Politics

9, February 2021

US: What you need to know as Trump’s second impeachment trial begins ⁰

The US Senate begins debate Tuesday on the unprecedented second impeachment of former US president Donald Trump as lawmakers decide whether he is guilty of inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

US senators will step into uncharted territory when they sit in judgment of a president who is no longer in office but who remains a potent force in his party. The extraordinary proceedings will unfold in one of the chambers ransacked by an angry mob of Trump supporters who stormed Congress on January 6, seeking to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s election win.

If convicted, the former Republican president could be barred from holding public office in the future, dealing a fatal blow to any hopes he may have of running again in 2024.

Here is a look at the basics of the trial and its broader implications.

What are the charges against Trump?

The 45th US president is accused of “inciting violence against the government of the United States” by using inflammatory language at a rally in Washington, DC, moments before his supporters launched the deadly attack on the Capitol.

One week after the siege, when Trump was still the sitting president, the House of Representatives formally impeached him for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. House members voted 232 to 197 in favour of impeachment, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats, making Trump the first president in US history to be twice impeached.

When will we get a verdict?

The US Constitution says the House has sole power of impeachment, while only the Senate can try and convict an impeached president. A two-thirds majority of senators is required for the president to be found guilty – a threshold that has never been crossed before.

It is still unclear how long the trial will last, but both Democrats and Republicans are keen for the proceedings to be swift. The GOP does not want to dwell on a divisive episode that raises tricky questions about its future course; Democratic senators are in a hurry to move on Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue package that tackles the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump’s first impeachment trial, in which the Senate acquitted him on charges that he abused power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden, lasted almost three weeks. This one is expected to be shorter as the case is less complicated and senators are already familiar with the details.

Should Trump be convicted, the Senate could then vote to bar him from seeking office again – this time by a simple majority. Such a move would nip in the bud any remaining hopes of running for election again in 2024.

How likely is a conviction?

The two-thirds majority requirement means Democrats need to persuade at least 17 Republican senators to convict Trump – a target they are unlikely to reach.

Trump was acquitted in his first impeachment trial a year ago with only one Republican senator, Mitt Romney, voting to convict. In a vote last month, 45 of the Senate’s 50 Republicans backed an effort to dismiss the trial based on the argument that, under the US Constitution, only a sitting president can be impeached.

What to expect from Trump’s accusers

Setting the tone in a pre-trial brief, the House-appointed prosecutors – known as impeachment managers – have accused Trump of “creating a powder keg, striking a match, and then seeking personal advantage from the ensuing havoc”.

They intend to use many of Trump’s own public statements against him, including his repeated, baseless claims that the election was “stolen” and his January 6 speech near the White House in which he urged his supporters to “fight like hell”. They are also expected to use social media posts and mobile phone data as evidence that Trump’s words incited the mob that stormed the Capitol later that day.

Source: France 24

7, February 2021

How Congo Kinshasa’s Tshisekedi loosened Kabila’s grip on power ⁰

Two years after his election, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has finally taken control, loosening his predecessor Joseph Kabila’s seemingly indestructible iron grip on power behind the scenes.

It seemed impossible for Tshisekedi to climb out from underneath Kabila’s shadow when he acceded to the top job in January 2019 – one month after coming out ahead in presidential elections amid doubts from electoral observers that he had really won more votes than Kabila’s arch-rival Martin Fayulu.

Tshisekedi had little room for manoeuvre: in power since 2001, Kabila had tightened control of DR Congo’s major institutions: the army, the intelligence services, the constitutional court and the electoral commission. Kabila’s party the Common Front for Congo (FCC) controlled two-thirds of parliamentary seats, forcing Tshisekedi to form a coalition government with his own party in the minority.

But two years later, Tshisekedi has managed to loosen Kabila’s lingering grip. The pro-Kabila head of the Senate resigned on Friday as MPs prepared a censure motion against him. Then the vast majority of FCC MPs switched their allegiances and joined Tshisekedi’s new political group the Sacred Union, giving it a large majority in the lower chamber.

