Africa

1, May 2018

Gabon: Constitutional Court orders PM to resign, dissolves parliament over delayed polls ⁰

Gabon’s Constitutional Court on Monday ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly thus bringing the work of the Ali Bongo-led government to an end

A statement read out by its president Marie Magdeleine Mborantsuo said the mandate of all lawmakers in the lower chamber of parliament had been terminated because the government had failed to hold elections to replace them.

It was now incumbent on Bongo to appoint a new Prime Minister, leader of government, to steer affairs of the oil-rich central African nation. Till then, the upper chamber (Senate) has been tasked with doing the work of the dissolved chamber.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet who was ordered by the court to resign said he accepted the ruling which was sacrosanct.

“The decisions of the Constitutional Court are not to be commented on. They are to be applied,” Issoze-Ngondet said on national television after the ruling.

On his part, Richard August Onouviet, the president of the National Assembly, also said he accepted the court’s decision.

A multi-party committee appointed an electoral commission last Friday after repeated delays to organise the vote but no new election date has yet been set. The government had failed to organize parliamentary elections before the end of April.

Bongo appointed Issoze-Ngondet prime minister after a narrow victory in a 2016 election that international observers said was marred by irregularities and that sparked brief spasms of violence.

Source: Reuters

1, May 2018

Chad parliament approves new constitution ⁰

Chad’s parliament on Monday overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that expands President Idriss Deby’s powers and could allow him to stay in office until 2033, in a vote boycotted by most opposition lawmakers.

The new constitution reimposes a two-term limit scrapped in a 2005 referendum. But it will not be applied retroactively, meaning Deby could serve two terms after the next election in 2021.

The constitution now heads to Deby for his signature. Deby’s opponents say that the constitution, which eliminates the post of prime minister and creates a fully presidential system, is aimed at installing a de facto monarchy in Chad, an ally of Western nations fighting jihadist groups in West Africa.

The new constitution – approved by a vote of 132 to two – introduces six-year rather than five-year presidential terms. That would mean Deby could stay in power until 2033, when he will be at least 80.

Deby first came to power in a rebellion in 1990. He has recently faced strikes and protests due to budget shortfalls caused by low prices for Chad’s chief export, oil.

(REUTERS)

27, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Long jail terms will not cut it! ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis has entered a new phase. After the failure of intimidation and attrition, the Yaounde government has decided to roll out a new strategy – making an example of Southern Cameroonians who are in the government’s jails in Yaounde.

Ever since the crisis started more than a thousand Southern Cameroonians have been arrested and taken to jails in Yaounde where they are being tortured and threatened with death if they do not rescind their plan to split the country.

For more than one year, there have been many trials, but only few Southern Cameroonians have actually been convicted and sometimes on trumped up charges. Today, terrorism seems to be the most fashionable allegation and it seems to be the government’s tool of choice when it comes to threatening Southern Cameroonian freedom fighters, although none of the fighters is bulging.

Recently, Mr. Mancho Bibixy, a broadcaster and activist, accused of threatening the country’s sovereignty has been found guilty of terrorism due to his role in the protests that triggered the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Mr. Bibixy had appeared in a coffin at a protest in the north-west city of Bamenda in November 2016 which he said symbolized Southern Cameroonians who had died before their real death. He urged his fellow citizens not to be scared of speaking truth to power, as their fate was already worse than death.

He was convicted of eight counts, including rebellion and hostility against the state. Six other Southern Cameroonians – Tsi Conrad, The Emile Agwe, Tangwa Maloin Tangwa, Azelecha Martin, Guingah Valentine, Junior Awahro Thomas – were also found guilty of the same counts by the Yaounde Kangaroo court on the same day as Mr. Bibixy.

Apart from the long jail terms awaiting them on their sentencing day, all seven have already been ordered to pay CFAF 579 million, the equivalent of more than USD 1 million, in damages. This is more of a joke to many observers. While working, those convicted were simply scraping a living in a country wherein the government does not care about its citizens. How will they ever raise USD 1 million while in jail?

Working in Cameroon hardly brings financial happiness. Many people have been trapped financially and many senior government officials are permanently in fear of an arrest, as most of them are corrupt. Over the last ten years, the country’s president, Paul Biya, has thrown hundreds of his former collaborators in jail for embezzling state funds.

