diverse cuisine, the Mother City has added another feather to its cap, earning recognition for serving one of the world’s finest steaks. Interestingly, it wasn’t one of the city’s red-meat institutions like Nelson’s Eye, Hussar Grill, Belthazar nor Butcher Shop & Grill. Coming in at sixth place on Time Out’s list of the world’s best steaks is none other than IRON Steak and Bar. The Bree Street restaurant is known for its use of the Spanish Vulcano Grez grill—which delivers a perfectly charred and smoky flavour to its steaks. “IRON Steak and Bar has stood out for its unique blend of modern décor and a traditional approach to cooking exceptional cuts of meat,” writes a review. An affordable steakhouse experience The restaurant’s flat iron steak is its signature. For budget-conscious eaters, IRON’s Summer Special includes beef-dripping popcorn to start, a 200g grass-fed steak & salad rounded off with salted caramel ice cream—all for just R185. For those willing to fork out a bit more, the Tomahawk is a showstopper (a bone-in rib-eye steak). IRON also offers standout sides, including truffled leek mac-and-cheese and Wagyu dripping fries. Time Out’s prestigious list of the Top 10 steaks in the world is as follows: (1) El Toro, Agadir, Morocco (2) Klaw, Miami (3) Adega Solar Minhoto, Lisbon (4) La Cabrera, Buenos Aires (5) Clover Grill, Paris (6) IRON, Cape Town (7) Alfie’s, Sydney (8) Fireside, Hong Kong (9) Lana, Madrid (10) Le Relais de Venise l’Entrecôte, London Time Out is known for its curated city guides and rankings, offering recommendations on food, entertainment, culture, and travel. It provides trusted insights for locals and tourists, highlighting the best experiences in cities worldwide. |

Major Social Unrest In Mocambique

Singing the Ballot Blues Mozambique More than 30 people have been killed in Mozambique in one week, raising the death toll to 110 in the government’s bloody crackdown on protestors following a disputed election in October, the Associated Press reported. Over the past two months, thousands of people in the southern African nation have taken to the streets of the capital Maputo, and elsewhere in protests against the governing Frelimo party, which has run the country since independence from Portugal in 1975. Initially peaceful, the protests turned violent after police fired into the crowds. As a result, angry demonstrators have attacked police stations, courthouses, and Frelimo party offices, and even blocked the main border crossing with South Africa. The protestors believe that the elections were rigged. However, following the vote on Oct. 9, the electoral commission said the Frelimo party candidate, Daniel Chapo, won 71 percent of the vote. International observers disagree, saying the ballot was marred by irregularities, according to the Economist. The independent candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, who won only 20 percent of the vote, has claimed that he is the true winner and has called for a revolution. Mondlane, a leaning populist part-time pastor, has garnered support from young people in cities, influencing protests from exile abroad through Facebook broadcasts. Now, countries around the world are concerned about the ongoing unrest and violence: Amnesty International reported that police have shot at least 329 people since the eruption of the protests, killing 110, including children and bystanders, and arrested more than 3,500 people arbitrarily. Tensions rose when two prominent opposition officials were fatally shot in their car by unknown gunmen on Oct. 18, escalating the protests. Meanwhile, Chapo is due to be inaugurated on Jan.15, but the election results have not been validated by the Constitutional Council due to legal challenges from the opposition. The protests are expected to escalate later this month.

Kenya: Stop Violence Against Women

The Right to Live Kenya Police in Kenya scuffled with protesters in demonstrations across the country against gender-based violence and femicide Tuesday, following national outrage over a string of brutal killings of women in recent months, the Associated Press reported. In Nairobi, thousands of angry protestors chanting, “Stop femicide” and “Women have rights, too,” flooded the streets, demanding that the Kenyan government take action to stop the killings as police threw tear gas canisters at them and tried to disperse the protests. At least three activists, including the executive director of Amnesty International in Kenya, were detained by police, while dozens reported injuries. The protests are a result of outrage over a spate of killings of women, with police reporting the murders of 97 women from August to October this year, most of them by their male partners. Although gender-based violence has long been endemic in Kenya, this year saw some high-profile killings and a spike in the number of women murdered, causing nationwide anger and calls to action. In July, bags containing body parts of women believed to be murdered by a serial killer were discovered in a dump in Nairobi. The rise in killings in the country is linked to economic disparities and ingrained patriarchal attitudes, researchers say. This problem is not unique to Kenya but reflects a wider problem across the continent. A United Nations report published in November said Africa recorded the highest rate of partner-related femicide in 2023, estimated to be more than 21,000 murders. After months of public criticism, Kenya’s President William Ruto acknowledged last month that femicide was “a pressing and deeply troubling issue.” After meeting with elected female leaders, he committed about $770,000 to a campaign to protect and support victims. Activists and human rights groups have said that that figure is not enough, calling on Ruto to declare femicide a national crisis and allocate more funds. They have also called on parliament to enact a law imposing harsher penalties on perpetrators of gender-motivated killings. Meanwhile, protesters were outraged at the handling of demonstrations by police. Activist Mwikali Mueni said that during the demonstration she suffered a neck injury, inflicted by police officers. “It is very sad that I was injured while championing for women not to be injured or killed,” she told the AP. “If the president is serious about ending femicide, let him start by taking action on the officers who have brutalized us today.” Share this story

Mali Recently Launched Attacks Against Ethnic Tuareg Rebels

Simply Replacable Mali Mali recently launched drone attacks against ethnic Tuareg rebel leaders in the town of Tin Zaouatine near the border with Algeria, killing eight people. The incident, say analysts, could be a turning point in the Malian government’s counterinsurgency campaign against the Azawad Liberation Front, an organization whose founders, mostly ethnic Tuaregs, have been seeking an independent state in northern Mali since 2012, reported Africanews. The Tuaregs and their allies have never lost so many important members of their group in a single incident, noted Devdiscourse. Still, some say it’s only one battle, not the wider war against insurgents who have steadily made gains over the past few years. That involves various groups fighting under the banner of the Azawad Liberation Front against Malian forces now bolstered with Russia’s Africa Corps, the new name of the mercenary Wagner Group, and inflicted heavy losses, reported the Arab Weekly. The Russian mercenaries replaced France and the United Nations peacekeepers after they were asked to leave last year. At the same time, highlighting the instability running throughout the Sahel region, Malian officials have been fighting Islamic jihadists like the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM). In September, the JNIM struck a gendarmerie school in the capital of Bamako and a military installation camp at the international airport on the outskirts of the city, killing more than 70 people and injuring at least 200. That attack sent shockwaves across the capital, which has been relatively free from security concerns until that point, and undermined the West African country’s ruling military junta, which has touted itself as the purveyor of security. Meanwhile, the leader of the junta, Col. Assimi Goïta, has also assumed more political control since coming to power in a coup in 2021 that deposed the leader of another coup from the year before. As the BBC explained, Goïta recently sacked his prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, after Maiga questioned why the junta had not fulfilled its pledge of holding democratic elections this year. “The transition … has been postponed indefinitely, unilaterally, without debate,” said Maiga. “This is not normal in a government.” Goïta also recently appointed himself to the highest rank possible in the army, a sign that he was not likely to hand power over to civilian leaders anytime soon. And he has cracked down on freedoms: Dozens of the junta’s critics have disappeared, political parties have been dissolved and the media silenced, Human Rights Watch wrote. Goïta is fighting the global elite, too. After enacting a law that gives Mali a greater share of revenues from its gold mines, a key sector, in November the country’s authorities arrested four senior employees of a Canadian mining company, Barrick Gold, to pressure companies to pay millions in additional taxes. It also issued a warrant for its CEO. That followed the arrest of the CEO of Australian company Resolute Mining and two employees in Bamako over a tax dispute, only being released after the company paid $80 million to Malian authorities and promised to pay a further $80 million in the coming months. As the Africa Report wrote, Goïta and officials in Bamako will likely not pull Barrick Gold’s permits. They need the gold industry to fuel their fight against rebels and Islamic terrorists while addressing their people’s basic needs. “Mali is likely to continue to use detentions, arrests, and even charges against mining executives to compel foreign-owned companies to comply with new regulations and generate short-term funds,” Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the Control Risks Group consulting firm, told the Associated Press. Essentially, it needs the money. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with high poverty rates: Less than half of the population has access to electricity or clean drinking water and more than two million children do not attend school. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced by terror groups operating outside of the capital. The junta knows it can be deposed at any time. After all, Mali has seen three coups in the past 12 years. And already the cracks are appearing, say observers. “Mali’s junta has spread the image of a strong government adept at protecting its people. That image has come crashing down with the insurgent attack on Bamako,” World Politics Review wrote. “Should Goïta be perceived by the population of Bamako to be failing, his days will be numbered, most likely to be replaced by another young man in military fatigues waiting to seize his opportunity to try to solve the multitude of problems affecting the country.” Share this story