‘Never any trust’

These MPs pushed out pro-Kabila Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba with a censure motion on January 27 – a month after they ousted the head of the National Assembly.

“There was never any trust between Tshisekedi and Kabila,” said Trésor Kibangula, an analyst at research foundation the Congo Study Group. “Each side has always been trying to diminish the other.”

Hence a year and a half of backbiting and power plays followed Tshisekedi’s inauguration. In 2020 the president’s camp banned some Kabila family members, including his once-powerful twin sister Jaynet, from travelling. Tensions rose to boiling point in July, when Tshisekedi appointed three new judges to the Constitutional Court amid the then prime minister’s absence. Kabila’s camp was outraged and refused to attend the swearing-in ceremony. In early December, Tshisekedi announced the end of the ruling coalition that combined his presidency with an FCC-controlled parliament.

Tshisekedi had already prepared for this. His camp set up meetings in the summer to persuade Kabila supporters to back him. “We set out to bring disillusioned FCC MPs to our side,” said an anonymous member of Kabila’s camp.

Anger had been brewing there for several months. “The FCC was controlled by a clique who didn’t want to see new people rise to the fore,” said MP Patrick Munyomo, who has joined the Sacred Union.

In December, Tshisekedi threatened to dissolve the National Assembly if he did not get a majority – causing many MPs to worry about losing their jobs. “It was a good move, psychologically,” said MP Nsingi Pululu.

Tshisekedi and his allies deployed the carrot after this deft use of the stick. The head of his party the UPDS, Jean-Marc Kabund said he would “look out for the interests” of MPs defecting from the FCC.

“Many of them left out of opportunism, keen to get jobs,” said Marie-Ange Mushobekwa, a member of the FCC’s pro-Kabila “crisis committee”.

“I didn’t ask for a job – but I hope I get one,” Pululu said.

A range of corruption allegations emerged against both sides amid the defections – with each side accusing the other of “buying” parliamentarians with bungs of thousands of dollars and 4×4 cars.

“It is going on, although I refused to accept anything,” one FCC defector said. “I’m not saying there haven’t been any bank notes going around, but we haven’t been buying people’s consciences,” said a senior member of Tshisekedi’s camp.

Kabila redux?

Kabila has remained silent throughout this process. Since the dismissal of close ally Jeannine Mabunda as head of the National Assembly, he has been living in his farm in Katanga province near the Zambian border, far away from the political turmoil in the capital Kinshasa.

He had warned Tshisekedi that the National Assembly is a red line, but realised that “he’s not capable of reacting yet”, Kibangula said.

Kabila remains a powerful figure in DR Congo. He and his family control a nexus of more than 80 companies operating in almost every sector of the economy. Gécamines – the country’s largest mining company and biggest contributor to the state’s budget – is headed by one of the ex-president’s most loyal lieutenants, Albert Yuma.

Meanwhile Kabila enjoys significant support within the rank and file of the army and intelligence service: “Tshisekedi has more and more backing within the security forces, but it’s still not much compared to the support for Kabila,” Kibangula said.

With more than 100 MPs remaining loyal to the ex-president, the FCC is becoming DR Congo’s main opposition force. This would provide a springboard for Kabila to leap back into the fray. “Kabila has not left the world of politics,” said FCC spokesman Alain Atundu. “We’re now starting to put a battle plan in place.”

Source: France 24

6, February 2021

Sixth term palaver: Chad police clash with protesters after President Deby’s nomination ⁰

Police in Chad fired tear gas and made several arrests as hundreds protested President Idriss Deby’s nomination on Saturday to run for a sixth term in April.

Deby, 68, who came to power in a 1990 rebellion, pushed through a new constitution in 2018 that reinstated term limits but would let him stay in power until 2033. His opponents accuse him of crippling the country’s institutions in a bid to hold on to power.

In the capital N’Djamena, hundreds of protesters set tyres on fire and chanted “No to a sixth term!” and “Leave, Deby!”, according to witnesses.

Police fired tear gas and arrested several people, including Mahamat Nour Ibedou, a prominent human rights activist. Protests were also held in the cities of Moundou, Doba, Sarh and Abeche, witnesses said.