Some of those collaborators have opted to return their loot in exchange for freedom, but Mr. Biya does not seem to be listening. He himself is being accused of playing a significant role in the billions of dollars that have been missing from state coffers. His constant trips abroad have cost the poor taxpayers millions and many Cameroonians are very bitter with a leader who only thinks about himself and his family.

The political uncertainty in the country is causing many Cameroonian civil servants to rob the country blind as a means of securing their children’s future. Most Cameroonian workers want to send their children abroad as a means of sparing them the pain of unemployment that is blighting millions of lives in the impoverished Central African country.

Unemployment rates in the central African country are unfortunately high and even those working are permanently seeing stars before the month ends. Poverty seems to have thrown a blow to the heads of Cameroonian workers and many will never recover from this government-imposed dehumanizing poverty.

It will be a miracle if those convicted will ever pay such an amount while in jail. The government and its judges appear to be making a mockery of the country’s legal system. While the judiciary is independent on paper, in reality, it is under the executive branch’s baneful influence.

Bribery and corruption have spread into the judiciary like a malignant cancer and the judges and magistrates have all been compromised. This is causing many people to make a mockery of the judicial system. Every Cameroonian knows that with money, everything is possible. Many people have walked away with murder even when there is incontrovertible evidence against them.

Before leaving the court on the day of his hearing, Mr. Bibixy made an emotional appeal to the judge, urging him to make the most of the opportunity available to him, with a view to seeking solutions to the grievances of the country’s English-speaking minority.

“You have an opportunity to begin solving the Anglophone crisis or add more fuel to the fire. History will be the final judge,” he said, adding that he was a man of dialogue and not a man of violence. He urged the government to pursue peaceful means to reach solutions that will rid the country of the specter of war that is handing over its head.

For almost two years, the country’s government has been playing tricks with a situation that is very likely to cause a lot of pain and suffering to an already impoverished people. Despite calls by the international community for an inclusive dialogue that could spare the country the type of bloodbath that its neighbors have experienced, the government has continued to pursue its policy of collective punishment in the two English-speaking regions where many people have lost their homes and hundreds of young fighters killed in cold blood.

In many parts of the English-speaking regions, young men, many of whom are innocent and have nothing to do with the ugly fighting that is playing out over there, have been arrested and taken to unknown destinations. Many have been buried alive, while others have been used by the country’s sex-starved and alcohol-inflamed soldiers as shooting targets.

The rule of law that is supposed to be upheld by the government is gradually becoming the rule of weapons where those with weapons dictate the rule and the country’s government is doing its best to encourage this form of lawlessness that is breeding hatred and feeding the circle of violence that is claiming many lives in Southern Cameroons.

A crisis that started as simple protests by lawyers, teachers and students in Buea and Bamenda has been allowed to metamorphose into a full blown armed conflict due to the government’s arrogance and inefficiency. The government’s decision to slaughter hundreds of Southern Cameroonians on October 1, 2017, is today viewed by many across the globe as an unfortunate error of judgment.

Many people around the world who have been watching Cameroon descend into chaos think the country’s government should actually embrace peace, but the country’s ailing and old leader wants to take the country to the grave with him. Many of these observers have been waiting for the government to lay the ground work for the much-touted inclusive dialogue that the country’s president has been talking about.

Mr. Biya and his government are not in the mood to smoke the pipe of peace. Though Mr. Biya had declared in New York during a session of the UN General Assembly meeting in late 2017 that “we all are hankering after peace”, he seems to be more interested in war than peace. Mr. Biya is being accused today across the globe as someone who is paying lip-service to the notion of inclusive and sincere dialogue.

Many observers hold that he is more interested in keeping power than in making Cameroon the beacon of peace. He and his government see governance as a do-or-die affair and any dialogue that could diminish their power will never be something they will contemplate. They know their time is almost up, but they hold that they must go down with the entire country. Their attitude is shocking many around the world. The fighting in Cameroon is not only taking away innocent lives, it is also robbing the country of its scarce development resources.