Ghana: The Power Of Disloyalty

The Power of Disloyalty Ghana More than 15,000 displaced people from Burkina Faso have crossed the porous, 372-mile border with Ghana recently to escape al Qaeda and Islamic State-affiliated fighters. The militants are thought to have entered northern Ghana, too, stoking existing civil strife between ethnic communities and participating in attacks and violence that have killed dozens of people. In response, Ghanaian officials have imposed a curfew in the West African coastal country’s north, reported Foreign Policy magazine. They are trying to regain the peace and stability that had long made the country a model in the region. That may be changing, however. Currently, militant insurgents control almost half of Burkina Faso, parts of central and northern Mali, and territory along Niger’s borders with the two countries. Over the past two years, the insurgents have slowly expanded their campaign south from the Sahel into the northern parts of the region’s coastal states and now threaten Ghana. This threat and the ensuing instability is now a major issue for voters as they go to the polls Dec. 7 to elect a new president. Lead contenders seeking to succeed incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is finishing up his second and final term because of term limits, are Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and former President John Mahama. Mahama, 66, who is now leading in the polls, has vowed to improve the country’s economy to bring about renewed stability, GhanaWeb reported. He also told Reuters that he would renegotiate Ghana’s $3 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which involved a bailout and debt restructuring, but which was painful for the poor and middle class. When he was president from 2012 to 2017, Mahama invested in infrastructure but also oversaw power shortages and political corruption scandals among his allies. Now, his plans would likely increase the country’s budget and therefore its dependence on the IMF, more than his opponent’s economic agenda, wrote the Africa Report. Bawumia is an Oxford University-educated central banker who has pledged to expand Ghana’s tech sector, the BBC reported. He is also a member of the Muslim minority community instead of hailing from the dominant Akan-speaking ethnic group. Bawumia’s ruling New Patriotic Party and Mahama’s opposition National Democratic Congress have run Ghana since the end of military rule in 1993. As World Politics Review explained, both parties have often used public funds to “cultivate clientelist networks for partisan benefit” while stoking local inter-ethnic strife to gain advantages over the years, a risky strategy now that jihadists are part of the equation in the country. “Both main political parties have deployed inflammatory rhetoric that has heightened political polarization, raising risks of political violence ahead of, and especially on and after, election day,” noted analytical group, Stratfor. Meanwhile, there is a spoiler in the form of wealthy entrepreneur, Nana Kwame Bediako, who hopes to disrupt the campaign with his unorthodox style – he placed himself on billboards around the country wearing a full mask so voters had little idea of who he was initially, the Guardian reported. Now, with a flashy social media campaign, he’s appealing to the youth vote in a land where the median age is 21. Meanwhile, unlike past elections, these polarized voting blocs might not line up as they usually do to support whichever party won their party leaders’ favor, however, noted the Conversation. More Ghanaians are becoming swing voters who want to see results rather than political handouts or hear divisive talk. The people might be the country’s best path to renewed stability, the magazine added. “The rising share of swing voters in the country’s elections may be good for the country,” it wrote. “It creates uncertainty in electoral outcomes, which should encourage more political accountability and responsiveness to voters’ needs.” Share this story