The protests followed the announcement that the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) party had backed Deby’s bid for a sixth term in office.

Accepting the nomination, Deby said, “The people’s confidence has a sacred value for me.”

Deby, who took the title of field marshal last August, said he responded “favourably to this call of the people” after “a mature and deep introspection”.

Poverty, corruption and landslide election victories

Chad is an ally of Western nations in the fight against Islamist militants in West and Central Africa and one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Deby has faced strikes and protests in recent years over economic woes caused by low oil prices and armed rebellions in the desert north, where former colonial power France has intervened in support of the government.

Since ousting the autocratic leader Hissene Habre in 1990, Deby has been re-elected every five years in landslide election victories. But he has drawn on his effective control of state media and institutions to maintain political dominance.

During his rule, Deby has been accused of appointing relatives and cronies to key positions and failing to address the poverty that afflicts many of Chad’s 13 million people despite oil wealth.

The country ranks 187th out of 189 in the UN’s Human Development Index.

Banned opposition demonstrations, arbitrary arrests and severed access to social networks raise regular objections from human rights groups, which have also accused the ruling class of endemic corruption.

Opposition forms an alliance

Ahead of the April election, 12 opposition parties last week said they would field a joint single candidate. They also signed a deal creating an electoral coalition called Alliance Victoire (Victory Alliance).

Signatories include two prominent opposition figures – Saleh Kebzabo, the runner-up in the 2016 election with about 13 percent of the vote, and Mahamat Ahmat Alabo.

The opposition manifesto says other opposition parties can join, although it does not set a date for when the single candidate will be named.

The alliance’s coordinator, Alladoumngar Tedengarti, said “the lesson has been learned” from 30 years of elections in which Deby has been able to cruise past a fragmented opposition.

Other leaders who have yet to join include Laokein Kourayo Medar, who placed third in 2016, and Succes Masra, whose campaign group, The Transformers, has joined with NGOs to call for protests.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

5, February 2021

Can Vatican visit to Cameroon break the Ambazonia crisis stalemate? ⁰

Cameroon’s government displayed an “openness” towards dialogue for solving the country’s ongoing Anglophone crisis, during a visit by the Vatican’s number two earlier this week, according to a top church official from the Anglophone regions.

“There is a kind of openness for dialogue,” said Andrew Nkea, Archbishop of Bamenda. “But how this is going to come about, I think we must also be discreet in the way we handle those things.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, completed a visit to Cameroon on Wednesday, after a five-day trip during which he met President Paul Biya and held mass in Bamenda, the capital of the North West Region.

Fighting between armed separatists and Cameroon’s military continues in the North West and South West regions. The Catholic Church believes the only way to stop fighting and end the conflict is to hold talks between the warring sides.

“The cardinal was able to say to all the powers that be that dialogue was the most important tool for the solution of this problem,” Nkea told Africa Calling podcast, referring to discussions he sat in on between Parolin and the government.

Boycott and continued violence

Parolin’s visit to the Anglophone regions was marked by deserted streets, as armed separatists called for a boycott of his trip to Bamenda, but nevertheless, many church goers showed up at his mass.

Fighting and violence also continued during Parolin’s visit as three people were allegedly killed by Cameroonian soldiers on 31 January in the village of Semndzen, located in Bui Division in the North West Region.

Troops were searching for separatists, locally known as Amba Boys, and allegedly shot three villagers in the bush who were tapping palm wine, mistaking them for fighters, according to information RFI received.

Cardinal Parolin said during his trip to Cameroon that the Catholic Church, at both a local level and in Rome, is ready to facilitate dialogue between Yaoundé and the separatists.

“This facilitation depends on the actors involved, we cannot force the partners to dialogue,” said Nkea, in an interview.

Both the government and separatists have at times viewed the church’s efforts for mediation with some suspicion.

Local church leader Cardinal Christian Tumi had been trying to help bring fighting to an end, however, he was kidnapped by gunmen in the North West region on 5 November.