To them, the atrocities being committed by government troops are simply war games worthy of their admiration. They seem to be deflecting public opinion from the fact that Southern Cameroonians, who have been victims of the government’s marginalization, simply want to be heard. They want years of injustice and disrespect to be addressed. But wont to violence and dictatorial ways of doing business, the government is unrelentingly pursuing its legendary policy of violence which has transformed an entire region into a massive killing field.

The government’s reaction to Southern Cameroonian demands has been anything but effective. This reaction has gone a long way in creating a bloody conflict that is not necessary. Government actions have only gone a long way in radicalizing many Southern Cameroonians. The radicalization has unfortunately given birth to many armed groups in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

As a response to the creation of these armed groups, the government has stepped up its killing spree to prove that it is in control of the territory. It is strange to see a duly constituted government come down to the level of a ragtag army. It is even stranger to see the government engage in the killing of its own citizens just because they have expressed their minds.

This conflict has really disrupted life in many parts of the English-speaking regions. Schools and courts have remained closed and a generation of children is being traumatized by the images and pictures they are seeing on the ground. Besides the trauma, these kids will wind up illiterate as there are no prospects of school resuming anytime soon, especially in rural areas where there is no government authority. The government itself has simply surrendered and does not consider the education of these kids as a priority.

Though ghost town operations organized by angry English-speaking Cameroonians with the objective of bringing the government to the negotiating table are gradually fizzling out, the country’s economy seems to have been seriously hurt. The government is running out of resources and its allies abroad are reluctant to give it more money. Even the Chinese are playing games with the Yaounde desperate government that is losing sleep because its treasury is losing money at an unexpected rate.

Falling oil production and prices have hit the government like a ton of bricks. The Southern Cameroons crisis that the government thought would end after a few weeks is gradually robbing the country’s economy of its vitality. The country’s economic indicators are unfortunately trending very low and it is obvious that the days ahead are bleak for the country’s civil service.

Even the country’s military is already dealing with some challenges. The Southern Cameroons crisis has eroded its financial resources. The payment of per diems is gradually becoming a tough challenge despite the signing of presidential decree by the country’s reclusive leader, indicating that each soldier fighting in the two English-speaking regions will be earning CFAF 30,000 a day as per diem. The money has not been flowing the way of the soldiers and many young army soldiers are deserting the military for fear of being killed by the tough Ambazonian fighters who are giving the government a run for its money.

Initially, the sticking point was the government’s refusal to discuss the form of the state. Southern Cameroonian had argued that the current centralized system was too inefficient and corrupt. They wanted a system that would grant them the freedom to run their own schools and courts. They argued that the presence of Francophone judges in their courts had resulted in a miscarriage of justice in many parts of the region.

They also argued that the presence of Francophone teachers in Southern Cameroonian schools did not guarantee their children the educational quality that would enable their children to be competitive at the international level. But the government was not willing to listen. It was still insisting on implementing its decentralization policy that had been put on hold for more than two decades. These issues and the refusal to discuss the form of the state have caused the conflict to drag on. And it has today taken forms that are too complicated even for the Yaounde government to handle. The killings have become a daily affair and they have resulted in moderate English-speaking Cameroonians to see secession as the ultimate solution.

The country is, today, in a fix. The government that is used to shutting up its opponents is unable to find reliable partners to dialogue with. It has already tried different forms of dialogue that have been rejected by the people. Truly, what it had organized was more of a monologue than a dialogue. The ruling party has been discussing within itself and it thinks its conclusions will be binding on all Cameroonians.

The Yaounde trick has not borne any fruits. It has lost its charm. Time has worn out its charm. Cameroonians, especially Southern Cameroonians, are too smart for the government. Using so-called elites who have been rejected by the people of the two English-speaking regions to go and talk to the rebelling population has been the biggest comedy the world has ever watched. The efforts of these people actually came to naught and many of them were simply relieved when they left the region, as the threat of death was hanging over them like the Sword of Damocles.

Using people like Peter Mafany Musonge, Chief Mukete, Chief Tabetando and others was truly an error of casting. These people have no credibility and the people no longer listen to them. Many of these people clearly belong to the past, if not to the grave. Solving the Southern Cameroons crisis will require different measures and different actors. Using old people is a strategy whose time has passed. Even appointing half-baked people like Atanga Nji in top positions will never solve the problem.

