Secretaries from more than half of African national assemblies have met in South Africa for their annual conference. The elected representatives are to discuss the benefits of ratifying African Union treaties notably the new protocol of the Pan-African Parliament.

Earlier, members of the committee on cooperation, international relations and conflict resolutions of the Pan-African Parliament were urged to improve the continent’s response to terrorism by making it a national priority.

Professors Magloire Ondoua and Vincent Ntuda Ebode from Cameroon were guest-speakers at both events.
The Pan African parliamentarians expressed outrage at repeated armed attacks on some of their colleagues. The MPs staged a protest against the violence.

The two Cameroonian Professors, Joseph Vincent Ntouda Ebode and Magloire Ondoa educated parlementarians, Secretary Generals and Presidents of parliaments of the continent on the challenges to be surmounted in the fight against terrorism. The discourse on terrorism was in view of the full activation of the legislative powers of the continental parliament.

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African leaders arrived in the Rwandan capital Saturday to attend a major summit which is expected to be dominated by discussions about excessive focus of international bodies on abuses in Africa and the conflict in South Sudan. The main theme of discussion is expected to be Africa’s uneasy relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as some countries have renewed efforts to quit the body en masse despite opposition by some countries such as Botswana. Leaders have repeatedly criticized the ICC over the past years for what they call an unnecessary ICC focus on African nations. They have called for a separate African court with jurisdiction over rights abuses.

“Withdrawal from [the] ICC is entirely within the sovereignty of a particular state,” Joseph Chilengi, an AU official, told reporters. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has been a major campaigner for the withdrawal from the ICC, recently called the court “useless.” However, the call seems to have hit a major snag, as Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast have followed Botswana and pushed back as well.

Rwanda has invited Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes in the Darfur region. Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said the country would not arrest Bashir despite concerns that Kigali would hand over the Sudanese leader like it did to war criminal Bosco Ntaganda of Congo in 2013.

“Africa doesn’t support criminals, but when justice is involved with a lot of politics we take a pause to separate the two,” Mushikiwabo said this week. Discussing the fresh wave of conflict in South Sudan, where deadly clashes have erupted between army factions, is also high on the agenda at the AU summit. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who is at the summit, has called for an arms embargo as a solution to the conflict which has claimed a considerable number of lives over the past days.

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Morocco is reportedly set to rejoin the African Union (AU) after leaving the pan-African organization more than three decades ago. An anonymous diplomatic source told Moroccan newspaper Akhbar al-Youm that the historic move is anticipated to be announced during the 27th AU Summit scheduled to take place in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on July 17-18.

The source refused to confirm whether King Mohammed VI would attend the upcoming AU summit starting this Sunday. However, it said Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar has recently been on a diplomatic trip to several African capitals, including Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Senegal, Tunisia Cameroon, Cote D’ivoire and Ethiopia, to inform them all of Morocco’s decision.

Morocco has access to services available to all AU states, but remains the only African UN member not to be a member of the AU. In recent years, several African officials have urged Rabat to return to its seat at the AU. “Morocco is a fully-fledged member of the African family, and no-one has the right to exclude the Kingdom from the AU,” Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye said during King Mohammed’s visit to Senegal in May 2015, adding, “We think that now is the time for Morocco to return to the African Union.”

The AU, which replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2001, includes all 54 African states besides Morocco that are members of the United Nations. The country decided to withdraw from the continental organization in 1984 over the union’s decision to accept the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a formal member. Morocco considers the territory as part of the kingdom and insists its sovereignty cannot be challenged. Morocco annexed the vast, mineral-rich territory of the Western Sahara after Spain withdrew in 1975. It is currently viewed as Morocco’s “southern provinces” and the government continues to carry out multi-million-dollar development projects in the area.

However, neighboring Algeria, like numerous other African countries, recognizes the territory as the SADR, and hosts the headquarters of the Sahrawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front. Morocco has offered wide-ranging autonomy for the region; but the Polisario Front movement, which claims the disputed territory belongs to the ethnic Sahrawis, insists that a referendum be held so that the local population can decide their fate. For decades, the UN has been seeking to hold a referendum on independence for the territory.

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Denis Sassou Nguesso, Head of State of Congo – Brazzaville and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo held secret talks today in Oyo, a town in the department of Cuvette in Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon Concord News has learned. The two dictators reportedly addressed issues related to political developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in view of the conduct of the presidential election scheduled for this year.

Both leaders are under immense political pressure from the United States of America.  Denis Sassou Nguesso’s electoral victory is strongly opposed by the Congolese opposition including pressure from the US justice system which has convened Antoinette Sassou, wife of the Congolese president, on Monday in Washington to be heard in an open investigation for unpaid debts of around one billion euros.