A Former US Ambassador To South Africa Talks About Democracy

Winding down with lots of chill time ahead of you, you may want to save this mail for when you put your feet up. I came across the article below – reposted yesterday - and thought it may interest to you. It is insightful insofar it highlights how little (or how much) we really know about the various players and moreover, their interactions. It’s a damn fine article, well written. So enjoy (or delete). 03 December 2024 Former US ambassador also says SA Constitution would provide a model for reform of US system A Global Forum Patrick Gaspard in conversation with Ann Bernstein To mark 25 years since its establishment, in November 2020, CDE initiated a series of discussions with global experts and prominent individuals in South Africa on important questions on democracy, business, markets and development. The series was relaunched in 2022 as CDE Conversations. This is the 29th event in the series. Ann Bernstein: I am delighted to welcome the former U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Patrick Gaspard. He served as a leader and strategist in the Democratic Party and as executive director of the Democratic National Committee. President Obama appointed him as ambassador to South Africa from 2013 to 2016. He then became president of the Open Society Foundation for three years, after which he was appointed president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a think tank in Washington D.C. Let us begin with your personal story. I understand that your parents came from Haiti and decided to emigrate to the Congo, and that was where you were born? Patrick Gaspard: That is true. My father was a newly trained lawyer in Haiti when the brutal ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier regime came into power. During that time anyone who dared call for free and fair elections would be dealt with, often violently. My father had the disadvantage of being one of those people and was told in no uncertain terms that if he did not stop agitating for democracy he would ‘disappear’. He knew this was not an idle threat. The pressures at home coincided with the wave of post-colonial liberation movements sweeping across Africa, which provided an opportunity for my father to move to the Congo and work as an educator. Given the repression back home, my father decided to stay in Africa for most of the 1960s. My mother eventually joined him, and I was born there. Our family then migrated to the U.S., to New York, where I was raised. I am somebody who is proudly American, but also proudly Haitian-American, and always boastful of my Congolese origins. Ann Bernstein: You have been involved in city, state and national politics within the Democratic Party. Tell us a little bit about that, and especially your relationship with President Obama? Patrick Gaspard: My work as an activist started when I was young. My father would drag me off to one demonstration after another. We demonstrated outside the United Nations, the White House and many other places to promote accountability and social justice. We wanted to ensure that the power of the U.S. would be leveraged for human rights, for the empowerment of civil society, and shared prosperity around the world. That early training in protest work led to my involvement in an extraordinary organisation called the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, which I joined as a teenager. I then got swept up in the later stages of the anti-apartheid movement, protesting with luminaries like John Lewis and Harry Belafonte and many others, some of whom were arrested in front of the South African Embassy. I received my PhD in activism from that extraordinary generation. Through my work as a unionist, I understood that in America, electoral politics is the path to policy change. I made a concerted effort to learn all I could about local politics, and consequently helped to elect the first African American mayor of New York, David Dinkins. I worked in the Dinkins administration for some time and then made my way into the federal system. In 2003, as I was working with other union leaders to shape the path of the next national election, I met a young, bright state senator from Chicago, Illinois, who had an interesting name. It did not take me long to realise that Barack Obama had a powerful ability to distil complicated issues and express them in ways that resonated with America’s aspirational DNA. Shortly after the meeting, I told my wife that I had just met the person who would be the first black President of the United States, and that when he decided to run, I would be working with him. I served on President Obama’s national campaign as the political director and then became the White House political director and then the leader of the Democratic National Committee. Eventually, the President appointed me ambassador to the country that I had first visited 30 years prior, South Africa. The anti-apartheid movement is where I had cut my teeth as an organiser, and it was the privilege and honour of a lifetime to be appointed U.S. ambassador there. Ann Bernstein: I know you had a big impact in South Africa and still have many friends here. Now you head a leading American think tank in Washington, the Center for American Progress. This is a relatively new organisation compared to the doyens of think tanks in Washington. When and why was it founded and how has it helped the Biden administration craft and implement policy? Patrick Gaspard: I want to recognise and thank my South African friends for their role in my education. I arrived in South Africa with much to learn, and they were instrumental in enlightening me about the country’s history and the challenges it faces. The Center for American Progress (CAP) was founded 20 years ago by a group of policy innovators with a flair for public communication who understood the interrelationship between social movements and the institutions of government and democracy. When John Podesta and colleagues founded CAP, Republicans held power in the Capitol and the White House. He and many others deemed it necessary to institutionalise progressive thinking and the values that would support an inclusive society by developing policies for education, the economy, healthcare, and national security issues. Their goal was to set up an organisation that would leverage deep and rigorous research, rely on a muscular kind of advocacy and utilise a nimble communication strategy. CAP was launched with a considerably smaller staff and a much smaller budget than it has today and proved to be effective from the time of its launch until today. In national security, specifically post-9/11, it was successful in advocating American retreat from the conflicts in the Middle East, helping to create a policy pathway for that withdrawal. Then, by insisting we needed considerable investment in health care in America, a policy was developed in a small conference room at CAP that eventually evolved into what is known as ‘Obamacare’. We are proud of our modest role in creating policies central to the Biden administration’s post-pandemic economic recovery efforts. That includes a new industrial policy, one that takes into account the role of non-traditional workers in the industrial space and ties it to what we call ‘the care economy’. It has been a great journey for the organisation, and it is a privilege to take it forward. Ann Bernstein: Is there a particular policy your think tank has crafted that has been implemented by the Biden administration and has that worked out as you planned? Patrick Gaspard: While I am careful about what it means to claim credit, we are clear about our influence. Our work in climate change and environmental justice has laid the groundwork for the United States to meet its emission goals, catalyse a real revolution in renewables and clean energy, and incentivise battery and computer chip production. Ultimately, these investments will increase American competitiveness into the second half of the 21st century. The real challenge has been in how we communicate the benefits that government actions have produced and will produce for ordinary Americans. We are seeing the positive impact of Biden’s policies in marginalised cities like Kalamazoo in Michigan, on small business owners, and on African American communities isolated from the centres of economic opportunity. Resources have gone into disconnected spaces and to revitalise economic thoroughfares. Those are the benefits we need to tell everyone about, in effective ways. Ann Bernstein: You were once asked in an interview what Americans get wrong about South Africa and Africa more generally. Your wonderful answer was, “everything”. Could you tell us a bit about how you see this? Patrick Gaspard: I would still give the same response about both sides of the Atlantic. There are a number of misperceptions in the U.S. about the continent at large and about South Africa in particular. Unfortunately, most African nations only feature in our news when there is a crisis there. Most often, our media presents African countries as aid recipients rather than as places of innovation and entrepreneurship. They know nothing about the burgeoning generation of young, optimistic, entrepreneurial people who understand that the future belongs to them if their journey is accompanied by democratic reform. Americans view South Africa as a place frozen in time. While they are aware of apartheid and Nelson Mandela, there is very little knowledge of the post-apartheid decades. Americans are unaware of our agricultural trade with South Africa, let alone that tens of thousands of cars in the U.S. are manufactured in South Africa. Most Americans do not know that healthcare excellence in South Africa has been transformational, not just for South Africa, but also for the U.S., as witnessed by the calibre of epidemiologists from South Africa making their mark throughout the world. I would also add that at a time when many Americans are looking for things we can do to reform our democratic institutions; we do not appreciate there is powerful scaffolding around the values we hold dear in the South African Constitution, which is one of the most advanced, sophisticated, progressive constitutions anywhere in the world. I once attended a dinner with the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Supreme Court Justice, and she told me that if she could remake America’s Constitution overnight, she would draw on South Africa as her framework. There is so much that is not understood about South Africa and the African continent. But folks are coming around, albeit slowly. Ann Bernstein: Let us turn this around. I think most South Africans do not understand America very well, with all its many achievements as well as its challenges. What was your experience? Patrick Gaspard: I think that is right and would add that many South Africans understand us better than we understand South Africa, but there are considerable gaps in that knowledge. While the U.S. is the shining beacon of hope economically and democratically, there is a ‘Disneyfication’ in many places abroad, and definitely in South Africa. During my time in South Africa, I often had conversations with university students who would make comparisons between African states and the U.S., and I thought these views were somewhat distorted. There was an assumption that the upward mobility inherent in the ‘opportunity economy’ was an inevitable outcome for all U.S. citizens. These views lacked a nuanced understanding of the inequalities in our society, the fragility of our institutions, and the threats of illiberal actors that were exposed post-6 January 2021. Ann Bernstein: In relation to the U.S. elections, let me start with something you once said, that “the U.S. President will be chosen not by the American people, but by an archaic election system cobbled together in the 18th century that is both undemocratic and deeply vulnerable to corruption.” Tell us why you made such a sweeping charge about the U.S. electoral system. Patrick Gaspard: That sounds a little prescient. In 2016, I had several South African friends in my residence as we were waiting for the results of the U.S. election. There was a palpable gasp once it became apparent who the next President would be. It hit home that many people around the world have a deep connection to America and many understand that the direction of American democracy impacts their countries. I felt it that night in South Africa. I strongly believe it is right to call the Electoral College archaic. I think it is an anti-democratic system. There have been five times in U.S. history where the winner of the popular vote did not win the election due to the Electoral College; that is deeply undemocratic. The Electoral College was a compromise crafted in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention in America after the tension between the northern states and the southern states about whether or not there would be a system of one person one vote, or if there would be a different kind of representative republic. At the time, one-third of the population of southern states were slaves and were not counted as citizens who could vote. For that and other reasons, voters in the north outnumbered those in the south. The Electoral College system was adopted to placate southern concerns about the republic being dominated by non-slaveholding northern states. Consequently, a southern state like Virginia, where 60 per cent of its population were slaves, was able to boost its electoral power. That is why for the first 36 years of ‘democracy’, in 32 of those years the American president came from Virginia. Right now, a voter from Wyoming counts four times as much as a voter in California. If things continue on this trajectory, in about 20 years, 70 per cent of the U.S. population will be represented by only 30 per cent of U.S. senators. Additionally, candidates do not campaign nationally; instead, they primarily focus on the ‘tipping-point states’ to win the 270 electoral college votes. Currently, there are seven of those states , “in play where the margins are close”, and we are unclear whether or not they are going to move towards Republicans or Democrats. They are three of the industrial states known as ‘the Blue Wall states’ – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – and then four ‘Sun Belt states’ – Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina. We all know that states like California and New York will vote for Kamala Harris overwhelmingly. We also know that states like Arizona and Ohio will swing for Donald Trump, so neither candidate has to spend that much time or resources in those states. The U.S. election will therefore be overwhelmingly decided by about 10 per cent of the population. Until the U.S. moves to a system of one person, one vote, as opposed to the Electoral College, we will find ourselves in these difficulties. Ann Bernstein: At one level, one person, one vote, seems self-evidently the right way to go, for any country. But there are also scholars of constitutional systems and democrats who say that you need some geographic weighting, and that all electoral systems have problems. Is there any argument for a reformed Electoral College, with some kind of geographic or other kind of weighting? Patrick Gaspard: That is an important question, one deserving of a Congressional Commission or a Presidential Panel, or even a transparent and accountable public conversation to determine the merits of the system and whether it works. There are many reforms that I would propose in our system. One that requires examination is the process of electing candidates through primaries. Also, we have two major parties, and candidates who do not come from those parties struggle to get the resources and the public attention to capture large numbers of votes. Additionally, we have an extraordinary problem that does not exist to the same extent anywhere else in the world: the influence of big money in our politics. The sums we spend for local contests in America dwarf the resources used for national political campaigns everywhere else in the world. The numbers are absolutely astonishing. Finally, the growing polarisation that exists in our country is exacerbated by our first past the post-primary system. I am not going to pretend to be an expert in electoral systems all around the world, but I think there are things that I have seen in many places, including in South Africa, that could be the basis for real innovation in the U.S. One thing I do know: the Electoral College as it is currently constructed, needs revision and reform. We are no longer in 1787, and the assumptions made by the framers of that compromise have been proven to be incorrect. Yet we still have not reformed a system designed to deal with those antiquated challenges. The time to do that has come. Ann Bernstein: The whole issue of money in politics is such a difficult and fraught one, whether it is in India, South Africa, Brazil or America. But Michael Bloomberg put an extraordinary amount of money into his campaign to be a presidential candidate and was singularly unsuccessful. So, there is some indication that money is not everything. There are enormous dangers, but money is not always enough to win votes. Patrick Gaspard: Bloomberg became a national figure because he spent ungodly sums of money in his New York mayoral campaign. However, your larger point about his personal resources in the presidential contest not being sufficient to get him anywhere close to the finish line is well noted. I will note that at this moment, though, a select number of extraordinarily wealthy Americans are playing outsized roles in our politics on both sides. It is extraordinary that Elon Musk can use his social media platform in a way that is clearly partisan, but that is not counted as a political contribution in our campaign finance system. Then he can just announce that he is going to move over $100 million into a political action committee to elect a candidate while he is clearly in coordination with that candidate and his campaign. There are aspects about our system that are broken and need real examination and reform. Ann Bernstein: I always think electoral reform is so hard because it is like asking the turkeys to vote for Christmas, but hopefully we can get there. What do you think will happen in America if Donald Trump wins? Patrick Gaspard: We have several reference points from the past. His last presidency started its first day with a prejudiced, radical declaration banning Muslims from America. This led to instant mobilisation and litigation that his administration eventually lost, but it started on that footing and ended, infamously, with an autocratic grasp for power, which the whole world witnessed, on January 6. His presidency was characterised by prejudice on the front end and anti-democratic chaos on the back end. In the middle of his tenure, the only legislative success Trump can claim is a tax programme that benefited the richest one per cent of Americans, which significantly lowered corporate taxes and expanded the national deficit to an extent not seen before. This policy did not benefit the working-class Americans he purported to be a champion of, but instead exclusively benefitted his wealthiest friends. He did nothing to deal with the profound challenge of affordable housing in America, nor did he tackle the fentanyl and opiate crises that he had lamented about during his campaign. As President, he had a series of national security advisors, attorneys general, and chiefs of staff, who one after another, had to publicly rebuke him for executive overreach. Many fell on their swords and were removed for trying to keep some checks and balances on the president in place. We also saw chaotic governance of the U.S. response to the global pandemic that led, by some estimates, to hundreds of thousands more deaths in the country than would have occurred if Trump had simply followed the guidance from his own advisors and healthcare agencies. All that happened on his watch. Now we are in a moment where it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump not only intends not to surround himself with senior members of the Republican Party but also intends to replace 50 000 federal employees with political hacks that will do his bidding in agencies that are supposed to be independent of executive authority and above partisan politics. He has mentioned that he would weaponise the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the National Guard to go after people he deemed, “enemies of the state”. By that, he means his own personal, political enemies. He has threatened the press with this abuse of authority, as well as some members of the Democratic Party. There is a 922-page manifesto for the seizure of power called Project 2025. Seventy per cent of the authors of this authoritarian playbook declare that if they have another opportunity to be in power, they are going to blow up the federal civil administration currently in place. I could go on and on about the clear and present danger that this person represents for our democratic institutions and basic rights in this country, but I think his vulgarity, and inability to express any empathy at all for the vulnerable people in our country speaks volumes about how he would govern if he was given a second term. Ann Bernstein: The election is very close. What is going on in America, and why do so many people want to vote for somebody with the track record you are describing? And what happened to the Republican Party? Patrick Gaspard: I should note that cynicism and scepticism about democracy are not unique to the U.S. We have seen the rise of autocrats all around the world. There is something about the moment that we are living in. The confluence of multiple global crises like the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic that have created downward pressure on public assets, and the lived experience of average folks who are buried by the cost of living, and by runaway inflation. This is further compounded by hypermigration and the politics of sovereignty around the world. Countries feel the need to build moats and pull up the drawbridge, not appreciating that all these issues are transnational in nature and require multilateral cooperation. The world over, citizens no longer see a democratic dividend. They do not believe that the economy will be better for their children than it was for them, and all of that leads to cynicism and scepticism. In Hungary, India, the U.S and South Africa, people are asking, “How have we benefited from democracy?” and reaching the conclusion that “We need a different direction.” Many of these responses, furthermore, are fuelled by a revolution in the communication ecosystem. We are going through the greatest revolution in human communication since the invention of the printing press. How we interact now, through our screens, in ways that are governed overwhelmingly by algorithms, is having profound global effects. It is also true that in the U.S. both political parties are seen as agents of the wealthiest people in the country. Working class or struggling people are feeling left out. Both parties need to address that perception through narratives and policymaking that puts the majority of people at the centre. As far as the Republican Party is concerned, they have been captured by the Frankenstein monster they built in their basement. Republicans brought some of the worst elements in society into the fold and thought they could control them. They opened the door to people affiliated with violent paramilitary organisations and to extreme white supremacists. They invited those who embraced the rhetoric of violence in politics, and thought they could control the Frankenstein in their basement. Frankenstein got out of the basement, and then became their candidate. Consequently, their primary base has been altered in a way that seems to embolden a cult of personality. Right now, if Donald Trump argues that the sun revolves around the Earth and not the other way around, 80 per cent of his supporters will believe it. We now have a fact-free space that has worsened in the era of social media, at a time when the beast of hatred and bigotry has been fed and become larger. Ann Bernstein: What do you think will happen if Trump wins? How do you think the Democratic Party and the population will respond? Secondly, are you worried about democracy in America? Patrick Gaspard: I and many others are doing everything we can to preserve, protect and promote a set of values that will strengthen American democracy. And those values, of course, must be attached to a set of policy outcomes that indicate that we are listening to our populations, learning and growing with them. Now, what will happen to the Democratic Party if Donald Trump is successful? First, there will be instant resistance across communities. Abortion rights are a huge issue in this campaign; I think the fear of the federalisation of the restrictions on women’s rights is real. There will be mobilisation by institutional democrats and by rank-and-file folk against those actions. There will be fights over tax cuts and Republicans in the U.S. Senate will seek to shut down government services in budget negotiations. There will also be a move away from long-held commitments overseas, NATO being one, as well as the commitment to Ukraine against the illegal invasion of that country by Vladimir Putin, who seems to be on a first-name basis with Donald Trump. The Democrats will contest and litigate to stop the worst offences from happening. And you will also see the protection of whistleblowers inside that government as Donald Trump and his Project 2025 cohort begin to take steps that would crumble checks and balances inside the government. Ann Bernstein: China is often said to be a country that likes certainty and stability for economic and other reasons. Who do you think they want to win? Patrick Gaspard: China would be pleased with a much weaker United States and instability in multilateral institutions like NATO and our traditional allies in the EU. The election of Donald Trump represents that weakness, chaos and instability. Given Chinese interference in the U.S. electoral system in 2016 and 2020, it is glaringly obvious that they have their thumb on the scale for Donald Trump. It is clear that President Xi does not have a tremendous amount of respect for Trump and, as with many other autocrats, he views Trump as somebody easily flattered and manipulated. From my point of view, Donald Trump presents China with an opportunity to extend their power and leverage. Ann Bernstein: This has been a fantastic and really fascinating conversation. Issued by the CDE, 3 December 2024 (Centre for Development and Enterprise) Warm regards Cliff photo CLIFF HALL