Mr. Atanga Nji is already running out of steam. The energy he came with following his appointment as the minister of territorial administration is already dying down. If anybody had trusted that Mr. Atanga Nji would address the Southern Cameroons crisis, it is time for that person to start disabusing his mind. A few helmets to motor cycle riders will not address an issue that has been ruining lives for more than five decades.

Similarly, handing down long jail sentences to Southern Cameroonian fighters in Yaounde will never dampen the determination of those who are still fighting. The crisis can only be addressed at the negotiating table and this will only be possible if President Julius Ayuk Tabe and those in jail are released. The Diaspora is still very active and it is time for the government to build a long reliable bridge for the Diaspora to come to the negotiating table.

The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is rich. It has more than three million members and thanks to these hardworking Southern Cameroonians, those on ground zero have been able to make the government feel the pinch of its stupidity and dishonesty. After more than five decades in exile, the Diaspora also wants to play a key role in the management of the country’s socio-political landscape. If the government is thinking of building any such bridge, it must understand that it will be a long one, as it must reach the beautiful shores of North America where the brain of the rebellion is found.

By Kingsley Betek and Ebot Etchi with contributions from Soter Agbaw-Ebai at the Cameroon Concord News Group Global Headquarters

20, April 2018

King changes Swaziland’s name to ‘Kingdom of eSwatini’ ⁰

The king of Swaziland, one of the world’s few absolute monarchs, announced on Thursday that his country had changed its name to “Kingdom of eSwatini” to mark 50 years since independence from British rule.

Meaning “place of the Swazi”, eSwatini is the Swazi language name for the tiny nation landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique.

Unlike some countries, Swaziland did not change its name when it gained independence in 1968 after being a British protectorate for more than 60 years.

King Mswati III declared the name change during independence day celebrations at a packed sports stadium in the second city of Manzini.

“I would like to announce that Swaziland will now revert to its original name,” he said, wearing red military uniform.

“African countries on getting independence reverted to their ancient names before they were colonised. So from now on the country will be officially be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini.”

The name Swaziland angers some citizens as it is a mix of Swazi and English.

The move has been mooted for several years, with lawmakers considering the issue in 2015. Mswati III has used the new name in previous official speeches.

The king, who was crowned in 1986 aged 18, rules by decree and has often been criticised for his lavish lifestyle despite the grinding poverty suffered by many of his citizens.

Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and only candidates approved by chiefs loyal to the king can stand for office.

The country, which has a population of about 1.3 million people, suffers the highest HIV rate in the world, with 27 percent of adults infected.

The name change could mean that the country’s constitution is re-written, as well as changes for the Royal Swaziland Police Force, the Swaziland Defence Force and the University of Swaziland.

After independence, Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, Nyasaland became Malawi, and Bechuanaland became Botswana.

(AFP)

16, April 2018

Biya: The bell tolls ⁰

Ian Khama took the international community by surprise when he announced early in the month that he was voluntarily stepping down as president of Botswana. The 65-year-old leader will be the second African president to step down in recent time after Angola’s former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 75. Kham’s announcement came not too long after Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe, 94 and South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma were forced out of power in their respective countries. Khama’s decision immediately raised the hope that sit-tight and old generation African leaders have begun to learn that it is wise to quit when the ovation is loud. Curiously, the reported cases of voluntary and forced resignations of African presidents had occurred in swiftly only in one sub-region, Southern Africa, even as the other regions are also‘filth’ of sit-tight leaders.

Following Mugabe’s exit, watchers of Africa affairs quickly turned to Cameroon in West Africa where 84-year-old President Paul Biya has held sway over the country’s affairs for 35 years nonstop. Biya succeeded the country’s former leader, Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982 and he has since remained in power. Ahidjo ruled Cameroon for 21 years and voluntarily handed power over to Biya due to his failing health. Interestingly, Biya had served in various capacities in Ahidjo’s government before becoming president.

