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.

Sudan-The Economist Magazine Cover For 08/31/2024

August 31st 2024 How we chose this week’s image SUBSCRIBER ONLY Cover Story How we chose this week’s image The Economist Robert Guest Deputy editor This week’s cover was difficult. It was about the worst humanitarian crisis in the world: the terrible and poorly understood war in Sudan. This is a conflict that erupted out of pure, cynical ambition. Two ruthless military chiefs seized power in a coup, then fell out and started fighting each other. Over the past 500 days or so Sudan has become an inferno. Soldiers and militiamen have killed, burned and raped with impunity. Some 10m people—a fifth of the population—have fled from their homes. Famine is spreading, imperilling millions. As Africa’s third-largest nation collapses, the shockwaves could destabilise swathes of Africa and the Middle East, and send a surge of refugees towards Europe. Sudan is so dangerous that few photographers have been able to cover the war. Our picture researchers looked hard, but struggled to find many high-quality images of the fighting. This portrait of soldiers brandishing their guns captured their swagger and menace, but not the horror of what is going on. These men are clean and rested, and almost look as if they are posing for the camera. This black-and-white photo is better. It shows families who have loaded their possessions onto their heads and set off on a long, hot trek to what they hope will be safety. Though black-and-white creates a suitably grim mood, there is something to be said for showing the exuberant colours that many Sudanese people actually wear. The bright reds, yellows, greens and pinks of a Sudanese crowd are a reminder of the joy they once had, before it was snatched away by men with guns. Another picture shows a smaller group trudging towards a barbed-wire camp, in the hope of succour. It’s a complex story, so our designers tried to illustrate some of its main strands in a collage. A heavily laden refugee glances back towards the place she has left. A column of smoke rises. A map gives a sense of a region at risk. The first version was missing some crucial elements, so we added soldiers with an intimidating red overlay, and changed the map labels from French to English. Some of us thought this image worked well. Others found it a bit confusing. Another idea was to go for brutal simplicity: the word “Sudan”, built of bricks and pocked with bullet holes. This drives home the message that an entire country is being devastated. We worked it up into what many of us thought was a stark, powerful cover. But our Bartleby columnist said it looked to him like pieces of cheese, and suddenly we couldn’t un-see that unfortunate image. So we went back to photos. This one, of a large, mostly female crowd waiting in a refugee camp, gives a hint of the sheer scale of the tragedy. And we tried a headline emphasising how little global attention the war has attracted. However, this photo was slightly too upbeat—it is not obvious, looking at these people, that they are fleeing from killers rather than, say, waiting for buses. So we found a more poignant image, with a central figure looking directly in the viewer’s eye. Some of us worried that desperate images like this look too much like fundraising adverts for a charity. But one should not shy away from depicting suffering when it is real and widespread. Our cover story argues that outsiders can help, and should do so not only for moral reasons but also because it is in everyone’s interest to prevent such a huge country from descending into anarchy. Our cover says it plainly: this catastrophic war is the world’s problem. Cover image • View large image (“Sudan”) Backing stories → Why Sudan’s catastrophic war is the world’s problem (Leader) → Anarchy in Sudan has spawned the world’s worst famine in 40 years (Briefing) → The ripple effects of Sudan’s war are being felt across three continents (Briefing) → “Hell on earth”: satellite images document the siege of a Sudanese city (Briefing)

Murder And Massive Fraud In South Africa

Murray murders: 'Flight risk' Singh siblings denied bail in R178m Investec fraud case accreditation Kyle Cowan Comments Comments gifting Gift article add bookmark Bookmark -00:17 Siblings Rushil and Nishani Singh.(Graphic by Sharlene Rood/News24) Siblings Rushil and Nishani Singh.(Graphic by Sharlene Rood/News24) The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court has denied Rushil and Nishani Singh bail, citing their risk of fleeing the country. The Singhs' extensive assets in Ghana, Botswana and the US weighed heavily against their application. Magistrate Phindi Keswa alluded to the murders of Cloete and Thomas Murray as having played a role in her weighing the interests of justice. Siblings Rushil and Nishani Singh were denied bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday, with Magistrate Phindi Keswa saying she was convinced by the State's argument that they present a flight risk. The Singhs are facing charges of fraud, uttering and forgery linked to a falsified bank guarantee they provided to Investec Bank in 2019 in order to secure a R250 million loan. The loan was intended to fund their business activities in Ghana, where their company, Ghana Infrastructure Company, had secured roads and hospital construction contracts worth an estimated R1 billion. Keswa, who heard the bail application yesterday, delivered her ruling to a wheelchair-bound Nishani, who told the court that she was unable to walk as a bout of tuberculosis and pneumonia had left her extremely frail. Keswa was unconvinced, ruling that medical treatment could continue while she's in custody. READ | Murray murders: Rushil and Nishani Singh arrested, charged over R178m Investec fraud The magistrate found the State had argued convincingly that Rushil was likely to commit further crimes if released on bail. An arrest in January for a R1 million fraud case, for which he was already out on bail, weighed heavily in favour of the State's opposition to bail. Neither of the Singhs showed outward signs of emotion as they heard the verdict. The matter was postponed to 4 September, as the State had indicated that its investigations had been finalised. Keswa attributed her ruling that the Singhs were a flight risk to the significant assets the siblings hold overseas – in Ghana, Botswana and the US. The State argued that Nishani's estranged husband, Steven Killick, had purchased properties in Portugal in order to obtain a "golden visa" – a temporary residency permit in that country attained through investment. While Nishani told the court she would abandon that process, the State argued that it showed she had the means to leave the country. ALSO READ | Five McLarens and the Bad Boys Porsche: How the Singhs blew R120m on cars Keswa agreed. She also questioned the timing of Nishani's illness and the start of her medical treatment, pointing out that it appears the medical condition had started around the time the investigating officer informed the Singhs of their intention to obtain warning statements from them. While the Singhs have not been charged with the murders of Cloete and Thomas Murray, Keswa alluded to the shooting of the father and son liquidators on 18 March 2023 twice as she delivered her ruling. She said the court had weighed "the events that occurred after the liquidation of BIG" (Business Innovations Group) the company the Singhs had run, and found it was not in the interests of justice for them to be released. In addition to the charges in this case brought by Investec and the R1 million fraud case brought by Nedbank, the Singhs are also facing a criminal investigation in Ghana over the same forged bank guarantees. Nishani, meanwhile, has another case pending that was opened against her by Killick, for allegedly forging his signature on documents submitted to Investec. Investigations in the double-murder case continue, with the Singhs likely to be questioned by police as they had spent the morning with the Murrays on the day of the shooting. 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 Hawks nab former Estate Controller, Attorney for alleged fraud Assets of R2 m forfeited WATCH | 'I've lost everything': Freed