56 Die In Soccer Station Violence In Guinea

Deadly Games Guinea At least 56 people died in a stampede at a soccer stadium in Guinea’s second-most populous city over the weekend, an incident that sparked calls for an official investigation and criticism of the ruling military junta, CBS News reported. On Monday, authorities said clashes erupted the day before between soccer fans during a local tournament in the southern city of Nzérékoré following a disputed penalty. Local media reported that security forces tried to restore calm by using tear gas, with footage showing fans skirmishing as others tried to flee. Government officials announced a probe to find those responsible, with Prime Minister Oury Bah promising full medical and psychological support to all those injured. The stampede took place as Guinea was holding a tournament in honor of junta leader, President Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in a military coup in 2021. An opposition political coalition known as the National Alliance for Change and Democracy called for an investigation into the incident and accused authorities of having “significant responsibility for these grave events,” according to the BBC. The opposition also condemned the tournament as an attempt to boost support for the “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions of the country’s military leader. Doumbouya came to power after overthrowing President Alpha Condé three years ago, saying the West African country was at risk of slipping into chaos. In recent years, a growing number of West African countries, including Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have had military coups, with promises of returning to civilian rule impeded by the military rulers.

Over 1,900 Arrested On Cybercrime Charges In Africa

‘Tip of the Iceberg’ Africa Police arrested more than 1,000 people suspected of cybercrimes across 19 African countries between September and October, Interpol announced this week, in a coordinated operation aimed at combatting rising cyber threats on the continent, the Washington Post reported. The operation, dubbed Operation Serengeti, was a joint cooperation between Interpol and the African Union’s policing agency, Afripol. It targeted cybercrimes such as ransomware, phishing, digital extortion, and online scams. Local law enforcement agencies and private-sector partners, including Internet service providers, played a major role in the effort. Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza called the results a testament to international cooperation, noting that cybercrime’s increasing complexity demands collective action. The international police organization identified some 35,000 victims worldwide, with financial losses totaling nearly $193 million. In Kenya, police arrested nearly two dozen individuals connected to a credit card fraud operation that caused $8.6 million in damages. In Senegal, authorities apprehended eight suspects, including five Chinese nationals, for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 1,800 people of $6 million, Africanews noted. Meanwhile, Nigerian police arrested a suspect behind cryptocurrency scams, believed to have made over $300,000. The operation also uncovered human trafficking networks in Cameroon, where victims from seven countries were lured with false job offers, then held captive and forced to operate pyramid schemes. According to a United Nations report and Interpol findings, many people involved in online scams are trafficking victims coerced into illegal activities under abusive conditions. Urquiza and other officials also warned about the growing sophistication of cybercrime, including the use of AI-powered malware and digital extortion. Afripol executive director Jalel Chelba emphasized the need for continued international collaboration to address emerging threats. While Operation Serengeti marks significant progress, Urquiza cautioned that these arrests represent “just the tip of the iceberg,” underscoring the ongoing challenges posed by cybercrime, which costs the global economy hundreds of millions annually. Share this story

Social Unrest Grows In Angola

Playing Hardball Angola Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Angolan police of killing at least 17 protesters over the past 30 months and using excessive force to suppress demonstrations, a report that came days after thousands of people protested in the capital Luanda to denounce growing poverty and authoritarianism, Agence France-Presse reported. In its report, Amnesty detailed police actions at 11 protests between November 2020 and June 2023, where officers fired live bullets, deployed tear gas, and carried out arbitrary arrests. The document highlighted the January 2021 crackdown in the eastern mining town of Cafunfo, where police killed at least 10 demonstrators. In another deadly incident in June 2023, authorities allegedly shot four demonstrators, including a 12-year-old boy, in the central city of Huambo. The human rights group criticized Angolan authorities under the administration of President João Lourenço for failing to hold officers or their superiors accountable, writing that they consistently stifle the constitutional right to peaceful assembly, AFP wrote separately. The report’s findings come days after around 4,000 people joined a peaceful opposition-led protest in Luanda to condemn poor governance and economic hardship. Supporters of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola party (UNITA) carried banners declaring “Lourenço leave” and “people are dying of hunger” as they marched under close police surveillance. Demonstrators also called attention to severe drought and hunger gripping southern Africa, which the United Nations said has left millions struggling to find food. UNITA secretary general Álvaro Chikwamanga blamed the governing People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) for the worsening conditions, accusing it of failing to address poverty despite Angola’s vast oil wealth. Tensions in the country have especially been running high since parliament passed a controversial “vandalism law” in August, that critics say forbids protests, Deutsche Welle noted. The law criminalizes filming police misconduct, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Vandalism offenses, including property damage, can carry sentences of 20 to 25 years. Critics lambasted the bill, saying it violates constitutional rights and deters citizens from demonstrating. Civic groups have accused the government of weaponizing the law to silence dissent. Opposition leaders and activists vow to continue protesting until authorities repeal the law.