It would seem Cameroon is a leading African state having a government of the elderly. While Biya is 85 year-old, the Senate president, Marcel Niat Njifenji is 83-year-old. He was born on 26 October 1934. Under the country’s constitution, Njifenji is the qualified candidate to succeed Biya. The Prime Minister Philémon Yang is 70-years-old. He was born on 14 June 1947. Records show that the Biya’s administration is made up of octogenarians who have been in power for over 60 years now and there are no signs that they are ready to go. It is no wonder that Biya is nicknamed the “Monarch.”

Cameroon is expected to hold presidential election in October and the thinking among analysts is that Biya should throw in the towel and allow young generation of leader(s) to emerge. The main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) may have tactfully thrown a challenge to the ruling party, the Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement (CPDM), when its founder and leader, 77-year-old Ni John Fru Ndi announced he was stepping down for a younger politician to contest the presidential election in October. The party has announced the nomination of a 49-year-old aviation expert, Joshua Osih as its presidential candidate. Ndi was quoted as saying he wants to leave the stage for the young generation.

But it might be an illusion to think that Biya is prepared to vacate the presidency. About five months to the election, he has remained silent on whether he was going to relinquish power though it is an open secret that the ailing president would be seeking another 7-year-mandate. Biya suffers prostate cancer and failing heart. In February, a Cameroon newspaper carried an unconfirmed report that the president slumped at his Unity Palace. The report said: “The atmosphere at the presidential palace is tense and government officials have been holding meetings to come up with a common response so as to keep the population in check.” It is believed that the anxiety over the Ambazonia crisis and the poor state of the economy have further added to the deteriorating health of the president. Yet, he clings to power.

He is often out of the country seeking medical attention abroad, a development that has made some observers to nickname him “absentee president.”A non-governmental organisation, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) said in March that it has “calculated the amount of time the president spent abroad using reports from the daily newspapers.” According to the group, “the president spent nearly 60 days out of the country last year on private visits.” It also alleged that “he spent a third of the year abroad in 2006 and 2009,” adding that “The Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva is his favorite destination.”

The government-owned Cameroon Tribune newspaper immediately responded, calling the group’s investigation “a clear electoral propaganda.” Still, other sources said the president seldom appears in public and often meets with his ministers at the airport.

It was a shocking revelation when the media said Biya has not held cabinet meeting since 2015. How can it be explained that Cameroon has a president who does not consider the holding of cabinet meetings important. The presidency might argue that the prime minister is in control and holds meetings with the ministers. But this cannot be considered as a plausible excuse in a modern day society.

It was only on March 15, 2018, he convened another cabinet meeting which had no agenda in the invitation letters sent out. Sources reportedly said the meeting was not different from those of the past when Biya delivers more of lectures instead of allowing the cabinet members to deliberate on issues. The cabinet meetings are said to be usually brief, perhaps not to over stretch the president’s poor state of health.

Already, his loyalists who benefit from his government are reportedly calling on him to contest the election. And that is what the president needs to buttress his decision to continue in power. Of course, the president has a readymade argument on his table as to why he has to contest the election. That argument borders on the political crisis facing the country following the declaration of the Ambazonia state by the Southwest and Northwest Anglophone provinces. Currently, Biya is ruling a country on the edge and there are no indications that peace will return soon.

Believing that it can always clamp down on agitators, the government failed to take appropriate peaceful measures to stem the tide of political upheaval when signs first emerged that the indigenes of the two English-speaking provinces were feeling marginalised.

The situation got to a head when the government issued the obnoxious decree compelling schools and courts to adopt French as their official language whereas English language has been the official language in the two provinces. Biya has reportedly ruled the country by decrees since becoming president even as he claims to be running a democratic government.

The refusal of the Biya administration to respond naturedly to the peaceful protests initially staged by the people has since been the undoing of the government in the two provinces. As the country contends with increasing cases of kidnapping, assassinations, killing of government security agents and indeed outright guerrilla warfare, the government has resorted to the use of brute force to quell the uprising. But that seems to be a herculean task as the separatists continue to expand their base and the government continues to increase the number of troops being deployed.

The seriousness of the Anglophone crisis is to be found in the continuous flow of refugees from Cameroon to Nigeria. Three Nigeria states, Taraba, Cross Rive and Benue, sharing border with Cameroon are already overwhelmed with refugees escaping from the daily exchange of fire between government troops and separatist forces.

