Niger Gets A New President

The Forever Transition: Niger Gets New ‘President’ Niger Niger’s military junta leader, Abdourahamane Tiani, was sworn in on Wednesday as the country’s president for a five-year transition period, a move that aims to halt attempts by the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to reinstate democracy following the country’s 2023 coup, France 24 wrote. The five-year transition period, which also begins on Wednesday, remains “flexible,” said Mahamane Roufai, the secretary general of the government, speaking at a ceremony in the capital Niamey where the new transition charter was approved. Tiani, an army veteran who led the soldiers who deposed Niger’s elected government in June 2023, was elevated to the highest military rank of army general, cementing the power he has held since the coup. Following the coup, Niger’s junta had proposed a three-year transition period but when ECOWAS rejected the proposal and threatened to intervene with force, Niger left the bloc. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which have had coups in recent years and are currently run by juntas, have also left ECOWAS. The two countries earlier this year joined forces with Niger to address security concerns in the central Sahel region, forming an alliance known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), explained Reuters. Still, analysts say that Niger’s military government has failed to stop the jihadist violence it used as justification for seizing power. Instead, the insurgents have grown stronger. Share this story Disco

War By The Inches: Sudanese Military Regains Control Of The Presidential Palace

War By Inches: Sudanese Military Regains Control of Presidential Palace Sudan Sudanese forces retook control of the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the military said this weekend, marking a major symbolic and strategic victory after nearly two years of brutal warfare that has killed tens of thousands of people and devastated the country, the Washington Post reported. On Friday, Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, spokesperson for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), said army troops had “crushed” RSF fighters and reclaimed not only the Republican Palace – the prewar seat of government – but also key buildings including the Central Bank and the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service. He announced Saturday that hundreds of RSF fighters were killed as they attempted to flee. The RSF has not commented on the military’s claims, but previously said its fighters remained near the palace and had attacked soldiers inside, according to the Associated Press. Sudan erupted in civil war in April 2023 following a feud between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan of the SAF, and his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), head of the paramilitary RSF, a force formed from the Arab Janjaweed militia in western Darfur that killed thousands of people there in the 1980s. The conflict initially began in Khartoum, but later spread into other regions, including Darfur. The RSF had seized the capital’s landmarks in the early days of the conflict in April 2023, but recent weeks have seen the army retake most of them. The advance caps months of military gains in Khartoum and its surrounding cities of Omdurman and Bahri, with the army expected to now attempt to retake Khartoum International Airport – held by the RSF since the start of the war. Analysts said the fall of the presidential palace is a blow to the RSF and comes just days after Hemedti made a rare appearance in a video urging fighters to hold the line. But despite the military’s recent advancements, some analysts warned that the war is far from over and could turn into a protracted stalemate between the RSF based in the western Darfur region and the military-led government in the capital. Volker Perthes, a former United Nations envoy to Sudan, told the Associated Press that the RSF is likely to withdraw to its strongholds in Darfur. The RSF continues to hold most of western Darfur and has surrounded the last SAF-held city there, Al Fashir, bombarding camps for displaced civilians with mortars and artillery. The war has forced millions from their homes, collapsed government services, and plunged Sudan into what UNICEF describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Both sides have been accused of widespread abuses and war crimes, including mass rapes and ethnically targeted killings. The US has accused the RSF of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing, while also alleging that the SAF has obstructed aid deliveries in famine-hit areas. The outgoing Biden administration imposed sanctions on both Burhan and Hemedti in January. Meanwhile, recent cuts by the Trump administration have eliminated support for grassroots-level humanitarian services, deepening the crisis in zones where major aid agencies cannot safely operate. Share this story