Ethiopia-When The War Ends

When the War Ends Ethiopia Alemetu, pregnant, was trying desperately to fall asleep when the men from the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) came for her. Held hostage for four weeks in an abandoned school in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, she was beaten with a horsewhip and suspended upside-down from a tree for hours. To release her, the rebels asked for a ransom of 110,000 birr (about $1,900). That’s almost double what the average person in Ethiopia earns in a year. As the Guardian reported, her family tried valiantly to raise the funds – but also had to pay almost as much to free her uncle, a local farmer. Meanwhile, after they paid, the rebel group – which says it is trying to get independence for the region – set fire to her home. Alemetu’s experience is part of the kidnappings and general lawlessness that have become the norm in Ethiopia in the wake of a civil war that ended two years ago. In March, for example, 16-year-old schoolgirl Mahlet Teklay was kidnapped in the northern regional state of Tigray. When her parents couldn’t pay the $51,800 ransom, the kidnappers killed her. And last month, three public buses carrying at least 167 passengers were traveling to the capital Addis Ababa, bringing students home for the summer holidays from Debark University in the Amhara region, Deutsche Welle reported. Gunmen hijacked the buses and demanded thousands of dollars in ransom for the victims. Many are still being held. “It is very rare to find a family who has not been affected by kidnapping,” Alemetu told the Guardian after being released. “The government has no control.” Once only occurring in certain areas of Western Oromia where the OLA operates, kidnappings have spread to war-torn Tigray, Amhara and elsewhere in the country outside of the capital. They have also moved from being political to more financial – where once only officials and government employees were targeted, now no one is spared, wrote the Africa Defense Forum. The government of Abiy Ahmed Ali, Ethiopia’s prime minister, does not talk much about the kidnapping “pandemic.” Instead, it touts its so-called successes in ending the war in Tigray, and turns the focus on the economy, specifically how it has attracted donors and investors, observers said. For example, in July, the president, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, announced a series of market-friendly reforms including the floating of its currency, intended to open the doors to a $3.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, wrote Africa Confidential. Abiy is hoping to turn the page on the war and signal to investors and donors that Ethiopia is back in business. But that’s wishful thinking, says the Hill. Already, since his float of the currency, the dirr has lost 60 percent of its value against the dollar, with prices rising so fast that restaurant menus no longer list them, ABC News wrote. Even though the war with Tigray ended officially in 2022, fighting continues there – but also in Oromia and also in Amhara, where government troops battle regional militias known as the Fano. The fighting threatens to turn into another civil war, wrote Foreign Policy. Meanwhile, talks with both rebel groups have gone nowhere. If anything, the violence is becoming more entrenched, not just in these regions but elsewhere, too, wrote the Economist: “It’s metastasizing,” a Western diplomat told the magazine. “It’s quite, quite terrifying.” It’s not just kidnappings; murders and rapes are spiraling, too, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect wrote. “We have heard repeated stories about women being gang raped – being raped by one person is starting to be perceived as trivial,” Birhan Gebrekirstos, a lecturer at Mekelle University in Tigray, told the New Humanitarian, “we’re getting used to these stories.” Part of the reason for the violence is that the rebel groups need money, wrote the Institute for Security Studies. Another is that the government has weak control over some regions. Instead, security forces often participate in the violence, or collaborate, even cut deals with the bandits. And it’s become a buyer’s choice of which rebel groups to join because there are few opportunities for the young in the country, which has been in the throes of an economic crisis for years. In some places, the situation is so dire, that famine looms, according to the International Rescue Committee. Abiy is missing the point, said Al Jazeera. Investors are not interested in a country where lawlessness and corruption are out of control. Foreign and local businesses there are already being stymied when trying to move goods and workers, or seeing their workers kidnapped. Africa Intelligence reported in June that France-based Meridiam’s $2 billion geothermal project in Oromia is being abandoned because of insecurity. Meanwhile, Abiy wants to attract high-paying tourists, recently meeting with the head of hotel giant, Marriot. But no visitor wants to visit a country where the possibility of being kidnapped is so high, say analysts. Meanwhile, the instability of the country is dragging the entire Horn of Africa into it. In recent months, “Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has stirred up new tensions with neighboring Somalia, become entangled in Sudan’s civil war (on the rebel’s side), and even made threatening gestures toward Eritrea, which had been Abiy’s ally in the Tigrayan war,” Foreign Affairs magazine wrote. “Meanwhile, the government’s primary foreign patron, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been funneling arms and money to Ethiopia, as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have been doing the same to Eritrea, Somalia, and the Sudanese Armed Forces, threatening to drag the region into a proxy conflict.” Share this story