“It depends on the openness of the government, and it depends on the openness of the separatists,” said Nkea, discussing the possibility of future peace talks.

Building foundation for talks

Nkea would not be drawn on what the next steps for possible mediation might be, but mentioned steps and instruments that need to be put in place to lay the groundwork for any talks. “Now, it’s modalities,” he added.

“Things have moved at least a step forward,” said Nkea, describing candid talks with the authorities in Yaoundé.

“One of the big problems we’re talking about in this dialogue is there are at least 8 to 10 different leaders of the separatist groups,” said Bamenda’s archbishop, underlining the importance of including everyone.

“This needs time, and that’s the delicate aspect of it,” said Nkea.

Fighting started following protests in 2016 by Anglophones over perceived marginalisation by the Francophone ruling majority.

A crackdown on demonstrations led to a self-proclamation of independence for a state called Ambazonia and ultimately fighting between the army and separatist fighters.

Both separatist groups and Cameroon’s military have been accused of killing civilians and committing rights abuses during the Anglophone crisis.

Human Rights Watch said this week that soldiers killed at least nine civilians in the South West region on 10 January. The human rights watchdog said the soldiers looted homes and threatened residents.

Source: RFI

4, February 2021

Cameroon – Nigeria: Will there be a defined border soon? ⁰

In an effort to resolve the ongoing border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria, The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission will hold an important session in Abuja on 15 February, chaired by the UN Special Representative for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas. He hopes to complete the process of demarcation of borders before the end of his term in 2021.

Born out of the disagreement over the hydrocarbon-rich Bakassi peninsula, the border dispute had led to an armed conflict between the two countries. Following the 10 October 2002 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the subsequent bipartisan agreements signed, the UN secretary-general set up a joint commission in November 2002. It was tasked with facilitating the implementation of legal and political decisions. The process of establishing a border along the 2,100km stretch between the two countries was initiated. It is now almost complete.

However, there is still one problem. The commission’s experts have come up against 13 reference points corresponding to 100km of the route. It is important to bear in mind that it was following an agreement signed in 1913 between the two colonial powers of the time, Great Britain and the Germany, that the land and sea borders between Cameroon and Nigeria were drawn.

Breaking the deadlock

As the Bakassi border dispute arose from disagreements over different interpretations of the results collected from using border demarcation instruments, the countries sought the ICJ’s jurisdiction. The ICJ ruled, but even after announcing its decision members of the two delegations have often proposed interpretations that contradicted those of the Court, creating an impasse.

“At first glance, it is on points of reference that the experts disagree. But beware, on the ground, these reference points can determine on which side of the border this or that village, this or that cross-border ethnic community will be located,” says a member of the commission. According to our information, the two delegations have already given assurances that they agree on five reference points. This successful outcome will be made official in Abuja.

However, there are still eight points of reference to be negotiated during the session in the Nigerian capital. Some of them will have an impact on the types of petroleum exploration permits granted by one or both of the two countries to international companies.

Towards a definitive map

If the session in February succeeds in smoothing out all the contentious issues, Cameroon and Nigeria would then be ready to submit a definitive border map to the UN.

Finalising a clearly defined border between the two countries would be no small achievement on a continent where, according to the African Union Border Programme created in 2007, around 70% of the roads are not clearly demarcated. Some are even considered unknown.

This will be the last session chaired by Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the special representative of the secretary-general for West Africa and the Sahel. His term will end in 2021 and he wishes to complete the dossier before his departure.

Source: Africa Report

3, February 2021

Myanmar coup: China, Russia block UN Security Council condemnation ⁰

A top U.N. official urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to “collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar” as the 15-member body considered a possible statement condemning Monday’s coup.

U.N. Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener briefed the council in a private meeting after the Myanmar army detained Suu Kyi and others in response to “election fraud”, handed power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing, imposed a state of emergency for one year and pledged to hold new elections.

“I strongly condemn the recent steps taken by the military and urge all of you to collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar,” Schraner Burgener told the council, according to her prepared remarks.