Only few days ago, eight Cameroonian athletes went missing from the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Australia to the shock of Yaounde. Cameroon press attaché at the games, while reacting to the development, admitted that “It came as a complete surprise,” adding that “There were no worries of this kind of thing might happen.” Apparently, the athletes have fled the Cameroon as life is no longer safe there. Besides the breakdown of law and order in the troubled provinces in particular, the crisis is having its toll on the economy as well. The educational system in the two provinces has also collapsed.

Ironically, Biya calls Southern Cameroonians agitating for independence terrorists. He has vowed to destroy them. The government recently celebrated the deportation to Cameroon of the Ambazonia secessionist leader in Nigeria, Ayuk Tabe Julius and 46 others. Reports said Ayuk was among 15 separatist leaders who Cameroon issued arrest warrant for in November 2017.

The Anglophone crisis has continued despite the government’s decentralization policy which was introduced to douse political tension in the agitating provinces. The policy gives more power the local council to oversee the affairs of their areas. The poor implementation of the policy made indigenes of the provinces not to have faith in the process which the president had described as a major reform.

Biya said: “It is my belief that fast-tracking our decentralisation process will enhance the development of our regions.” On the implantation process, he said: “To that end, I have ordered the implementation of the necessary measures to speedily give effect to this major reform.”

But what went wrong with the process of implementation? The people believe it a political gimmick to give a resemblance of democratic governance where there is freedom of expression, unhindered electoral process and even distribution of infrastructures. But Biya thinks otherwise.

He said: “We started implementing this process effectively since 2010, but of course we can ascertain the fact that there are still some difficulties, there are still some problems. The councils complain that the resources put at their disposal do not allow them to respond to the needs of the populations and to the implementation of their projects.”

Certainly, Biya deserves commendation for his steadfast leadership. He is a patriotic Cameroonian who thinks well about his motherland. He stands strongly for the unity of the country. Indeed, he has great dreams for the country. But sometimes dreams become mere fantasies that are not realizable. Perhaps, this explains why he has not been able to turn Cameroon into another United States of America. At 80 plus, the president would be taking the country for a ride to think that he alone has the wisdom to lead the country. It is clear that he is already overwhelmed with the Ambazonia crisis and the dwindling economic fortunes facing the people. Now is the time for him to bow out and allow new blood to be injected into the government. The unity and progress of Cameroon is more important than a president who clings to power even when it is clear he no longer has solutions to the nation’s mounting problems. Biya should either learn from the experience of Mugabe and Zuma or take a cue from Khama.

Culled from Sunnewsonline

14, April 2018

Liberia: President Weah promises media freedom following allegations of gagging press ⁰

Liberia’s President George Weah has promised to deepen media freedom during a meeting with the country’s media practitioners on Friday.

The Weah administration, which has been in place for a little over three months, has not been spared by the Liberian media.In the face of accusations that he intends to gag the press, the former footballer rather guaranteed them complete freedom.

“I always use you as an example. When I supported human rights in this country, you were against me. But I always remembered you because at that time, what I was doing was to keep the country from being torn apart. And I’m glad you’re here today. Now, together we must create this environment, this awareness, so that Liberians can forgive themselves, and we can move forward “, said Weah.

In March, during a visit to Freetown ,Sierra Leone, the UN rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, called on the Weah administration to build on Liberia’s achievements in this area, insisting on “decriminalizing defamation” and “transforming the media industry .

AFP

12, April 2018

Togo police crack down on anti-government protesters ⁰

Police in Togo have dispersed an opposition protest in the capital Lome. Reports indicate that teargas was fired to disperse protesters in Lome and in other towns across the country.

The 14-member opposition coalition calling for the resignation of the president since August last year called a two-day protest beginning today.

Reports indicate that the violent clampdown by the police led to injuries to a number of protesters. Photos shared on social media showed how a vehicle belonging to opposition chief Jean Pierre Fabre was smashed.

The government had earlier warned the protesters against the plan. They said it was a violation of the terms included in a mediation effort led by President Akufo-Addo of Ghana. The said talks have hit a stalemate after the parties failed to agree on crucial issues after two rounds.