Tanzania Gets Innovative With Construction

Common Ground Tanzania Architects in Tanzania are using three-dimensional printers to construct housing and other buildings, also using soil rather than artificial materials – the production of which emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change. The builders hope to construct a village called New Hope to the west of the capital of Dar es Salaam that will include a school for almost 500 girls as well as farming plots, livestock pens and recreational areas, reported CNN. This positive story suggests Tanzanians can live in greater harmony with nature and each other as they attempt to strike a balance between modern and traditional approaches to life. But it isn’t always the case. One major issue in Tanzania today, for example, involves officials kicking traditional Maasai communities off their ancestral land to make way for conservation efforts and economic development. The Maasai are nomadic pastoralists whose lives revolve around their herds. As Amnesty International explained, Tanzanian officials and private businesses, including a trophy-hunting company tied to the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, have colluded to evict Maasai folks from their land. Officials have also shut down government services in Maasai communities to compel people to move to towns and cities, added Human Rights Watch. The government frequently offers displaced Maasai people houses to live in and a few acres of land to farm. “But the houses do not reflect the needs or complexities of Maasai families, which traditionally are large, polygamous, multigenerational and multihousehold,” argued an Al Jazeera opinion piece. Those who speak out against the relocation have faced threats and intimidation from rangers and security forces, creating a climate of fear, HRW wrote. “You’re not allowed to say anything,” one displaced resident told the organization, adding that people have “fear in their hearts.” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan says she wants to protect the environment from the Maasai’s livestock. She has proposed enlarging the area of protected land in the southern African country from 30 to 50 percent of its territory, cutting into the Maasai’s ancestral lands, noted Deutsche Welle. But critics of the evictions say the government gives hunting and tourism companies free rein on the vacated land. Hassan’s plans also involve new airports, tourism facilities, and other accoutrements of a growing capitalistic economy, added Bloomberg. These moves might cause international friction. Kenya, for example, frowns upon the trophy hunting that Tanzania promotes, reported Reuters. Kenyan officials fear that elephants that generate money from tourists there might cross the border into Tanzania where hunters might kill them. In July, for instance, hunters in Tanzania had shot five bull elephants in the prior few months. There arguably is little point in preserving nature, Kenyan officials told the newswire, if the goal is to destroy it. Share this story

Botswana Celebrates Its Olympic Gold Medal Winners

Going for Gold Botswana Botswanans expressed outrage at the government’s request this week to set up a donation fund for citizens to reward the country’s Olympic athletes, including Letslie Tebogo who became the nation’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist, the BBC reported. On Monday, the government asked citizens to honor the athletes by “contributing rewards to our champions.” But many citizens questioned why the government would ask for donations, instead of using public funds, noting that they already pay taxes. Some called on the cabinet to lead by example by donating a portion of their salaries. Still, others voiced support for the donation fund, adding that it should be open to all Africans to contribute. The announcement followed the country’s Olympic team returning home with a gold medal. Tebogo became the first African to win the men’s Olympic 200-meter sprint and set an African record of 19.46 seconds. He also won a silver medal in the men’s 4×400-meter relay alongside his teammates. Despite the controversy, there were large celebrations in Botswana with tens of thousands gathering at the National Stadium in the capital Gaborone to welcome the Olympic team home. Botswana is one of Africa’s wealthiest countries in terms of income per capita, yet it also faces one of the world’s highest rates of youth unemployment. The country is a major diamond producer, but has recently experienced a decline in revenues that has led the government to cut spending. Share this story

Malawi-A Tyranny Of Doubt

The Tyranny of Doubt Malawi In March last year, Cyclone Freddy ripped through Malawi and southeast Africa, killing 679 people, displacing almost 660,000, and causing property damage totaling more than $500 million. Thirty-nine-year-old mother Gladys Austin was one of those hundreds of thousands who had to flee her home in the southern village of Makwalo after heavy rains destroyed a sandbar on the Ruo River, reported the Guardian. The resulting floods also washed away her livestock, grain, and the rest of her goods. Luckily, she and her family received international aid to rebuild. But many Malawians have not been so lucky. A year after Austin and her community struggled with flooding, communities in Malawi were dealing with one of the worst droughts in memory due to the meteorological phenomenon, El Niño. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera recently declared a state of disaster due to the drought throughout much of the country, reported the Associated Press. He said Malawi needed $200 million in humanitarian assistance to cope with the problem, or else face potential famine. The drought was already forecast to shave multiple points off of the country’s gross domestic product, further constraining growth that would help the country overcome its deep poverty and desperate need for economic development. The good news, however, is that Malawians have created a “laboratory for low-cost community-led projects” to improve climate resilience, wrote World Politics Review. Farmers, for example, are teaching each other about soil conservation, water management and crop diversification. Others have developed plans for inter-cropping, or growing multiple crops together, composting, organic pest control, and other measures that mitigate the effects of climate change on agriculture. These efforts extend to more sophisticated commercial enterprises. In the capital of Lilongwe, for instance, computer scientists have established a technology incubator that now supports firms, for example a banana tissue culture lab, CNN noted. Malawi has also been working closely with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change – Blair is a former British prime minister – to help develop AI companies so that they might leapfrog other stages of economic development and benefit sooner from the latest tech trends. The Malawi University of Science and Technology also recently launched an AI research center with the assistance of American schools, Voice of America added. Still, Malawi faces governance challenges under Chakwera that could threaten to stymie anyone’s dreams of a better tomorrow in the country. Amnesty International recently criticized a top court decision to uphold a ban on same-sex sexual conduct, for example. The US State Department decried Chakwera’s oversight of torture and other human rights violations, too. Some journalists investigating corruption, meanwhile, are in hiding, even as the corruption chief resigned under pressure. Malawians face the tough task of standing up for their rights and fighting to survive the weather. And as Deutsche Welle noted, despite making strides in some areas, locals say that “Doubts about the country’s future loom large.” Share this story