“Let us be clear, the recent outcome of the election was a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD),” she said. “The military’s proposal to hold elections again should be discouraged.”

The Security Council is negotiating a possible statement, drafted by Britain, that would condemn the coup, call for the military to respect the rule of law and human rights, and immediately release those unlawfully detained, diplomats said. Such statements have to be agreed by consensus.

“I certainly hope that we’ll be able to speak with one voice,” British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, president of the council for February, told reporters after the meeting.

China, backed by Russia, shielded Myanmar from any significant council action after a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State sent more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing into Bangladesh, where they are still stranded. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western states accused the Myanmar military of ethnic cleansing, which it denied.

A diplomat with China’s U.N. mission said after a council meeting on Tuesday that they were “shocked” that reporters had already seen the draft council statement, adding that “this will make the process of seeking consensus even more difficult.”

“We are of the view that any action by the Council should contribute to political and social stability of Myanmar and its peace and reconciliation, avoiding escalating the tension or further complicating the situation,” the diplomat said.

Russia’s U.N. mission is seeking instructions from Moscow on the draft statement, said deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy, adding that the situation in Myanmar was “complex and volatile.”

The United Nations also raised fears on Monday that the coup in Myanmar will worsen the plight of some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims still in the country.

“At this point in time, we must ensure the protection of people of Myanmar and their fundamental rights. We must do everything to prevent violence from breaking out,” Schraner Burgener said.

(REUTERS)

1, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The military is carrying out summary executions ⁰

As the world is currently more focused on the mess the Trump Administration has left behind in Washington D.C., many dictators across the world now think they have a free hand to wreak havoc in their own countries and that is the game that is playing out in Southern Cameroons where a four-year insurgency has given the Yaounde government the carte blanche to transform the country’s two English-speaking regions into an open killing field.

While the scale might not be as large as what happened in Ngarbuh, Kumba and Mautu, the killings are still gruesome and targeted which clearly explains that the Yaounde government does not believe in the rule of law.

This slaughtering has been going on for four years and it is now becoming more spectacular and anybody suspected by the country’s military is good enough to die.

Sometimes, the soldiers take it upon themselves to eliminate young men who have beautiful girlfriends just because they desire those girls.

The country’s government has simply shredded the rules book and its soldiers are on the prowl, targeting young men or any new faces visiting the region.

On Saturday, January 29, the military arrested a 46-year-old man known as Agbor Issac Assek in Ossing and promptly gunned him down without interrogating him or without following known legal procedures to determine or establish the reason for his arrest.

Cameroon Concord News Group sources in Ossing hold that the victim had been in the military’s cross hairs for some time, but the need to arrest him became urgent when the principal of Government High School Ossing was killed in broad day light by Southern Cameroonian insurgents who have been fighting for the total liberation of the former British colony.

Our source said that “Even before the principal’s death, the military has been looking for him on the grounds that he was a friend to General Macopolo, an Amba General who has been operating around the Ossing-Kembong axis.”

But human rights activists and lawyers are questioning the government’s actions in this case and many others as they argue that such summary executions will only result in an escalation of violence in the region.

According to a human rights activist in Mamfe, a town some 6 kilometers from Ossing, by undertaking such an action, the Yaounde government has clearly demonstrated that it does not believe in the rule of law.

“One would think that with the passage of time, the military and the government would learn the lessons of the past. The killing of Mr. Agbor Isaac does not address any issues. It will only call for violence and the circle of violence will only continue,” he said.

“Mr. Agbor had already been arrested and the military was supposed to have followed due process. Gunning him down is a clear demonstration that the government and the military do not believe in human rights and the rule of law,” the activist, who elected anonymity, said.

“We are really disappointed with the way the government has conducted its military operation. Just killing young men will not cause the issues to disappear. The government needs to come down its high horse to discuss with all the factions involved in this conflict that has torn the country apart,” he said.

“With such an approach, it is hard for a peaceful solution to emerge. There are many Anglophone Cameroonians who want to come home from abroad, but they cannot because of the government’s indiscriminate killing of young people,” he stressed.