Guinea-Bissau: The President Takes A Rocky Road

Friends and Enemies: Guinea-Bissau President Takes the Rocky Road Guinea-Bissau The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aims to promote economic integration and cooperation among a dozen countries, mainly along the continent’s Atlantic coast. The president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, therefore garnered global headlines when he allegedly threatened a team of ECOWAS election officials who were trying to help him resolve a political dispute related to his decision to run for reelection. The ECOWAS team “prepared a draft agreement on a roadmap for elections in 2025 and had started presenting it to the stakeholders for their consent,” wrote the BBC. But they “departed Bissau in the early morning of 1st March, following threats by Embaló to expel it.” Voters in Bissau-Guinean were scheduled to choose a new president in November last year. Embaló postponed the vote, however, and rescheduled it to Nov. 30 this year. Opposition leader Domingos Simões Pereira, meanwhile, says the president’s term should have expired in late February. To further complicate the situation, the country’s top court has extended his term to September 2025, Deutsche Welle wrote. Pereira’s African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde won parliamentary elections in 2023, but contend that the president has stopped them from forming a government. Meanwhile, Embaló had also pledged to step down after his term expired. But then he backtracked earlier this month and said he would actually run again: “I will be a candidate in my own succession,” he said in March. A former Portuguese colony, the country has experienced numerous coups since gaining independence in 1974. Embaló, a 52-year-old former army general, has survived two attempted coups since he took office in 2020. After an attempted overthrow in 2023, he dissolved the opposition-controlled parliament, saying it was doing nothing to improve security. While he has outlasted his initial five-year mandate, Embaló technically can run for a second term, the Associated Press added. However, the opposition has pledged nationwide strikes to bring him down. “The current political climate is fraught with uncertainty, as the opposition’s actions and the government’s decisions could lead to significant instability in the region,” wrote Africa News. With its monoculture agrarian economy – it’s one of the world’s leading producers of cashew nuts, accounting for much of its exports and providing a livelihood to about 80 percent of the population – the country is one of Africa’s poorest, heavily dependent on foreign assistance. As a result, it’s looking to develop its mineral wealth. Recently, Embaló visited Russia, Azerbaijan, and Hungary, Xinhua noted. During Embaló’s visit to Moscow, Russian state television showed how Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska attended the Bissau-Guinean president’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Reuters, a Russian aluminum company wants to construct a railway and port for bauxite mining operations in Guinea-Bissau. The military will expect a share of the spoils, analysts say. But the country will continue on its potholed path. “More of the same looks likely – a power vacuum, entrenched drug trafficking, lack of economic viability – this will keep Guinea-Bissau stuck in a vicious cycle, preventing progress,” wrote GIS, a think tank. “Political volatility in Guinea-Bissau has deeper roots than electoral calendar machinations – it has an institutional and constitutional nature and is driven by the unresolved tensions regarding the powers of the president, the national assembly, and the judiciary – all playing out amid attempts to ‘presidentialize’ the regime,” it added. “However, the opposition to dictatorial tendencies will likely continue in the country, as will the sense of entitlement among the military elite.”