Kenya's President Ruto About To Be Forced Out

Nothing to Lose Kenya In late June, Kenyan President William Ruto blinked. After winning the 2022 general election on his plans to reform the economy, he scuttled planned tax hikes and conceded that he was reversing his position in the wake of protests by Gen Z and millennials who ransacked parliament and stayed on the streets for weeks, despite a crackdown that led to at least 50 deaths. Now protesters want Ruto to step down, too, even after he fired most of his cabinet in a move designed to show his critics that he is open to change. “The arrogance is gone, but the lies are still there,” wrote prominent social justice activist Boniface Mwangi on X, formerly known as Twitter, according to Reuters. “Yesterday they unleashed goons and police to kill peaceful protesters. That will not stop us.” This attitude is one reason why the Economist believed the protests could change the East African country forever. The protests erupted after Ruto announced his plan to raise levies on commodities, increasing living costs as many Kenyans are already struggling to make ends meet, wrote CNN. Now they have also expanded to include general discontent with government incompetence and corruption. “It’s about a generation demanding a better future, one where they are not perpetually marginalized,” Daystar University political analyst Wandia Njoya told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency. As Inge Amundsen, a senior researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, noted in the Conversation, Kenyan politicians frequently enact laws and rig regulations to benefit themselves and their circles. These politicians then use their influence to control companies, government agencies, civil institutions, and other groups, cementing their power and creating networks of patronage and illicit activities. Ruto has announced reforms that aim to attack political corruption. But whether or not he can pierce the elite networks that benefit from these relationships will depend on how much political capital he wants to expend on changing the country’s power structure that helped propel him to office. In the meantime, the protests are spreading on the continent. Youth groups are organizing similar mass demonstrations in Nigeria, Uganda, and elsewhere where officials appear more likely to help themselves than tackle the issues that are harming their constituents, noted World Politics Review. In Nigeria, for example, wrote Semafor, protests kicked off on August 1, leading to at least a dozen deaths. Military authorities have said they stand ready to restore order if necessary. But that might only stop the momentum temporarily, especially as global economic growth is expected to decrease, exacerbating economic struggles and limiting opportunity. “It’s a wake-up call,” Xavier Ichani, who teaches international relations at Kenyatta University in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, told Semafor, referring to the widening movement. “Governments need to move with speed and address the grievances of the people.”

Mali Severs Diplomatic Relations With Ukraine

Help by Proxy Mali Mali severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine this week over allegations Kyiv was involved in an attack by separatist rebels late last month that killed dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, Radio Free Europe reported. On July 25, rebels led by the Tuareg minority group attacked a military camp in the northeast commune of Tinzaouatene, near the Algerian border. The armed groups claimed they killed 47 Malian troops and 84 Wagner fighters during the three-day battle. Mali’s military junta said it suffered a “large number” of deaths. Shortly after the rebels’ announcement, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, said on Ukrainian television that the whole world was aware that the rebels “had received the necessary data that allowed them to carry out their operation against the Russian war criminals.” Yusov did not explicitly confirm whether Kyiv was involved. But on Sunday, Mali’s military government accused Ukraine of violating its sovereignty and supporting terrorism. Officials explained that Yusov “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups,” according to Radio France Internationale. The diplomatic spat comes as Mali is dealing with a long-running insurgency led by Tuareg and Islamist groups. The military rulers, led by Col. Assimi Goita, seized power through coups in 2020 and 2021, and have shifted Mali’s alliances from its former colonial ruler, France, to Russia. The Malian government has employed Russian forces for military support but has countered allegations that those troops are Wagner mercenaries. In a related diplomatic move, Senegal summoned Ukraine’s ambassador this week over a Facebook post from the Ukrainian embassy, which expressed support for the Tuareg rebels. The Tuaregs are a traditionally nomadic Berber ethnic group living in parts of the western Sahara, including northern Mali. Many Tuaregs have historically complained of persecution by the Malian military government. The Malian military has accused the Tuaregs of cooperating with Islamist groups, but the rebels behind the July 25 assault countered that they had fought alone “exclusively from the beginning to the end.”