Anti-government sentiments have been on the rise in the West African country, one of the few that has no term limits for the president. Incumbent Faure Gnassingbe has been in charge since 2005.

He “inherited” a seat his father Gnassingbe Eyadema had occupied for 38 years till his death. He is in his third 5-year term which started in 2015 and is due to expire in 2020 when elections are next held.

Aside the main push for him to resign immediately, the opposition is also pushing for return of term limits, reforms to the electoral structure and the constitutional courts.

Source: Africa News

5, April 2018

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio wins Sierra Leone presidential runoff ⁰

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio has won a narrow victory in a run-off election to become Sierra Leone’s next president, according to official results by the country’s electoral body.

The National Electoral Commission announced at 10:00pm local time that Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won 51.8 percent of a total of over 2.5 million ballots cast in the March 31 vote, beating out the ruling All People’s Congress candidate Samura Kamara, who garnered 48.1 percent.

Kamara, a former foreign affairs minister, and Maada Bio, who briefly ruled Sierra Leone as head of a military junta in 1996, were vying to replace outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits.

I feel happy about the results. I am here because my president Julius Maada Bio has won the election in this country.

Maada Bio is to be sworn in as president tonight at a yet to be disclosed venue.

“The new president will be sworn in tonight,” Chief Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm told Reuters.

SLPP supporters began celebrating in the streets of the capital Freetown on Wednesday evening in anticipation of the official announcement of results.

“I feel happy about the results. I am here because my president Julius Maada Bio has won the election in this country,” said Adolfus Kargbo, among a group of SLPP supporters chanting Maada Bio’s name.

Who is Maada Bio?

Julius Maada Bio, 53, has tasted the presidency before having served a military Head of State for about three months. He led the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) military junta government that lasted from January 16 to March 29 1996.

He has also tasted how it feels to be on the ballot paper, he was the Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s candidate for the last elections. He lost to outgoing Ernest Bai Koroma.

As a military ruler, he toppled his boss in the NPRC junta Captain Valentine Strasser in January 1996 but handed over to democratically elected Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the SLPPafter the 1996 presidential elections.

He later retired from active service that year and moved to the United States to further his studies. He earned a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the American University in Washington DC.

He was born on May 12, 1964 and graduated from military academy in October 1987 aged 23. He has played part in peacekeeping ops by the United Nations famously in Liberia. He played a role in the 1992 coup and led the 1996 one before handing over after elections.

He returned from the U.S. to join the SLPP in 2005. Contested to lead the party but lost the bid. He was picked as party’s presidential candidate in 2012 polls and garnered 37% of votes to place second.

He is a Roman Ctholic married to Fatima Bio a practicing Muslim and a Gambian national. They got married in an interfaith ceremony in London in 2013. The couple have a child but Maada Bio has three other children from a previous marriage. The vice presidential candidate of the SLPP is Jalloh Mohamed Juldeh.

The largely peaceful election process has come as a relief for the country of 7 million people, who endured a civil war in the 1990s and whose economy was dragged down by an Ebola epidemic in 2014-15 and a global slump in commodity prices in 2015.

Source: Africa News

3, April 2018

Egypt: Sisi re-elected in low-turnout election ⁰

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term but with a lower turnout, official results showed on Monday.

Turnout was 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week’s vote. Sisi had been virtually guaranteed a landslide win, confirmed by early tallies as voting ended on Wednesday.

The election featured only one other candidate – himself an ardent Sisi supporter – after all serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January. The main challenger was arrested and his campaign manager beaten up, while other presidential hopefuls pulled out, citing intimidation.

“Every credible opponent was either threatened, harassed, prosecuted or detained,” said FRANCE 24 correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous.

Sisi said he had wanted more candidates to run and that he had nothing to do with the opposition withdrawals.

The election commission said the vote was free and fair as it gave the results in a televised announcement on Monday.

Sisi won a total of 21.8 million votes compared with 656,534 for his opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, whose tally was less than the 1.8 million spoiled ballots.

The lower turnout is a potential setback for Sisi, who suggested before the vote that he saw it as a referendum on his presidency rather than a genuine contest. Turnout in the 2014 vote that won him his first term was 47 percent.

