Sudan-An Approaching Storm

 

SUDAN

The Approaching Storm

Sudanese troops helped restore calm in the restive region of Darfur Tuesday following three days of interethnic violence that killed more than 150 people and displaced tens of thousands, Agence France-Presse reported.

Violence erupted over the weekend between Arab nomads and the non-Arab Massalit ethnic group in West Darfur, killing at least 100 people and forcing 50,000 to be displaced.

Separately, members of the Fallata ethnic group and the Arab Rizeigat tribe clashed Monday in South Darfur, killing at least 55 people and wounding 37.

The latest violence comes three weeks after the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, ended its 13 years of operations in Darfur. UNAMID will withdraw its 8,000 peacekeepers within six months.

Many Darfuris protested the departure, citing fears of renewed violence, despite a peace agreement between the government and rebel groups in the region.

In October, Sudan’s transitional government and multiple rebel forces signed a peace deal to end the conflict in Darfur.

The conflict began in 2003, when former President Omar al-Bashir’s government forces launched a bloody campaign against rebels in the region.

Some 300,000 people died and about 2.5 million were displaced, according to the UN.

A Sixth Term For Uganda's President

 

UGANDA

Six and Counting

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won his sixth term in office over the weekend, defeating popular singer-turned-lawmaker Bobi Wine following a tense election that was marked by Internet blackouts and a government crackdown on the opposition, NPR reported.

The electoral commission said that Museveni received 58 percent of the vote, while Wine got 34 percent. The opposition leader said that vote was rigged and urged Ugandans to reject it.

Top US diplomat to Africa, Tibor Nagy, called the electoral process “fundamentally flawed,” citing the authorities’ refusal to give accreditation to election observers and its crackdown on opposition figures and civil service organization workers.

The election was closely watched due to Wine’s popularity among the country’s youth. More than two-thirds of the Ugandan population is under the age of 30.

Wine hoped that his victory would spark a generational shift that would be felt across the continent, where many aging leaders are still holding onto power.

Cape Town Picked As One Of The Best Seven Cities In The World For Remote Working

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Central African Republic-No Respite

 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

No Respite

Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera emerged as the winner of the disputed Dec. 27 presidential elections amid an armed rebellion that engulfed the coup-prone nation last month, CNN reported Tuesday.

Provisional results this week show that Touadera secured more than 53 percent of votes in the first round, although voting did not take place in 29 of the country’s 71 sub-prefectures and thousands were prevented from casting ballots or never received their voting cards, France 24 reported.

The victory comes a day after armed rebels captured the southern city of Bangassou earlier this week.

Last month, a coalition of rebel groups that control two-thirds of the country launched an offensive, intending to disrupt the elections and “march to Bangui.”

The government and the UN have accused former President Francois Bozize of backing the armed groups after the constitutional court refused to allow him to challenge Touadera in the presidential vote.

Bozize’s party denies the allegations, but some party members have suggested they might be true.

So far, the rebels have been kept at bay by federal soldiers and UN peacekeepers, as well as Russian and Rwandan troops.

The resource-rich nation is one of the poorest in the world and has suffered coups and wars since its independence from France in 1960.

Uganda-Against All Odds

 

UGANDA

Against All Odds

Ugandan presidential candidate Bob Wine, a reggae star-cum-opposition leader, recently accused the driver of a military police truck of deliberately running over and killing Wine’s security guard.

It wouldn’t be the first time Wine has been targeted since he decided to use his name recognition and anger to stand up to President Yoweri Museveni, who has held office for more than 30 years, in the East African country’s January 14 presidential election, Wine told CNN.

The Uganda-based Daily Monitor detailed the many times Wine encountered government crackdowns and oppression. Wine accused Museveni supporters of attempting to kill him twice. He claimed police killed 27 of his supporters.

In November, Quartz wrote, police arrested and held Wine for violating COVID-19 rules banning rallies. He was released on bail. Wine claimed the charges were trumped up, and he could be right. Experts at the United Nations said the government was abusing health restrictions to crack down on expression.

“We are gravely concerned by the election-related violence, the excessive use of force by security personnel, as well as the increasing crackdown on peaceful protesters, political and civil society leaders and human rights defenders,” said the experts in a statement.

In the same vein, Museveni shut down campaigning in the capital of Kampala and 10 other large regions, supposedly to stop the spread of the virus. Critics told Al Jazeera that the real reason for the suspension was that Wine was popular in those districts.

Wine speaks to the youth in a country where 80 percent of the population is 35 or younger. They don’t remember 1986, when Museveni assumed power after a five-year guerrilla war that sowed fear, division and insecurity throughout the country. They only knew Museveni’s stifling grip on power, his “unquestionable ‘order from above,’” argued Ugandan journalist Patience Akumu in the Guardian.

Deutsche Welle editor Daniel Gakuba didn’t envision Museveni going anywhere. Rather than publicly condemning his security force’s harsh techniques, Museveni has doubled down on violence, vowing to crush anyone who maligns him. With an iron grip on power, he has the resources to live up to his authoritarian aims, too.

In an interview in Time, University of Wisconsin political scientist Aili Mari Tripp agreed, describing Wine’s campaign as quixotic. Tripp viewed the contest as a test to see whether Wine’s populism could overcome Museveni’s entrenched dictatorship despite the president’s grip on the levers of the country’s electoral system.

Still, doors only open when they are pushed.

Madagascar's Crazy Beast

 

Madagascar’s Crazy Beast

Earlier this year, scientists discovered the remains of a strange mammal that lived with the mighty dinosaurs in what is now Madagascar about 66 million years ago.

A recent study showed that the possum-sized mammal broke the rules of evolution that applied to other mammalian creatures during that period, Sky News reported.

It was surprisingly large unlike other mammals of its time, which were believed to be about the size of mice. The research team noted that the animal would have burrowed to hunt for food and to avoid getting stomped by big dinos.

The creature also had notable physical features, including more trunk vertebrae in the spinal area, and muscular hind limbs that were placed in sprawling position – similar to that of crocodiles.

The team added that it also had front teeth combined with back teeth which were “completely unlike those of any other known mammal, living or extinct.”

These bizarre features prompted the authors to aptly name the creature Adalatherium hui – which in Madagascar’s language, Malagasy, and Greek translates to “crazy beast.”

The researchers concluded that strange traits could be a product of living on an island.

“Islands are the stuff of weirdness,” said lead author David Krause, “and there was therefore ample time for Adalatherium to develop its many extraordinarily peculiar features in isolation.”