Big Problems At South Africa's Antarctic Research Station

17 Mar 04:47 Sanae IV research base on the Vesleskarvet nunatak in Queen Maud Land. (Supplied/South African National Antarctic Programme) Sanae IV research base on the Vesleskarvet nunatak in Queen Maud Land. (Supplied/South African National Antarctic Programme) A team member at SA's Antarctic research base, Sanae IV, is reported to have allegedly physically and sexually assaulted colleagues – leading to high tensions within the group. An email was sent to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, detailing assaults and threats. The department said it was investigating and would provide necessary support and strategies for conflict resolution and interpersonal skills. Tensions have escalated at the Sanae IV South African Antarctic research base in the isolated and harsh environment of Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, some 4000km south of Cape Town. The base, perched on the edge of a rocky outcrop some 170km inland of Antarctica, is at the centre of a situation involving conflict between the overwintering team and reports of safety concerns. Overwintering researchers as part of the South African National Antarctic Programme (Sanap) are sent to the island where they face extreme cold and isolation. The team spends around 15 months on the continent - 10 of which will be spent in total isolation until the next relief team arrives. ADVERTISEMENT The Sanae relief voyage takes place between December and March each year and takes approximately 75 days, according to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) website. Each expedition is made up of a doctor, two diesel mechanics, an electrical engineer/technician, a mechanical engineer/technician, an electronic engineer/technician, a senior meteorologist and two physicists. In an email last month to the DFFE, a team member pleaded for help, detailing how a team member allegedly physically assaulted and threatened to kill a colleague and sexually assaulted another, the Sunday Times reported. (South African National Antarctic Programme) Sanae IV research base on the Vesleskarvet nunatak in Queen Maud Land (Supplied/South African National Antarctic Programme) Supplied The Department said on Monday that while an investigation was under way, it was responding to these concerns with the "utmost urgency" and have had a number of interventions with all parties concerned at the base. ADVERTISEMENT "The emphasis is placed on creating a healthy and cooperative work environment, and the wellness unit is in contact with the team at the base on a continuous basis to find solutions and [a] sustainable way forward for the wellbeing of the team members located in that remote base," said DFFE communications head Peter Mbelengwa. He added that prior to being appointed, prospective overwinterers were subjected to a number of evaluations. READ | Salty dispute over kelp harvesting permit divides Western Cape fishing village These included: "background checks, reference checks, medical assessment as well as a psychometric evaluation by qualified professionals". "Only upon positive outcomes in all aspects and the final overall evaluation of the proposed overwinterers by the ship-based medical doctor will the person be appointed. In this instance, no negative outcomes were recorded in relation to all the current overwinterers in Sanae, which forms a critical component of the department's risk assessment processes." (Maria Olivier/Antarctic Legacy of South Africa) A graphic showing where SA's Antarctic research base is in relation to Cape Town. (Supplied/Maria Olivier/Antarctic Legacy of South Africa) Supplied He said the department was taking the team through a thorough process with various options being discussed with them. "During this unforeseen incident, the department is engaging with the professional that undertook the psychometric evaluation in order to have the overwinterers re-assessed and to assist with coping mechanisms during their time at the base, inclusive of conflict resolution strategies, interpersonal skills improvement as well as overall counselling and support." Mbelengwa said the situation at the base was being monitored nearly daily, with regular feedback from the team, management, and officials from labour relations and employee wellness. Evaluations are structured in order to track progress and improvement of relationships and conflict management. According to Sanap, Sanae's research is divided into physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, and oceanographic sciences. ADVERTISEMENT Only the physical sciences programme is conducted year-round at the base. "The other programmes are conducted during the short summer period when the temperatures and weather permit fieldwork and the extent of the sea ice is at its minimum," the website stated. You have invested in the future News24 has been there for South Africa's defining moments over the last 25 years, and you've been right beside us. Your support of trusted journalism has sustained us, and now it will propel us to continue to strive to inform, inspire and empower as we try to build a better future for us all. Discover News24 Related Links 'I'm SA's Gisèle Pelicot': Cape Town woman fears husband drugged, raped, photographed her More Zanzou allegations: Patrons' cars confiscated, wheels removed as coercion to settle bills Icebreaker returns from Antarctica with alarming news Next on News24 HIV cure trial in Durban shows promising results – UKZN's Prof Ndung'u 17 Mar HIV cure trial in Durban shows promising results – UKZN's Prof Ndung'u Read more on:fisheries and the environmentsanae ivdepartment of forestryantarcticacrime and courts

The Terrors of the North-Jihadists, Bandits, and Vigilantes Grow Stronger In Nigeria