Namibia May Get Its First Woman President

Freedom Fighters, Beware Namibia The South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) led the fight against South Africa, then under Apartheid, for Namibia’s independence in 1990. It has led the country since. Now, that might be changing. As University of Pretoria political scientist Henning Melber argued recently in the Conversation, SWAPO presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, known as NNN, is running after a series of elections in which Namibian voters have expressed their dissatisfaction with SWAPO’s unfulfilled promises for economic growth, its corruption scandals, and other issues. NNN, who if elected would become the country’s first female president, wants to reduce Namibia’s dependence on diamonds. Namibia’s uranium mining industry, for example, could generate more revenues, the Diplomatic Courier wrote. SWAPO officials believe the country could double its economic growth to 8 percent annually through offshore oil and gas exploration, too, the Financial Times reported. Chevron, ExxonMobil, Galp, TotalEnergies, and Shell are operating in Namibia now. But NNN has also pledged to protect those resources for future generations – reflecting how many Namibians might be skeptical of her claims. Her closeness with business leaders as SWAPO’s endorsed candidate might seem like cold comfort to many voters who have yet to see the reforms they want. Angola and Nigeria have oil riches but have still struggled to lift many of their citizens from poverty, too. At the same time, Panduleni Itula, a former SWAPO official and the founder of a new opposition party, Independent Patriots for Change, appears to be giving NNN a run for her money. Itula has pledged to create jobs while investing in housing, sanitation, electricity, and water for the approximately one million Namibians who now lack those services, Channel Africa noted. Itula and other opposition figures have also successfully sounded alarm bells about the unfair fundraising practices and connections that have helped SWAPO retain power over the past decades, added the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. This efforts come as trust in SWAPO has fallen from 42 percent in 2014 to 17 percent in 2021. The coup de grȃce in this downward plunge was the so-called “fishrot scandal,” which involved SWAPO leaders diverting fishing quotes from local companies to foreign ones for millions in kickbacks. SWAPO is facing a downward momentum that other liberationist political parties in Botswana, Zambia, Mauritius, South Africa, and elsewhere also are, mainly because they have failed to live up to their pledges for growth as governing political parties, noted Nyasha Mcbride Mpani of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation based in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Mail & Guardian. Namibia is on the brink of change, he added. Namibians, having witnessed the possibility of ousting a liberation movement, now see this as their opportunity to push for change,” he wrote. “(SWAPO) must confront its vulnerabilities by addressing corruption, reconnecting with its grassroots base and offering tangible solutions to Namibia’s economic problems. Its liberation struggle credentials, while significant, may not be enough … The outcome will not only determine SWAPO’s future but also signal whether Namibia will follow the regional trend of rejecting liberation movements in favor of change.”

An Old African Leader Declines To Step Down

The Art of Gaslighting Guinea-Bissau Speaking at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan recently, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló detailed his government’s “strategic actions” to mitigate the impacts of climate change on his Portuguese-speaking nation. These measures, he said, according to Voice of America, include growing mangroves to blunt rising sea levels and halt ecological degradation. They are crucial, he added, because climate changes are becoming extremely dangerous for Guinea-Bissau. Residents such as 70-year-old Aghoti Sanhan, can attest to that. “The sea keeps coming toward us,” Sanhan told the World Economic Forum recently. “The fields have been ruined by the seawater. (The) land is getting smaller and many people have abandoned the village. One day, I will have to make a decision to abandon this house, too.” Sanhan’s house lacks electricity and running water, a common problem in the Atlantic coastal nation even though the World Bank determined that Guinea-Bissau possesses the “highest natural capital per capita in West Africa,” meaning lots of untapped potential given its natural resources. Inadequate infrastructure, dependence on agriculture, the exposure of low-lying coastal areas to climate change risks, organized crime – the country is a key transit hub for illegal narcotics from Latin America to Europe – the suppression of civil society, and political issues are among the obstacles to positive change, the institution wrote. Illustrating the situation was the president’s recent decision to postpone parliamentary elections indefinitely. As Agence France-Presse wrote, Embaló dissolved parliament in December 2023 after what he described as a failed coup attempt. Afterward, he scheduled new elections for Nov. 24 this year. But just weeks before the elections, he scrapped them. That turn of events was the latest in a history of corruption, coups, and other disruptions in the country, World Politics Review noted. Not having a parliament might make Embaló’s life easier. He was elected in late 2019 to govern for a five-year term. Remarkably, aiming to quell accusations that he is trying to consolidate his power to remain in office indefinitely, Embaló has pledged not to run for reelection when his term ends, Africa News reported. However, since elections were legally supposed to be held this year and he’s canceled them, that means little, wrote Deutsche Welle, adding that it is likely he will actually run again. The president’s actions may not be a bad thing if he uses the extra time to improve the country’s institutions, especially the judiciary, argued Paulin Maurice Toupane of the Institute for Security Studies. But he added that it could increase instability and backfire on the presidents. Others, however, believe that the country is headed for another coup. Alex Vines, the Africa director at Chatham House, told Inkstick earlier this year that the “failure of security sector reform, penetration of organized crime and the absence of credible institutions” are continuing to increase instability in Guinea-Bissau. “Under Mr. Embaló’s increasingly authoritarian rule, further clampdowns on opposition leaders should be expected – often justified through claims of preserving national security – in the foreseeable future … The dissolution of parliament further highlights the fragility of governability and the risk of a further coup attempt.” Share this story

Gabon-A Promise Fulfilled

Share this story A Promise, Fulfilled Gabon Gabonese voters cast their ballots in favor of a new constitution in a referendum over the weekend that would also see the Central African country end the transitional military government that deposed long-time President Ali Bongo Ondimba last year, Africanews reported. Provisional results on Sunday showed a 91.8 percent “yes” vote based on turnout of just under 54 percent, Gabon’s interior minister said on state television. Saturday’s referendum came more than a year after the army led by Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema seized power shortly after Bongo was reelected as president in the August 2023 elections. the Voice of America reported. The army and opposition parties said the election was rigged. The coup ended the rule of the Bongo dynasty which had controlled the Central African nation for nearly 60 years, starting with Omar Bongo, who died in 2009 and power was handed to his son, Ali. Nguema – who became head of the military government – vowed to hand power back to civilians after a two-year transition and urged voters to support the new constitution, Al Jazeera added. Analysts said the new charter would prevent political dynasties as it would bar the president’s relatives from succeeding him. The draft constitution also increases the president’s term from five to seven years and imposes a two-term limit. While some citizens were pleased with the provisions, opposition politicians and civil society groups expressed concern over some changes that would give more power to the president. These include removing the post of prime minister and being granted the power to dissolve parliament, as well as hiring and firing vice presidents. Others also warned that the draft constitution was tailor-made for a strongman to be able to remain in power, noting that junta leader Nguema is not barred from running. Local media reported that early results showed that a majority of voters approved the new charter. The final results will be released by the constitutional court – although officials did not provide a specific timeline. After the results, Gabon will revise its electoral laws in February and establish an elections management body, Nguema said. The oil-rich country is expected to hold presidential, parliamentary, and local elections in August 2025. Share this story

Islamic Violence And Political Instability In Burkina Faso

The Coup Trap Burkina Faso When a military junta seized power more than two years ago in Burkina Faso, the coup leaders promised to end the violence and fighting that were plaguing the country. They failed. Islamist fighters now hold sway over 40 percent of the landlocked West African country, according to ACAPS, a research firm. Jihadists have also killed more than 2,000 people this year, an almost 75 percent increase over the rate before September 2022, when the junta staged its coup against a leader who had taken power only nine months earlier in another coup, World Politics Review added. These are some of the reasons that some people in Burkina Faso have lost faith in their armed forces. A video now circulating in the country, for example, depicts Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland, a government-sanction militia group, hacking corpses with machetes, while “gloating” on camera, the BBC reported. The military under Burkina Faso’s interim president, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, is now investigating the matter. News in the country now often centers on lethal attacks where the central government and its militia allies have not been able to defend their positions. Last month, al Qaeda-linked terrorists killed as many as 600 people in the remote northern town of Barsalogho. CNN dubbed the attack one of the deadliest in Africa in decades, describing the violence as another example of how the region – called the Sahel – has become increasingly unstable in recent years. Investigators at Human Rights Watch later concluded that Burkinabe troops could have prevented the attacks if they had not forced civilian laborers to dig a trench around a military base in the town, creating a target for the jihadists, and then leaving those civilians defenseless. The same al Qaeda-linked militants killed more than 100 Burkinabe soldiers in the town of Mansila near the border with Niger, added Al Jazeera. Another 150 people died when terrorists attacked the northeastern town of Manni, wrote the Catholic News Agency. Traore bears responsibility for these losses. He came to power in 2022, a year when Burkina Faso saw two coups and three presidencies. He has retained power, rather than setting up democratic elections or another transfer of power as he promised in the early days of his administration, saying that the security situation in the country has warranted it. Writing in Geopolitical Intelligence Services, African affairs expert Teresa Nogueira Pinto described Traore’s situation as a “coup trap” where juntas come under pressure to solve the problems that weakened the previous government they overturned. In Burkina Faso, where the junta has lost control over half of its territory and where one in four Burkinabe now requires humanitarian aid, the coup has had disastrous consequences. “Over the past decade, and particularly in the last four years, militant insurgency has upended security and humanitarian conditions in the Sahel, now considered the global epicenter of jihadism,” she wrote. “Amid regional turmoil and domestic political instability, Burkina Faso – until recently viewed as a beacon of stability – has become the epicenter of religious extremism in the Sahel.” Share this story

South Africa Will Not Help 4,000 Illegal Miners Trapped in a Mine

South Africa South Africa’s government said will not help 4,000 illegal miners stuck inside a mine without basic necessities because they want to “smoke them out” and stop the illegal mining in the country, the Associated Press reported. Recently, police closed off the entrances to an old mineshaft in Stilfontein in northwestern South Africa, leaving thousands of illegal miners, known locally as “zama zamas” stuck without food, water or other basic supplies. The closure is part of the police’s Vala Umgodi operation, or “Close the Hole”, which aims to cut off entrances used by the miners to transport supplies, in an effort to force them to return above ground and face arrest. Police have estimated that as many as 4,000 miners may be below the surface. In the past weeks, over 1,000 miners have emerged sick and hungry from various mines in the region after going weeks without basic supplies. They were arrested by authorities. “We are not sending help to criminals,” said Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. “We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. We didn’t send them there.” Illegal mining is common in South Africa’s former gold mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to search for gold and other minerals. The illegal miners often hail from neighboring countries and are part of larger syndicates that employ the miners. The miners work in extremely dangerous conditions, but are also deemed dangerous by South African authorities, noted Deutsche Welle. Nearby communities have complained about the presence of the illegal miners, saying that they commit crimes such as robberies and rape. Disputes sometimes between rival mining groups result in fatalities, as the groups are known to be heavily armed. Share this story

Cape Town Named The Best Food City In The World!