“If members of the region’s Diaspora come home, jealousy could cause the military to arrest these people and arbitrary arrests discourage our brothers who really want to return to their land from investing here and this is creating unemployment and other serious economic issues,” he regretted.

“The government should be leading by examples and it is totally wrong for soldiers to be gunning down young men. This country must be guided by the rule of law and due process should be followed, especially when the suspects have been arrested. We cannot continue to conduct ourselves as if we are wild animals,” our source said.

“The Southwest and Northwest regions are not safe, though ministers like Paul Atanga Nji are misleading the world that peace has returned to the two English-speaking regions. Nobody is safe. The military has the carte blanche to kill whoever it wants. This is not how a country should be operated. It is indeed disheartening,” our source concluded.

Meanwhile, due to increasing insecurity in the two English-speaking regions of the country, the government has opted to conduct recruitment into the elite military corp known as the BIR for the Northwest and Southwest regions in Bafoussam and Douala respectively.

Many critics have already indicated that if the government is scared of carrying out recruitment in Bamenda and Buea, why would ordinary citizens believe that things have returned to normal?

The government, most critics assert, is not willing to address the issues that triggered the conflict. They argue that there are more French-speaking Cameroonian officials in the two English-speaking regions today than they were before the commencement of the conflict.

They argue that the government is clearly provoking the English-speaking minority, adding that with such an attitude, the conflict will never be over.

It is obvious that even the country’s president, Paul Biya, no longer cares about things in the country and has given his corrupt officials a free hand to handle the insurgency however they want.

The activist stressd that if the government had to change its mind regarding the crisis that has created hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons, then the international community must hold its feet to the fire.

While the killing continues, there is however a feeling that there is hope on the horizon. The Southern Cameroons Diaspora in the United States has already briefed the Biden Administration on the situation in the two English-speaking regions of the country and the nominee for the post of Secretary of State has already indicated that the new Biden Administration will be laser focused on Cameroon due to the gross human rights abuses.

Similarly, the arrival of a senior Vatican official in the country last week might help change government decisions on how it operates in the two English-speaking regions.

The Vatican senior official who has met with Cameroon government officials has called on the government to make peace with its English-speaking minority in order to end the killings and restore peace in the region.

The world is waiting for the government of Cameroon to realize that violence only begets violence and that there will never be any military victory in this conflict as both parties are determined to win the war.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

26, January 2021

Bundes: Far-right AfD braces for surveillance ⁰

Germany’s domestic security agency is on the verge of announcing whether the far-right AfD will be placed under surveillance for posing a threat to democracy, dealing a potential blow to the anti-immigration party in a key election year.

After a two-year investigation and a report totalling over 1,000 pages, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is to decide in the coming days if the Alternative for Germany (AfD) will be classed as a “suspected case” over its ties to right-wing extremism.

The classification would allow intelligence agents to shadow the party, tap its communications and possibly use undercover informants.

The anti-Islam, anti-immigration AfD has often courted controversy by calling for Germany to stop atoning for its World War II crimes. Senior figure Alexander Gauland once described the Nazi era as just “a speck of bird poo” on German history.

The BfV’s decision comes at a sensitive time for the AfD. While it is the largest opposition party in parliament, it has seen its ratings fall as the pandemic has kept the spotlight firmly on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition parties.

AfD leader Joerg Meuthen has vowed to take legal action if the BfV decides to begin surveillance, accusing the government-run agency of playing politics in what pundits have dubbed a “super election year” in Germany.

The AfD faces six regional elections this year and a general election on September 26, the first in over 15 years that won’t feature Merkel.

The first regional test will come with state polls in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate on March 14, where support for the AfD is hovering around 10 percent.

– Radical ‘Wing’ –

The AfD started out at as an anti-euro outfit in 2013 before capitalising on public anger over Merkel’s 2015 decision to allow in a wave of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The AfD took nearly 13 percent of the vote in the 2017 general election, allowing it to make its debut in the German Bundestag.

But the party has long been locked in an internal battle between an extremist faction and populist, conservative members who are wary of scaring off mainstream voters.