The Terrors of the North: Jihadists, Bandits and Vigilantes Grow Stronger in Nigeria Nigeria Last fall, about 50 motorcycles carrying jihadists were ridden into Mafa, a village in Yobe state in northeastern Nigeria, where they began firing at individuals at a market, at worshippers, and at people in their homes, before burning the village to the ground. More than 170 people were killed in the incident that was meant to demonstrate the power of jihadist terrorist group, Boko Haram, and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), terrify those in the remote northern regions, and pay back villagers for security operations by Nigerian forces and vigilantes intended to defeat them. “This is the first time our community has faced such a devastating attack,” Buba Adamu, a local chief, expressing grief and fear, told the Associated Press. “We never imagined something like this could happen here.” Boko Haram fighters have killed 35,000 people and displaced 2 million since launching an insurgency to establish Islamic law, known as Sharia, in the early 2000s. They became notorious internationally for committing abuses against girls and young women they had captured, according to Amnesty International, most famously with the kidnapping of the hundreds of schoolgirls known as the Chibok Girls. For more than 20 years, the government’s forces have been trying to defeat the group, with mixed success. Since 2023, Nigerian military leaders said, more than 120,000 terrorists and their families have surrendered to Nigerian troops. Around half were children who otherwise would have become the next generation of terrorists. “The terrorists were reproducing children who would take over from them,” said Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Christopher Musa in the Vanguard, a Nigerian newspaper. “These children were born into violence, and if they remained in that environment, they would grow into more violent individuals.” Also, Nigerian military leaders recently said that their counter-radicalization program, called Operation Safe Corridor, has prevented 60,000 young people from joining Boko Haram. Musa and other Nigerian military leaders may be playing up Operations Safe Corridor because his forces have otherwise often fumbled their anti-Boko Haram activities, argued Responsible Statecraft. A joint force of troops from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, for example, has launched six campaigns since 2014 against the group. Most were short and ended before they could defeat the terrorists. Meanwhile, a crime wave involving ransom payments, cattle rustling, and illegal mining have also swept through northern Nigeria, wrote Deutsche Welle. These criminals are not necessarily jihadists. Operation Safe Corridor won’t likely stop them because their enterprises are too lucrative in areas where economic development and opportunities are lacking. As a result, the attacks go on: For example, last month, Boko Haram attacked a Nigerian military base on the border with Niger, killing 20 soldiers. The problem now, say analysts, is that these criminal and also jihadist groups are getting stronger. In 2016, the group split, with one faction, ISWAP, becoming a part of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But after years of conflict with its rival, ISWAP recently regrouped, according to the International Crisis Group. Meanwhile, armed criminal gangs in the north have joined with the jihadists to terrorize civilians. In Mafa and elsewhere, villagers have long been aware the government’s fight against the gangs and the extremists doesn’t keep them safe. Jihadists such as ISWAP, for example, have regularly ‘taxed’ the villages and openly shop in their markets. As a result, villagers around the region, including in Mafa, formed vigilante groups and began killing members of ISWAP and Boko Haram. The villagers were warned an attack in reprisal for the vigilantism was coming and fled. But then they were told it was safe to return. It wasn’t. After the massacre, the villagers found this note left by the group, the New York Times wrote. “You have been lulled into a false sense of security, mistakenly believing that the Army of the Caliphate’s restraint – our decision not to trouble you, pillage your property, or disrupt your commercial activities and farming – implies weakness,” the note read. “You have grown bold and boastful.” Share this story

Fleeing The Flames: Tens of Thousands Try To Escape Congolese Conflict

Fleeing the Flames: Tens of Thousands Try to Escape Congolese Conflict Democratic Republic of the Congo Escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has created a humanitarian crisis in the region, human rights officials said this week, with tens of thousands of Congolese crossing the borders into Burundi and Uganda, France 24 reported. The majority of the 63,000 refugees who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women, children and the elderly, according to United Nations officials. They are crammed into makeshift camps that have reached capacity. There are widespread shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies. Burundi’s officials said the country is witnessing the biggest humanitarian crisis it has seen in decades. The refugee crisis began soon after the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched an offensive to seize mineral-rich territory in eastern DRC in January. Since then, it has captured key regional towns such as Goma and Bukavu and is advancing further into the region. More than 7,000 people have been killed in the offensive. The DRC is struggling to hold off the M23 rebel group but is facing defections within its forces. Now, inspired by the proposed Ukraine-US mineral deal, the country is hoping the US will help repel the rebels via a mineral agreement, BBC reported. DRC spokesperson confirmed that the country is looking to supply Washington “with some critical minerals” in a possible deal that includes an “economic and military partnership.” The country is estimated to hold $24 trillion worth of untapped resources, such as cobalt, gold, and copper but also lithium, tantalum, and uranium. These elements are an essential part of everyday tech in the West such as smart phones and laptops. The US has not committed to any deal. Currently, China dominates the Congolese mineral sector. Share this story

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