A New Alliance Of West African States

Mirror Image WEST AFRICA Earlier this month, a triumvirate of military leaders who oversee military juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed a pact to establish the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a new confederation that they said would combat jihadism and foster prosperity in Western Africa. “We have the same blood that runs in our veins,” said Burkina Faso’s leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, at the ceremony in Niger’s capital Niamey, according to France24. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors who fought and won for us this land that we call Mali, Burkina, and Niger.” Traoré, who came to power in 2022 in a coup, recently extended his term in power for another five years, and linked the new confederation to his version of the region’s heroic legacy. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors who helped the whole world rid itself of Nazism and many other scourges,” he said. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors that were deported from Africa to Europe, America, Asia … and who helped to build those countries as slaves.” Afolabi Adekaiyaoja was skeptical. The research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank, argued in World Politics Review that the AES in the long run would spell more trouble for the region. That’s because the three leaders are banding together to counter the powerful Economic Organization of West African States (ECOWAS), whose leaders have contemplated intervening in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger because they all came to power in coups, Adekaiyaoja said. Now, in declaring themselves separate, they have divided the region. ECOWAS member Benin, for example, slapped sanctions on Nigerien oil exports in 2023 to force the coup leaders in that country to allow ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to return to office. Niger refused. Now, as Africanews reported, Niger might lose out on massive revenues from an oil pipeline that has been built with Chinese investments, unless they can reroute their pipeline through less stable neighbors like Chad. Niger has also kicked out American and French troops previously based in the countries to combat Islamic militant groups that have rampaged across borders, fomenting violence, kidnapping or murdering locals, and developing corrupt moneymaking operations, noted the BBC. Russian military support has often replaced the exiting Western forces. These groups, affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a grinding insurgency since 2015 that has killed thousands and displaced millions in the region. The AES has struggled to maintain security in this environment so far. Armed thugs killed at least 26 people recently in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, the Associated Press reported. An Al Qaeda-linked terror group was suspected of orchestrating the attack. Meanwhile, fighters in these conflicts have traveled farther afield in the region, to fight in Sudan’s civil war, for example, exporting instability, added University of Washington PhD candidate Yasir Zaidan in the Conversation. The AES has a lot of work to do to instill confidence. But as Virginie Baudais, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s Sahel and West Africa Program told France24, they could hardly do worse than what was in place before. She said that the three states’ decision to create its own bloc was driven in part by more than a decade of failure by Western-backed regimes in the Sahel to hold back the tide of insurgent jihadist movements. “It’s a response to the loss of credibility of the European states and of ECOWAS in the region in the fight against terrorism,” she said. “The three leaders all claim that they are achieving good results in the fight against terrorism thanks to their established military cooperation. Clearly, each country cannot fight against these groups … the only option is cooperation.” Share this story

A Serial Killer Is Captured in Kenya

Whodunnit? KENYA Kenyan authorities arrested this month a suspected serial killer who has confessed to murdering 42 women since 2022, including his own wife, in a case that has shocked the country and renewed scrutiny against Kenya’s police force, the BBC reported. Last week, Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, was apprehended in Nairobi, days after police discovered mutilated bodies at the Mukuru quarry, a disused dumpsite south of the capital. Authorities said Khalusha confessed to luring, killing, and disposing of 42 female bodies at the Mukuru dumpsite. The victims, aged between 18 and 30, were killed similarly and found in various stages of decomposition. The suspect led police to his house – about 330 feet from the crime scene – where they found a number of items, including phones, identity cards, personal female clothing, and a machete believed to be used for dismembering the victims, the New York Times added. Police have also arrested two other people for possessing a victim’s phone and selling multiple phones linked to the suspect, Africanews noted. The discovery sparked outrage in the African nation with human rights groups highlighting the broader issue of gender-based violence in Kenya. The case also sparked condemnation of the Kenyan police, which families of missing women have admonished for their inaction and incompetence. Public suspicion has been fueled by the proximity of the dumpsite to a police station, leading to criticism of their failure to detect or investigate the disappearances. Questions have also been raised over the speed of the arrests and how police obtained Khalusha’s confession: During last week’s court appearance, the suspect retracted his statements and his lawyer claimed the confession was obtained under torture, according to the Times of India. Observers noted that the case comes at a difficult time for the police, which has been accused of using excessive force during recent anti-government protests against tax hikes, resulting in at least 50 deaths. Some pro-democracy groups alleged that the bodies could be linked to the protesters who disappeared during the recent demonstrations. However, government officials denied the allegations, saying the deaths were related to femicides and not political killings. Meanwhile, the Independent Police Oversight Authority is probing possible police involvement or negligence, and officers at the station nearest to the quarry have been transferred to ensure unbiased investigations. Share this story