'We have changed the game': Cape Town crowned best food city in the world accreditation Noluthando Ngcakani Comments Comments add bookmark Bookmark 08:11 Cape Town is officially the world's best food city. Cape Town is officially the world's best food city. Cape Town has been named the World's Best Food City in the 2024 Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards, scoring an impressive 95.65 and surpassing culinary destinations like Tokyo, Rome, and Porto. The accolade highlights the city's unique blend of African, Dutch, Malay, and Indian culinary influences, celebrated by local chefs and restaurateurs contributing to its diverse and innovative food scene. Chefs and restaurateurs anticipate the accolade will elevate Cape Town's global standing, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and culinary excellence. Cape Town has been crowned the World's Best Food City in the 2024 Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards. The city, sprawling with tasty corners and crevices, is proud of its intricate and often complex food story, which adds to its charm. With a tantalising 95.65 score in the prestigious competition, Cape Town bested culinary hotspots like Tokyo, Rome, and Porto, cementing itself as the world's culinary capital. Millions of global travellers ranked the award based on the foods on offer in cities, as well as on quality, service, and overall experience. Cape Town's unique blend of African, Dutch, Malay, and Indian influences made it the top food city. Its rich cultural heritage has shaped the city's culinary landscape, resulting in diverse flavours and cooking styles. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bo-Kaap Kombuis (@bokaapkombuis) One example of its vibrant heritage is Die Kombuis, a landmark eatery in Cape Town's historic Bo-Kaap neighbourhood - where owner Yusef Larney and his wife, Nazli, have been serving authentic Cape Malay cuisine for more than 19 years. Larney expressed his excitement about the city's recognition, telling News24 Food: "Cape Town deserves it - it speaks to the diversity of our people and how we can stick together." He built his business brick-by-brick, transforming a once humble two-bedroom house in the Bo-Kaap into a four-storey building that is home to a guesthouse and bustling eatery. "I have had a dream [of opening a restaurant] since high school." Die Bo-Kaap Kombuis is Larney's celebration of his Cape Malay roots and its bold and aromatic cuisine. Cape Malay cuisine first took shape in the 17th century when the Dutch East India Company brought enslaved people from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries to the Cape. Larney says these enslaved people played a significant role in shaping the region's culinary landscape, adding: Cape Malay cuisine is a melting pot of history and a labour of love. When the Dutch came here and displaced people from Malaysia and Indonesia and brought them here as enslaved people. "They mixed with indigenous people from here; not only were their bonds born from that, but also this merging of different flavours." The Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry. READ| The story of Cape Malay cuisine as told by proud chefs Home of the culinary innovator The city's culinary scene is not just about tradition. It's also a hub of innovation, with chefs like James Gaag of La Colombe inspired to push the boundaries of fine dining. Gaag believes the award will further elevate Cape Town's global standing on the international fine dining stage. "As with any award, it does come with a fair amount of pressure to maintain high standards - but this isn't an industry you get into if you can't handle a little pressure. "We are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining options in the city - of course, fine dining has a special place in my heart - but I do love that no matter what you're craving, you'll find it in Cape Town." Edge Africa co-founder Absie Pantshwa echoes Gaag's sentiments, adding these awards should aim to give African ingredients and culinary techniques on the international stage. Pantshwa and award-winning chef Vusi Ndlovu founded Edge Africa, a culinary collective committed to showcasing Africa's culinary glory. READ| Ex-cop goes from serving his country to serving up traditional meals at his restaurants "We are opening up our minds more about what is available around us than looking outside of the country and continent. "We have always been focused on the African ingredients narrative, cooking over fire and giving the ingredients we have around us the respect they deserve. It's about providing a voice to African ingredients and growing." View this post on Instagram A post shared by EDGE Restaurant (@edge.africa) Pitso Chauke, the owner of Pitso's Kitchen, expressed his excitement about Cape Town's culinary diversity, comparing it to a blend of Europe and Africa. The Limpopo-born food entrepreneur is a former Cape Town detective who quit the police to follow his culinary passions, opening his first restaurant at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock in 2016. "It's so exciting. We all know this place is so diverse - like Europe and Africa in one place. It is fascinating. About seven years ago, I read an article about Cape Town not having African cuisine, 20-something years after apartheid - now, looking at it, we have changed the game." Forgotten gems South African cookbook author Errieda du Toit further emphasises the broader impact of Cape Town's recognition in the culinary world, highlighting the rising prominence of African cuisine. "I know that part of Cape Town's food magic is rooted in its powerful diversity. The city increasingly shows a much larger diversity. I think the recognition and nature of the award will further encourage growth in the diversity of its food offerings." Du Toit also points out while Cape Town offers a rich culinary experience, much remains to be done to promote the food offerings in the rural areas of the Western Cape. sleepwalking chef Celebrity chef and food writer Errieda du Toit says she’s been sleepwalking for years – and then creates the weirdest dishes. (PHOTO: Supplied) She hopes the award will encourage more people to explore these areas, which offer incredible produce, scenery, and people. "I feel that we have a long way to go in what we offer tourists outside the city - our countryside. I am not talking about the Stellenbosches and the Elgins that come with the West Cape - these platteland dorpies I find when I go there; they cater for every palate." The top ten Cape Town, South Africa. Score 95.65 Milan, Italy. Score 95.20 Valencia, Spain. Score 95.00 Tokyo, Japan. Score 94.78 Porto, Portugal. Score 94.48 Hong Kong, China. Score 93.94 Bangkok, Thailand. Score 93.71 Rome, Italy. Score 93.33 Singapore. Score 92.90 Sydney, Australia. Score 92.50

The State Of Democracy In The World-Adriaan Basson

Letter from the editor: Truth, trust and Trump in a time of AI   ADRIAAN BASSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dear Subscriber, I write this letter from London where I am attending the Thomson Reuters Foundation's annual conference on trust. The conference gives a glimpse into the state of democracy and freedom of speech globally, and the latest developments in technology affecting public trust. This year's conference had a specific focus on the explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – generative AI in particular – and its impact on society. It is clear to me that we are at the beginning of an historic era of change in how society works and interacts, not unlike the beginning years of the internet. It is wise not to make too many hard predictions or bets on how AI will (or won't) change the world, suffice to say it is happening every day, on every connected device and will only intensify for the rest of our lives. AI isn't good or bad – it is both – and I listened to many forces for good talking about the incredible opportunities AI will create to improve the world for millions of people. We all need to stay on top of the developments of AI in our industries and how it will impact the future of work, health, finance and communication. AI will fundamentally shape and influence our relationship with facts and the truth – and this is where journalism and News24 comes in. I leave London with the distinct belief that quality journalism – digging through the garbage (a word used aplenty in relation to the poor use of AI) in search of the magical truth – has an even bigger role and purpose in this brave new world. "AI is having a profound impact on society and democracy. AI is clearly the new battleground for trust," said the foundation's impressive CEO, Antonio Zappulla. What does this mean for the average South African citizen who wants to stay on top of the latest developments in news, business, sport and entertainment? It means that you simply cannot depend on social media platforms like Facebook, Google, X, WhatsApp or TikTok for credible, trusted content. Viral messages forwarded on your community WhatsApp group are likely false. We saw shocking examples of how these platforms are used by agents of disinformation to spread lies, fears and influence agendas. Which brings me to the US presidential election on 5 November. There was a tangible tension in the conference hall that the re-election of former US president Donald Trump could intensify attacks on the truth, democracy and freedom of speech. These fears aren't unfounded. During his first term, Trump illustrated his disdain for the facts when they don't suit his agenda and labelled credible sources of news, critical of his presidency, as "fake". This had a chilling impact globally, also in South Africa. It has become commonplace for South African consumers on social platforms to glibly call articles or publications they don't agree with "fake news". This poses an immediate and immense challenge for those of us who pride ourselves on factual, fair reporting as journalists. Firstly, we have to up our game and ensure that our journalism is top notch. This counts for every single journalist working for News24. Yes, we will make mistakes, but we need to limit this to the absolute minimum, acknowledge when we have erred and uphold the best standards of quality reporting as outlined by the Press Code. Secondly, we have to admit that we cannot compete with the big platforms like Facebook, X and WhatsApp on their terms. They are not interested in the truth; they are owned by a handful of dollar billionaires in Silicon Valley who have little interest in the public good or creating better societies. They will increasingly use AI to feed algorithms for the highest bidder. This means we have to be better, smarter and more innovative on our own platforms. Lastly, when and where we experiment with AI tools in disseminating the journalism we gather, we need to be upfront with you, our readers, that AI was involved and always ensure that a human editor signs off on any piece of content AI has touched. The opportunities for using AI to distribute and enrich our quality journalism are immense and we should not shy away from embracing technology for the good. My promise to you is that we will do this in a way that is ethical and transparent. It remains an enormous pleasure and privilege to work as a journalist in a democratic country that enshrines freedom of speech in its Constitution. As we were congregating in London, 320 journalists globally remain imprisoned while more than 100 have already been killed this year, largely in the Middle East. We cannot do this alone. Your subscription to News24 enables us to stand firm in the face of misinformation and those who abuse technology to divide and destroy democracy. Adriaan