President Joseph Kabila close associates have been targeted by US sanctions, the most recent case being that of General Célestin Kanyama, Commissioner General of Police, whose bank accounts have been frozen abroad. The senior official is also forbidden to travel outside the country.

Opponents of President Sassou Nguesso; Makaya Paulin and Jean Marie Michel Mokoko have all been imprisoned. While President Kabila’s former Governor, Moses Katumbi, has been sentenced to 36 months in prison in a land dispute.

Anang Valerian (Cameroon Concord News Group)

Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has signed a decree on Friday appointing a 30 members cabinet including several relatives and his two sons. After promoting his eldest son to the rank of Vice President of the Republic in charge of Defense and Security, the 73 years old dictator has now made Equatorial Guinea a family affair.  Gabriel Obiang Lima Mbega was placed at the head of the strategic Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons.

Two new portfolios were created. The Department of Presidential Security headed by Antonio Mba Nguema  Mikue previously defense minister and brother of President Obiang and the  Department of Planning headed by Reginaldo Asue Mango, a new comer. Eight new ministers are entering the government for the first time which has three women. President Obiang Nguema came to power in 1979 by a coup and was re-elected last April 24 with 93.7% of votes.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai (Cameroon Concord News Group)

General Jean- Marie Michel Mokoko, one of the opposition candidates in the March 20, 2016 presidential election in Congo is languishing in police custody in the capital, Brazzaville since June 14, 2016, Reuters reported, citing an announcement from his party.

The former army chief of staff from 1987 to 1993 is being investigated on allegations shown in a video screened in 2007 indicating that he was discussing plans to oust President Denis Sassou Nguesso from power. He had been President Sassou Nguesso’s special adviser on security matters.  Reuters reported yesterday that the government had not yet commented on the arrest and detention of General Mokoko in the Police cell.

However, events leading up to the arrest indicate government’s intention to have the judicial proceedings against him accelerated. RFI cited Justice Minister Pierre Mabiala of asking the State Counsel to hasten the proceedings. General Mokoko’s lawyer, Yvan Eric Ibouanga, RFI reported, also confirmed the arrest and detention. He however, did not want to further comment on a judicial file that is still at the preliminary investigation phase.

General Mokoko after the accusations of attempted coup d’Etat in 2007, left Congo and only returned early this year to contest in the race for the presidency. Since the March 2016 presidential election, he had been living under tight security surveillance.

Amnesty International has warned that the number of attacks on people with albinism has risen in Malawi, calling on authorities to bring those responsible for the crimes to justice. “The unprecedented wave of brutal attacks against people with albinism has created a climate of terror for this vulnerable group and their families,” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s director for southern Africa, said on Tuesday.

The body parts of albinos, who lack pigments in their skin, hair and eyes, are sold for witchcraft in North Africa. Their body parts are believed to bring wealth and good luck and are prized in witchcraft for use in charms and magical potions. The report condemned the Malawian authorities for “leaving this population group at the mercy of criminal gangs who hunt them down for their body parts.”

Amnesty said campaigners, police authorities, families and community leaders have all said that the number of attacks have increased recently. According to the report, April was the bloodiest month for such attacks in Malawi, with at least four people murdered, including a child aged under two. The parents of the child have been arrested as suspects. Simeon Mawanza, the lead researcher of the Amnesty report, said children with albinism have been sold by their parents.

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Burkina Faso’s transition Prime Minister, General Yacouba Isaac Zida risks being sanctioned when he returns to the country from Canada where he has been for some months, RFI reported. President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who also holds the position of Defence Minister has summoned Isaac Zida back to the country several times in vain.

Without giving Zida an ultimatum, President Kaboré is threatening to consider him as a soldier who has deserted the army in times of peace. The President is likely to take up his responsibilities and implement the regulations in force with regard to indiscipline in the army.

Isaac Zida on the contrary is requesting to be considered as being in health evacuation. The President has refused to accept the plea as a medical file has not been presented to him. RFI cited Mr Kaboré as saying that evacuation abroad for health reasons is done within the framework of the law.

The current stay of Isaac Zida has further complicated issues for him. RFI reported that the ongoing audit of the stewardship as transition presidency and Prime Minister’s Office indicate that there were some financial mismanagement. The authorities want some clarity in the situation. Reports say, the transition Prime Minister besides military sanctions for abandoning his duties may also face justice to answer charges of  mismanagement during the transition period.

Cameroon Tribune