“This came despite a very fierce campaign by officials to boost turnout,” said Kouddous. “You had officials using a mixture of cajoling and threatening and bullying to get people to the polls. In some provinces, you had police officers going door to door, instructing people to go to the polls. You had boxes of subsidised food with things like cooking oil and sugar being offered in poor areas for people to vote.”

Some voters said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, but did not say who had made the offers.

Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited.

State media had portrayed failure to vote as a betrayal of Egypt.

“This wasn’t about voter attitudes or voter choices,” Kouddous said. “This was about the optics of their participation. It was really about political domination and … a fierce repression of civilian politics.”

Criticism

Critics say former general Sisi’s popularity has been eroded amid tough economic reforms, which have left most Egyptians worse off, and also an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

His supporters say those measures are needed to stabilise the country, which faces a stubborn Islamic State group insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula and which was rocked by unrest after a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.

Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after protests against Morsi. Sisi swept to victory in an election a year later with 97 percent of the vote.

The United Nations expressed concern over the crackdown on dissent, including media, which took place before last week’s vote.

Sisi’s main Western and regional allies have been mostly silent over alleged human rights abuses in Egypt.

During voting last week, the US embassy in Cairo said on Twitter it was “impressed by the enthusiasm and patriotism of Egyptian voters”.

Russia congratulated Sisi on his election win ahead of the official results, and regional ally King Salman of Saudi Arabia called Sisi on Monday to express support, saying his victory came as a result of strong efforts to combat terrorism.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

2, April 2018

Botswana inaugurates new president Masisi in smooth handover ⁰

Botswana’s new president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, used his inauguration speech on Sunday to vow to tackle youth unemployment in one of Africa’s most stable countries.

The swearing-in ceremony in parliament came after Ian Khama stepped down having completed the constitutional maximum of 10 years in office.

As the vice president, Masisi took over automatically, and he is likely to secure a further five-year term in elections in October 2019 when the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is expected to hold on to power.

Botswana prides itself on good governance and rule of law, and the carefully managed handover of power comes a full 18 months ahead of parliamentary elections in 2019.

Masisi, the former vice president, takes over a country widely seen as an African success story that has made good use of its lucrative income from diamond, beef and tourism.

It is rated as the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International.

But it has also struggled with rising unemployment rate of about 18 percent and an HIV epidemic.

“It is because of the peace and tranquillity that our leaders have sustained for so long that Batswana (people) have continued to enjoy relative prosperity,” Masisi said after taking his oath.

“One of my top priorities as the president of this country will be to address the problem of unemployment especially amongst the young people.”

He also pledged to improve treatment and prevention of HIV in a country with a 22 percent infection rate among adults.

Continuity politics

President Masisi, 55, is a close ally of Khama and a BDP veteran.

He is a US-educated former teacher, UNICEF official and education minister, whose father was also a cabinet minister.

“Despite its small size, Botswana continues to play an important role in the promotion of global issues such as respect for human rights, democracy, good governance (and) the rule of law,” Masisi said.

Khama, 65, completed a months-long national farewell tour last week, bidding goodbye to the country’s population of 2.2 million.

He earned a record for straight talking, often criticising leaders including US President Donald Trump and unlike many in the region neighbouring Zimbabwe’s then-president Robert Mugabe as well as Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila.

Khama led the BDP to landslide victories in two elections, although the party won less than 50 percent of the vote for the first time in 2014.

“Internationally, Khama positioned himself as a moral leader,” Matteo Vidiri, a BMI Research analyst, told AFP.

“(But) a slowing economy and increasing public discontent has damaged the narrative of Botswana’s ‘special character’, of a country being able to escape the ‘resource curse’.”

Four opposition parties have said they could unite for the 2019 election to try to unseat the BDP, which has held power since independence from Britain in 1966.

At a farewell event in his home village, Khama was showered with gifts including a 4×4 truck, 143 cows, hundreds of chickens, more than 415,000 pula ($44,000, 35,000 euro) and a fully-equipped luxury caravan.

His father, Seretse Khama, served from 1966 to 1980 as Botswana’s first president.

(AFP)