Nigeria Suffers Its 6th Nationwide Power blackout

Nationwide Blackout As National Grid Collapses Sixth Time This Year Like Comment Oct 16, 2024 98 views By: Our Correspondents Source: Daily Independent The national power grid on Monday experienced another collapse, marking the sixth time that the coun­try has being plugged into darkness this year. According to data ob­tained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal between 7:00p.m and the time of filing this report, the grid recorded an un­precedented zero mega­watts (MW). Data gleaned showed that all 22 generation companies (GenCos) were down. Advertisement This collapse marks the sixth grid disturbance in 2024, adding to challenges that have long plagued Ni­geria’s power sector. Despite the widespread impact of the blackout, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had not stated to confirm the oc­currence, leaving the pub­lic and stakeholders in the dark about the source and resolution of the newest crisis. generation grid international utility business Discussions

South Africa: 28 Million People On Grants With Only 7.4 Million Tax Payers Paying The Bill

South Africa has 28 million people on grants – but only 7.4 million taxpayers Daily Investor • 14 October 2024 Social grants The South African Social Security Agency’s (SASSA) annual report for the 2023/24 financial year revealed that it pays grants to 28 million South Africans. In turn, the National Treasury’s 2024 Budget Review shows that 7.4 million individuals in South Africa pay income tax. SASSA CEO Busisiwe Memela told Parliament on 11 October 2024 that South Africa serves two groups of clients. The first group is their ‘core clients, which are traditional grant recipients, and the second is recipients of the Social Relief Distress (SRD) grant of R350. Memela said 19 million South Africans receive grants, including older people, children, people with disabilities, war veterans, and people in distress. 55% of these grant recipients are from four regions – KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape. There are also 9 million SRD grant recipients, which started during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Memela told Portfolio Committee on Social Development members that South Africa has 28 million grant recipients. Put differently, approximately 45% of South Africa’s 64 million population benefits from social transfers. Social development is the third-largest line item in South Africa’s 2024/2025 national budget, with R387 billion planned to be spent this year. This amount includes R107 billion in old-age grants, R89 billion in social security funds, and R86 billion in child support grants. The budget further includes R73 billion for other grants, R22 billion for provincial social development, and R10 billion for Policy oversight and grant administration. National Treasury said R1.17 trillion is allocated for social grants and welfare services over the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) period. Social grants constitute 81.8% of spending in this function over the medium term, including helping women, youth and people with disabilities. Expenditure on social grants, excluding the SRD grant, will increase from R217.1 billion in 2023/24 to R259.3 billion in 2026/27. The SRD distress grant will receive R33.6 billion in 2024/25. Provisional allocations for social protection will be added to the fiscal framework in 2025/26 and 2026/27. Tax revenue to fund social grants Tax revenue to fund South Africa’s budget comes from three main sources: personal income tax, value-added tax (VAT), and corporate income tax. Personal income tax is the largest contributor to tax revenue at R739 billion, followed by VAT at R467 billion and corporate income tax at R303 billion. However, South Africa faces a challenge. It has only 7.4 million personal income taxpayers, while the state supports 28 million people through grants. The National Treasury’s 2024 Budget Review revealed that 7,409,406 people earn a high enough salary to pay income tax. There are 6.8 million registered individuals in South Africa with taxable income below the income‐tax threshold of R95,750 per year. The biggest contributors are people who earn above R1.5 million per year. They contribute R236 billion, or 32%, to personal income tax revenue. What is concerning is that there are only 197,866 people in South Africa who earn over R1.5 million. This means that 2.7% of people who pay personal income tax account for 32% of all collections from this important revenue source. Even more concerning is that South Africa’s expenses, particularly related to social grants, are increasing much faster than tax revenue. For the past decade, the government has consistently outspent its revenue, and it expects to run a deficit of R347 billion in the current financial year. To fund these deficits, the government takes on more debt. South Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratio is around 75%, growing from 2% to 3% annually. This is unlikely to stop. President Cyril Ramaphosa said in July that the government plans to use the SRD grant as the basis for some form of a Basic Income Grant. “We will use this grant to introduce a sustainable form of income support for unemployed people to address the challenge of income poverty,” he said. Creating a permanent basic income grant will add billions to the budget annually, which the country cannot afford. Renowned economist Dawie Roodt said South Africa’s growing debt burden is the biggest threat to the country’s future. “We are heading for a financial crisis in South Africa. The state owes too much money. We cannot afford to spend like we do,” Roodt said. Maybe someone far cleverer has the answer to where the money will come from to repay the debt. Or, is the plan of this government to knowingly default on its debt repayments? Warm regards Cliff photo CLIFF HALL indlovu@axxess.co.za 0827810544

Political Turbulence in Tunisia

The Thumb and the Scale Tunisia Tunisia’s election campaign season kicked off Saturday, a day after mass protests erupted in the capital Tunis against President Kais Saied, who demonstrators say is trying to rig next month’s presidential vote, Reuters reported. Friday’s demonstrations were among the largest in the three years since Saied dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree, a move opponents have described as a “constitutional coup.” Protesters accused the 66-year-old president of acting as a dictator and demanded the release of opposition politicians, journalists and activists detained for opposing Saied. The protests come weeks after the electoral commission – whose members were appointed by Saied – disqualified three major election candidates over alleged irregularities. Earlier this month, a court ordered the commission to reinstate the contenders, but the electoral body rejected the ruling. With the disqualifications, only three candidates remain in the Oct. 6 presidential election: Saied, Zouhair Maghzaoui, and Ayachi Zammel. However, Zammel was jailed last week over allegations of falsifying voter signatures, charges he said are politically motivated. Meanwhile, authorities have arrested more than 100 members of the main Islamist opposition party, Ennahda, ahead of the race, the Middle East Eye reported. First elected in 2019 on a campaign against corruption, Saied has come under fire for cracking down on the opposition and consolidating his own power, including rewriting Tunisia’s constitution to benefit himself, Africanews added. Despite his promise to set a new direction for the country, Tunisia’s unemployment rate has continued to rise, reaching 16 percent, one of the highest in the region, with young Tunisians bearing the brunt of the impact. Many of Saied’s opponents have accused him of undermining the democratic progress Tunisia made after the 2011 revolution.

A 92 Year Old Man Has Ruled This Country Too Long

No Day After Cameroon Cameroonian President Paul Biya is 92 and has ruled his Central African country for 42 years. Despite his age and length of time in office, however, he appears to have made no succession plans. Instead, he’s expected to run again for president in the Oct. 25 general election. His allies in parliament in the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement political party recently extended their terms and postponed their elections by a year to 2026, too. Meanwhile, Biya has banned opposition groups that might pose a threat to his rule, Human Rights Watch noted. Even so, Cameroonians are thinking about “life after Biya,” wrote World Politics Review. Many hope the corruption, electoral fraud, the suppression of dissent, the press, free speech, and civil society – authorities recently threw a rapper in jail for insulting a local official – might change when their president leaves office. Those Cameroonians also hope the economic stagnation that has gripped the country for years will be reversed. Economic growth in Cameroon has lingered at around 3 percent for 30 years – not an impressive rate for a developing country – due to bad governance and a lack of public and private investment, the World Bank noted. Foremost among the causes for this anemic growth is corruption in the country’s vital oil industry, where revenues have been flagging. Swiss commodity trading and mining company Glencore, for example, now stands accused of bribing Cameroonian officials for oil contracts, according to the Africa Report. Glencore pled guilty to similar charges in 2022. Separatists in the English-speaking western region of the county, who want to break away from the French-speaking areas, have also hampered growth in six out of 10 of Cameroon’s provinces. As Reuters explained, this conflict dates back to 1960 when French and British colonies were merged to become one country. Conflicts between Nigerian forces and Islamist militants such as Boko Haram have also spilled over the border in Cameroon’s north, further destabilizing the country and triggering refugee crises as people flee violence, added the Norwegian Refugee Council. These large-scale challenges result in problems that affect the services that people really need. A third of the doctors who graduate from medical schools in Cameroon, for example, have left the country in search of work elsewhere, reported the Associated Press. That’s especially true for nurses, who emigrate around the world to fill staff shortages. Earlier this year, Biya, noting the rising brain-drain, appealed to young Cameroonians’ sense of patriotism and duty to remain in Cameroon, saying leaving was “not the solution” to Cameroon’s problems, Deutsche Welle reported. Rather than solving the problems that lead young people to leave, Biya seems committed to ignoring them while focusing on retaining his control over his people, said leaders of the opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, in an interview with Voice of America. If reelected – as he surely will be – Biya will rule up to 2032. By then, he will be 98 years old, VOA noted. The issues that need to be addressed will linger for his successor to deal with. And the emigration will go on. “You can’t use moral appeal or patriotism to make people stay,” Tumenta F. Kennedy, a Cameroon-based international migration consultant, told DW. “Addressing the mass movement requires efforts on addressing the root causes of migration, such as political instability, economic hardship, lack of job opportunities and last but not the least, security concerns.”