Rwanda: Prosperity By Fiat

Prosperity, by Fiat RWANDA A notable international exchange occurred recently when Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour prime minister of the United Kingdom, announced that he would scrap his Conservative predecessor’s plan to fly migrants to the southern African country of Rwanda. Starmer said the plan was a “gimmick” and “dead and buried”, and it was now time to “turn our back on tribal politics,” reported Yahoo! News. The UK has already paid around $280 million to Rwanda, a formerly impoverished nation still grappling with the legacy of the 1994 genocide where the Hutu ethnic majority massacred 800,000 people mainly from the Tutsi minority community. Starmer hoped to recoup that money. Rwandan President Paul Kagame likely has other ideas, however. The British approached Rwanda “to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK – a problem of the UK, not Rwanda,” said Kagame’s government in a statement. Rwanda “has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances.” The response reflected Kagame’s confidence in his hold on power and his international standing – but also showcased his questionable methods to stay in office. Kagame is expected to win a fourth term when Rwandan voters hold presidential elections on July 15. He has served since 2000 and in that time, he has centralized power in the country and suppressed dissent while also pushing through economic reforms that have expanded the country’s economy, explained the Liechtenstein-based analysis group, Geopolitical Intelligence Services. The president is credited with expanding life expectancy, promoting a boom in the tourism industry – underscored by luxury hotels proliferating in the capital of Kigali – kickstarting an entrepreneurial landscape featuring tech startups, building a new stadium that hosts basketball games, and other developments. All have helped turn Rwanda into an example of development and innovative success on the African continent, National Public Radio wrote, even as Kagame’s support of rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere has destabilized the region. Kagame has also baldly stifled his opponents’ chances, wrote World Politics Review. Electoral authorities only approved Kagame and two other candidates, the Democratic Green Party’s Frank Habineza and the independent Philippe Mpayimana, according to the BBC. A critic of the president, Diane Rwigara, was blocked from running. A Rwandan court had previously sentenced another vocal critic, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, to eight years in prison. In a first-person piece in Al Jazeera, Umuhoza described how she spent five years of solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison after her trumped-up conviction on charges of denying the genocide. Kagame pardoned her a year after the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that her rights had been violated. Umuhoza wasn’t optimistic about the upcoming election. Her name won’t appear on the ballot, either, despite her attempt to run. “It already promises to entrench the persistent suppression of opposition voices by the current government in Rwanda,” she wrote in Foreign Policy. “As a victim of this suppression, I find myself once again barred from participating in an electoral process that I, as a Rwandan, have a right to take part in.”

Social Unrest In Zimbabwe

Promises, Promises ZIMBABWE Supporters of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party protested outside a courthouse in the capital this week over the continued detention of 78 activists, a demonstration that was marked by violent clashes with police and concerns of ongoing repression in the southern African nation, Africanews reported. Authorities used batons to break up demonstrations by supporters of Citizens Coalition for Change, who were demanding the release of the activists detained since mid-June. The individuals were arrested for disorderly conduct and participating in a gathering to promote violence. If convicted, they could face up to five years in prison. Amnesty International criticized the arrests as “part of a disturbing pattern of repression against people exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.” It called for a probe into allegations that some activists were tortured while in police custody. The organization and other rights groups also pointed to a continued crackdown on opposition members and critics, including university students and labor unionists. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power in a 2017 coup with promises of democratic reforms, has denied the allegations of repression but has repeatedly warned the opposition against inciting violence.

Kenya Backs Off Tax Increases

Biting the Dust KENYA Protesters set parts of Kenya’s parliament ablaze on Tuesday amid mass demonstrations against tax hikes in which more than 20 people were killed and led to President William Ruto scrapping the controversial bill, Reuters reported. “I concede,” the president said in a televised address on Wednesday as he announced he would not sign the 2024 finance bill. The package of contested measures was approved by lawmakers the day before and sparked protests across Kenya, in the worst crisis since Ruto came to power nearly two years ago. Violence culminated on Tuesday as police fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters. Medics and human rights advocates said at least 22 people were killed. Amid police shots, protesters stormed the nation’s parliament in the capital Nairobi and set a part of the building on fire. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s governing institutions in decades, the Associated Press wrote. Buildings and vehicles were also set ablaze in Ruto’s stronghold Eldoret, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported. In an initial address, the president called the protests “treasonous” and a threat to “national security.” Meanwhile, protesters online vowed to continue their demonstrations, voicing plans to invade the State House – the presidential office and residence – on Thursday, as well as local offices of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday. As he caved to pressure by withdrawing the finance bill Wednesday, Ruto said he would launch a conversation with the nation’s youth. Though a welcome victory for protesters, the withdrawal was received with some bitterness following the dozens of deaths seen Tuesday, with one activist calling the president’s decision a public relations move. Meanwhile, human rights organizations said they were investigating the alleged abductions of over a dozen people, including influential online content creators, by security forces. The protest movement began online as citizens expressed frustration at proposed tax raises on items including bread and diapers. Though lawmakers took bread and cooking oil off the list before passing the bill, the amendments did not suffice to tame the angry mobs. Ruto, who some protesters called on to step down, now has to juggle between Kenyans’ outcry against rising living costs and IMF demands for deficit cuts.