Thousands Of Christians Targeted And Killed In Nigeria

Published 11 days ago • Nigeria • Updated 7 days ago Thousands of Christians ‘deliberately targeted’ and killed in Nigeria, new report says Left Center Right Bias Comparison A report by Open Doors International reveals that thousands of Christians have been killed and displaced in Nigeria since 2020 due to increasing violence. The report includes interviews with 292 Christians and humanitarian workers about their experiences from January to April 2024. The violence mainly occurs in Borno and Plateau, with 16,769 Christians killed from October 2019 to September 2023, primarily by Boko Haram and Fulani militants.

People From Senegal Are Using Nicaragua As A Gateway To The U.S.

Weaponizing Migration Nicaragua In Senegal, Haiti, India, China, and Libya, the hot new ticket is Nicaragua. Famed for its beaches, volcanos and rainforests, citizens of dozens of countries are attracted by a different lure: It’s become a major gateway to the United States. “In Senegal, it’s all over the streets – everyone’s talking about Nicaragua, Nicaragua, Nicaragua,” Gueva Ba, 40, of the capital Dakar, told the Associated Press. Ba paid about $10,000 to get to Nicaragua in July 2023, where he then made his way to the US border with Mexico. After crossing it, he was caught, detained and deported a few months later, along with 131 other Senegalese who had also tried their luck. Ba, like many of the tens of thousands of migrants now trying to use this route, had already tried to make it to Europe 11 times by boat from Morocco across the Mediterranean. But with Nicaragua, he knew he had a special advantage; not only did he not need a visa to land there, but more importantly, Nicaragua is actively encouraging such migration as a way to punish the US for sanctions against the repressive regime of President Daniel Ortega, in power for 28 of the past 45 years, say US officials. “The Ortega government knows they have few important policy tools at hand to confront the United States … so they have armed migration as a way to attack,” said Manuel Orozco, director of the migration at the Inter-American Dialogue, in an interview with NPR. “This is definitely a concrete example of weaponizing migration as a foreign policy.” Beyond a tit-for-tat for sanctions, Nicaragua’s government, led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), is making millions of dollars with its business of human trafficking, imposing arbitrary entry fees on the migrant arrivals that can be as much as $200 per person, as well as thousands of dollars in landing and departure fees imposed on the charters, wrote El País. And those prices are going up – arrivals from Africa now will be charged more than $1,100 to land in Nicaragua. US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said he was “concerned” about the “dramatic” increase in flights to Nicaragua to promote migration. “No one should profit from the desperation of vulnerable migrants – not smugglers, private companies, public officials or governments,” he wrote on X. The US slapped new sanctions on Nicaragua in May over the migration issue. The numbers tell the story. Between May 2023 and May 2024, more than 1,000 flights with migrants from countries such as Libya, Morocco, Uzbekistan, India, and Tajikistan landed in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, while in a six-month period between June to November 2023, about 500 flights, mostly from Haiti and Cuba, landed there, according to the Inter-American Dialogue. At the same time, while arrests for illegal crossings on the US-Mexico border topped 6.4 million between January 2021 and January 2024 (before falling steeply later in 2024), Mexicans accounted for only about one-quarter of those arrested, the rest coming from more than 100 countries, wrote the think tank. From July to December 2023 there were more than 20,200 arrests of just Senegalese migrants for crossing the border illegally, 10 times the figure for arrests in the same period in 2022. “Migration flows to the United States have more than doubled to over eight million people annually from 2020 and 2023,” the organization wrote, adding that Nicaragua is responsible for at least 10 percent of all migration that has arrived at the Mexico-US border. The charters first began in 2021, when the Nicaraguan government opened the doors of the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport, relaxed visa requirements for African nationals and welcomed the first migrant arrivals from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Curacao, and Haiti. Today, passengers now fly from countries in South America, North Africa and Central Asia, to the country on their way to the US to avoid the dangerous crossing at the Darien Gap at the Colombian-Panamanian border, the World wrote. The Senegalese and others became part of a surge in migration at the southern border, made up for the first time of people from countries such as Mauritania, Ghana, Tajikistan and Bangladesh, who usually head towards Europe. They were able to coordinate the trip because of travel agents, smugglers and the information that comes from social media and apps like WhatsApp, and pay for the trip with electronic payments. Meanwhile, Nicaragua itself has been increasingly contributing to the flows headed toward the US border over the past few years, according to the Migration Policy Institute. It has deported hundreds of its own nationals, while the deepening repression in the country has led to thousands more deciding to head north. “Nicaragua is caught in a spiral of violence marked by the persecution of all forms of political opposition, whether real or perceived, both domestically and abroad,” said Jan Simon, the chair of a United Nations human rights group that accused the Nicaraguan regime led by Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, of “crimes against humanity.” A former police special forces officer, going only by the name Edwin, was ordered to shoot protesters during mass anti-government demonstrations in 2018. Instead, he fled, before being captured, imprisoned, raped, and severely tortured. These days, he lives in exile in Costa Rica, making ends meet with odd jobs while waiting for asylum in the US. He worries about Nicaraguan officials finding him. “There were moments of desperation when I thought: ‘It would have been better if I stayed … killed all those people,” he told the Washington Post. “But I didn’t go into the police to kill people.” Share this story

A Major Prison Riot In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo

No More Room Democratic Republic of the Congo Almost 130 people died this week in an attempted mass breakout from the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s largest prison, marking one of the deadliest incidents in the country’s recent history of prison violence, CNN reported. The breakout attempt at the Makala Central Prison, near the capital Kinshasa, occurred in the early hours of Monday, resulting in major damage to the facility’s infrastructure, with fires destroying offices, the infirmary and food depots. Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani Lukoo Bihango confirmed that 129 people were killed, including 24 by gunshots, while others died from suffocation and jostling. The chaos also resulted in sexual assaults on women. About 59 individuals sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment. The government has since stated that the situation is under control. Makala Prison, built in the 1950s, has a capacity of 1,500 inmates but was holding more than 12,000 inmates before the incident. Some sources claimed the number of inmates was as high as 14,000. In 2020, a prison official told the BBC about how people were dying there because of poor conditions, including food shortages and a lack of hygiene. At the time, only about 6 percent of inmates were serving sentences. The rest were trapped in prolonged legal proceedings. This overcrowding issue has been a longstanding problem in the DRC’s penal system, contributing to deteriorating conditions and frequent prison breaks. In 2017, a similar incident at Makala resulted in the escape of over 4,000 inmates. In response to the latest breakout, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba condemned the event as a “pre-meditated act of sabotage” and announced measures to prevent overcrowding, including suspending new transfers to Makala. Rights groups are now calling for an international investigation into the incident to address systemic issues within the DRC’s penitentiary system.

Political Instability In Algeria

Victories, Great and Fixed Algeria The Olympic gold medalist who garnered headlines over “uninformed speculation about her sex,” wrote the Associated Press, was the star in a parade celebrating her victories in her hometown of Tiaret, around 300 miles to the south of the capital, Algiers. “She’s the daughter of the people,” said Dhikra Boukhavouba, an Algerian who studies in Paris, in an interview with the Washington Post. Some Algerians won’t get a chance to take to the streets to enjoy similar jubilation after the North African country’s general election on Sept. 7. Algerian police recently arrested opposition figure Fethi Ghares, picking him up at his home. The officers said they needed him for an “interrogation,” his wife told Agence France-Presse, but they didn’t explain why or produce a warrant. Officials still have not given any reason for his detainment, but the timing was unmistakable. A secular leftist who opposes conservative Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of the ruling National Liberation Front political party, Ghares had recently served two years in jail for insulting the president, harming national unity, and other charges. He formerly served as head of the Democratic and Social Movement party before Tebboune banned the party, added Africa News. Tebboune, 78, is expected to win the election, earning a second and final five-year term, reported Reuters. The president has shored up support throughout the North African country’s political elite and its major civic and corporate institutions. Energy exports have helped make him popular. An OPEC member, Algeria is a key supplier of gas to Europe. Algeria is on track to double its gas exports in the next few months as winter approaches and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to constrain supply. To further consolidate his power, the president has also sought to control information, enacting new media laws that have resulted in more arrests of journalists, less free speech and expression, and pliant, state-owned press operations, World Politics Review explained. Lastly, in addition to the arrest of Ghares, election officials rejected 13 candidates for the presidency, allowing only two to run against Tebboune: moderate Islamist Abdelaali Hassani and center-left socialist Youcef Aouchiche, wrote Radio France Internationale. These efforts might be vital to Tebboune’s chances. Only 40 percent of voters turned out to cast their ballots in 2019 when he won 58 percent of the vote after pro-democracy protests weakened the longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Tebboune has barred such protests, noted Le Monde.