Police Fire On Tax Protestors In Kenya

LIVE Updated June 25, 2024, 12:54 p.m. ET9 minutes ago 9 minutes ago Live Updates: Police Fire Arms Amid Tax Protests in Kenya; 5 Reported Killed Demonstrators breached the Parliament to protest the passage of a bill that raises taxes. At least five people have been killed and more than 30 others were wounded, according to Amnesty International and several prominent civic organizations. Share full article Pinned Abdi Latif Dahir Updated June 25, 2024, 12:49 p.m. ET15 minutes ago 15 minutes ago Abdi Latif DahirReporting from Nairobi, Kenya Here’s the latest on the protests in Kenya. Police fired tear gas and shots rang out Tuesday as thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets around Kenya’s Parliament in the capital, Nairobi, after lawmakers passed tax increases that critics say will make life onerous for millions. At least five people have died from gunshot wounds and more than 30 others were wounded in clashes between protesters and police, according a joint statement by Amnesty International and several prominent Kenyan civic organizations. That could not be independently confirmed. A video posted to social media by the independent Kenya Human Rights Commission showed police firing as protesters marched toward them. The Parliament building was breached and its main entrance was briefly on fire, and Kenya’s Red Cross said that its vehicles had been attacked and staff members injured. The turmoil over the finance bill that includes the tax hikes has shaken Kenya, an East African economic powerhouse of 54 million people that has long been an anchor of stability in a tumultuous region. At least one person was killed and 200 others were injured in protests across the country last week, according to Amnesty. The contentious bill was introduced by the government of President William Ruto in May to raise revenue and limit borrowing in an economy facing a heavy debt burden. But Kenyans have widely criticized the legislation, saying it adds punitive new taxes and raises others on a wide range of goods and services that would escalate living costs, and detractors have pointed to corruption and mismanagement of funds. The president now has two weeks to sign the legislation into law or send it back to Parliament for further amendments. Protesters draped in the Kenyan flag blew whistles and trumpets and chanted, “Ruto must go.” There were signs the protests were spreading beyond the capital, as protesters blocked streets with burning tires in Nakuru, a city some 100 miles from Nairobi. Here’s what else to know: The protests have been guided by younger people who have used social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to initiate a leaderless movement that has galvanized the nation. The internet watchdog group NetBlocks is reporting a major disruption to internet connectivity in Kenya. Kenya’s communications authority said Monday after days of protests that it had “no intention whatsoever” of shutting down internet traffic. Before Tuesday’s protests, several activists who are prominent critics of the bill were abducted, according to the Law Society of Kenya. The abductors’ identities were not publicly known, but some were believed to be intelligence officers, said the Law Society’s president, Faith Odhiambo. Ms. Odhiambo later said that some of those abducted had been released. CNN aired footage of the half sister of former President Barack Obama, Auma Obama, being tear-gassed as she was interviewed about her opposition to the bill. The protests comes as an initial group of 400 Kenyan police officers was arriving in Haiti for help to stop the rampant gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration. Show more Abdi Latif Dahir June 25, 2024, 12:14 p.m. ET50 minutes ago 50 minutes ago Abdi Latif DahirReporting from Nairobi, Kenya At least five people have died from gunshot wounds and more than 30 others were wounded in clashes between protesters and police, a joint statement by Amnesty International and several prominent Kenyan civic organizations, including the Kenya Medical Association, the Law Society of Kenya and the Police Reforms Working Group Kenya. Declan Walsh June 25, 2024, 11:39 a.m. ET1 hour ago 1 hour ago Declan WalshReporting from Nairobi, Kenya In a joint statement, the ambassadors of 13 Western embassies in Kenya, including the United States, said they were “shocked” by the scenes around Kenya's Parliament on Tuesday. They said they were “deeply concerned” by allegations that some protesters had been abducted by the security forces and called for “restraint on all sides.” Image Credit...Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 1000 ft.300 m. © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap

Will THe ANC/DA Coalition Work IN South Africa?

Let’s Make a Deal SOUTH AFRICA South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected for a second term over the weekend after his African National Congress (ANC) reached a coalition agreement with three other parties following last month’s dismal showing for the party in the general election, Al Jazeera reported. The ANC, which dominated South Africa’s politics since the end of apartheid in 1994, lost its majority for the first time in the May 29 parliamentary vote, paving the way for coalition talks with other parties. On Friday, the anti-apartheid movement reached a deal with the main opposition party and rival Democratic Alliance (DA) to form a unity government. The coalition will also include two other parties, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Patriotic Alliance. Soon after the agreement was signed, lawmakers participated in a marathon parliamentary session to reelect Ramaphosa, despite a boycott from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party of former President Jacob Zuma, who fell out with the ANC. Meanwhile, parliament picked a lawmaker from the ANC and the DA as its speaker and deputy speaker, respectively – the first instance of power-sharing between the two parties. Ramaphosa hailed the new coalition deal as a “new birth, a new era for our country,” adding that it was time for parties “to overcome their differences and to work together.” The agreement marks the end of the ANC’s dominance in the country’s politics: The party of freedom fighter Nelson Mandela has been losing popularity in recent years amid rising poverty, inequality, spiking crime, and corruption scandals. Despite ending the political gridlock, analysts said the new coalition agreement is raising questions about whether the two parties will be able to govern effectively, the Associated Press noted. They disagree on numerous issues, including nationalization and privatization of key industries, healthcare, labor rights and foreign policy, such as South Africa’s pro-Palestine stance. The coalition agreement has caused internal divisions within the ANC, too, with some senior leaders preferring a coalition with Zuma’s MK or the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, the BBC added. Share this story

South Africa Faces A Tough Election

A Long Way to Fall SOUTH AFRICA Since the racist apartheid regime in South Africa ended 30 years ago, the African National Congress party, whose crusaders brought down white minority rule, has won every election, with support in the high double digits. That track record of success is predicted to end, however, when South Africans go to the polls on May 29, wrote CNN, arguably making this election the most pivotal in post-apartheid history. The reason for this shift is simple – many voters believe the ANC has failed them. Violent crime is rampant. Unemployment is high. Electricity blackouts, shortages of water, corruption scandals, and other issues have led to unprecedented levels of frustration among the populace. “It’s very sad,” said Tumelo Georgy, 39, who holds a degree in political science but recently failed to secure even a job at a Johannesburg solid waste management firm, during an interview with Agence France-Presse. “That’s why we are having criminals, because people have studied and are hungry.” Already, the election has been marked by “an epidemic of assassinations,” – 40 recorded since the start of last year, mainly targeting local officials, politicians and activists, wrote the Washington Post. This is fueling voter anger at the ANC even as the party itself has grown concerned about the hijacking of local administrations by violent criminal networks. At the same time, these developments have made inequality a major issue, added the BBC. The wealthiest 20 percent of South Africans hold about 70 percent of the nation’s income, making it the most unequal country in the world. Meanwhile, the poorest South Africans, who comprise around 40 percent of the country’s population, receive only 7 percent of the income. More than half the country’s 62 million citizens are under 35, too, with 44 percent of these young people “not in employment, education or training.” Qunu, the hometown of the freedom fighter and South Africa’s first Black president, Nelson Mandela, has lacked running water since 2016, for example, noted Reuters. As a result, jobless youths “while away their days drinking beer.” As a result, young people are seeing fewer reasons to support the ANC, whose support is perilously close to dropping below 50 percent of the electorate for the first time. The ANC has also suffered divisions. South Africa’s top court, for example, recently ruled that ex-President Jacob Zuma was disqualified from appearing on the ballot because in 2021 he was sentenced to prison for 15 months after failing to appear in court to answer corruption charges, the Guardian explained. Zuma had been forced to resign in 2018 because of corruption allegations. In December, the 82-year-old created the uMkhonto WeSizwe political party and sought to run again. Other former ANC leaders have also split off and launched new parties, Deutsche Welle reported. ANC officials have tried to stem the loss of support in a push to reelect the incumbent president, Cyril Ramaphosa. They worked overtime, for instance, to improve the country’s electrical system in recent months. This success has led critics to charge that they only took action to improve people’s lives when they saw their support faltering. Last month, the ANC polled at around 40 percent, followed by the pro-business Democratic Alliance (with 22 percent) and the hard-left Economic Freedom Fighters (11.5 percent), whose leader, Julius Malema, was forced out of the ANC. Zuma’s party follows with 8 percent and even if he can’t run, he’s still on the ticket. If the election results fail to give the ANC a majority, it would force the party into a coalition – a first for South Africa. South Africa has 14 political parties currently represented in parliament and more than 300 parties registered nationally. Still, coalitions at the local level, however, have not been very successful at delivering services for frustrated citizens, the Associated Press wrote. Even so, South African commentators say the mood among voters is one of wanting to punish the powers that be. “What is at stake now is a reckoning with the fact that the country that we live in now is not the country that we hoped for 30 years ago,” Redi Tlhabi, a South African journalist, told Foreign Policy. “The ANC has been the torch-bearer of really shocking corruption acts in our country,” he said, adding: “And I think there are people who want to see them pay the price and be held accountable.” Share this story

South Africa: Reopening Old Wounds

Share this story Reopening Wounds SOUTH AFRICA South Africa will launch a new investigation into the mysterious 1967 death of Nobel Peace Prize winner Chief Albert Luthuli, an inquest that comes decades after the then-white-minority government ruled that the anti-apartheid leader died in an accident, the BBC reported. Justice Minister Ronald Lamola announced Wednesday that the probe follows the National Prosecuting Authority’s discovery of evidence that contradicted the prior investigation into Luthuli’s death. The original inquest found that Chief Luthuli died after he was struck by a train as he was walking by a railway line near his home in KwaZulu-Natal province. At the time, South Africa’s government had barred the anti-apartheid campaigner from leaving his residential area or participating in politics. Chief Luthuli’s family and supporters allege that the regime murdered him and covered it up. He was the leader of the banned African National Congress (ANC), the liberation movement that came to power in 1994 when apartheid ended. Chief Luthuli won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 for his anti-apartheid efforts. Other South Africans who later received the award include Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1984 and Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk in 1993. Mandela later became South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994, succeeding De Klerk. Under Mandela, the new government established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate apartheid-era crimes. Meanwhile, Lamola also announced inquests regarding the deaths of two other prominent anti-apartheid activists. The recent probes come as South Africans prepare to cast their ballot in the upcoming general elections later this month. The ruling ANC, which has dominated South Africa for 30 years, faces its toughest challenge yet in the May 29 vote, with polls predicting it could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades.

An African War Crime Is Punished In Switzerland

The Long Arm of the Law GAMBIA Switzerland’s top criminal court on Wednesday sentenced a former Gambian interior minister to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity, a trial that human rights groups hailed as a watershed application of “universal jurisdiction” – a principle that allows the local prosecution of serious crimes committed outside of the country, the Associated Press reported. The case involves Ousman Sonko, who served as the West African country’s interior minister between 2006 and 2016 during the regime of authoritarian president, Yahya Jammeh, who came to power following a coup in 1994. Sonko was removed as minister in September 2016, a few months before Jammeh fled the country after losing that year’s presidential elections and refusing to concede. Swiss authorities arrested Sonko in early 2017, shortly after he applied for asylum in the country. Prosecutors accused Sonko of supporting, participating in and failing to stop attacks against Jammeh’s opponents: The crimes included murder, torture, rape and unlawful detentions. Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court convicted Sonko of homicide, torture and false imprisonment, adding that his felonies amounted to crimes against humanity. However, the rape charges against him were dropped. While prosecutors had asked for life imprisonment, the court ruled that Sonko’s crimes did not rise to “aggravated” cases. Even so, legal analysts and human rights advocates welcomed the verdict, noting that Sonko was the highest-level former official ever to be put on trial in Europe under the “universal jurisdiction” principle. They added that the trial was an important step toward justice for victims of Jammeh’s regime, and an important message to the exiled autocratic leader that “no matter what, the long arm of justice can always catch the perpetrator.” Jammeh is currently living in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which is currently governed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who has been in power for nearly 45 years. Share this story