Germany’s domestic intelligence service already placed a radical fringe of the party, known as The Wing, under surveillance last year over its association with known neo-Nazis and on suspicion of violating the constitution.

The faction, led by firebrand Bjoern Hoecke, dissolved itself last March but many of its 7,000 members remain active in the AfD.

“This gives rise to doubts about whether they really lost influence,” Der Spiegel weekly said.

Hoecke, the AfD’s leader in Thuringia state, famously referred to Germany’s Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as “a monument of shame” and has called for a “180 degree reversal” in the country’s remembrance culture.

The AfD’s Thuringia branch and another one in Brandenburg have also been designated as “suspected cases” of right-wing extremism by the BfV.

The authorities’ concern about the AfD has grown after the country suffered a string of right-wing, anti-Semitic attacks in recent years. The risk of violence from Germany’s far-right scene is now considered the country’s top threat.

AfD chief Meuthen has struggled to rein in the party’s more radical figures, telling a congress in November that they would not win over voters by being “increasingly crude, aggressive”.

He also rubbished comparisons of the current coronavirus restrictions with a “dictatorship”, as AfD lawmaker Gauland had done.

Nevertheless, more than a few of the AfD’s 35,000 members are believed to harbour extremist sympathies.

One of them, Andreas Kalbitz, was the head of the AfD in Brandenburg before he was kicked out for hiding his past membership in a neo-Nazi youth group.

“The AfD could be declared a suspected case because it is dominated by the radical wing of the party, whose influence has only grown in recent months,” Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, told AFP.

As for the party’s chances at the ballot box in 2021, Funke said “endless” infighting had left the AfD without clear policies, settling instead on “simply saying the opposite of whatever the government proposes”.

Source: AFP

26, January 2021

Old men, old office, old powers: Biya, Mbasogo, Museveni and others ⁰

It is true that Africa is the home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. According to Claire Felter, some postcolonial leaders in the 1960s and 1970s sought to become “president for life,” with several managing to remain in power for three or more terms. Yet today, by the dawn of 2021, it is still quite pathetic that the trend of enrooted leadership had propagated like the gospel of Jesus Christ across the region, instigating corruption, vice, debauchery, political unrest, economic instability, societal fractures, and many more.

Just 16 January 2021, the electoral commission of Uganda announced that Museveni won re-election for a sixth term with 58.6% of the vote. For the umpteenth time, promoting long rulership in Africa is still actively surviving, while mending this, we still expect, more compelling leadership in Africa. Wherein, this piece shall take a look at the Oldest and longest actively serving Presidents in Africa.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – Equatorial Guinea

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is the 2nd president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema in a military coup that took place in August 1979 and has overseen Equatorial Guinea’s emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s. Nguema Mbasogo is the second-longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world.

According to The Economist, the Equatorial Guinea leader has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of power. In marked contrast to the trend toward democracy in most of Africa, Equatorial Guinea is currently a dominant-party state, in which Obiang’s Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) holds virtually all governing power in the nation.

The constitution provides the 77-year-old Obiang sweeping powers, including the right to rule by decree, effectively making his government a legal dictatorship. Yet more, according to US News, He has held onto power ever since, relying on the repression of political opponents and revenues from the country’s offshore oil reserves.

Paul Barthélemy Biya’a bi Mvondo – Cameroon

Paul Barthélemy Biya’a bi Mvondo also known as Paul Biya has been the Cameroonian president since 6 November 1982. According to Emvana, Michel Roger, He rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982.

He succeeded Ahidjo as president upon the latter’s surprise resignation in 1982 and consolidated power in 1983–1984 staged attempted coup in which he eliminated all his rivals. Notes from www.cameroonvoice.com say that Biya introduced political reforms within the context of a one-party system in the 1980s. Under serious pressure, he accepted the introduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s.

He won the contentious 1992 presidential election with 40% of the plural, single-ballot vote and was re-elected by large margins in 1997, 2004, 2011 and 2018. Opposition politicians and Western governments have alleged voting irregularities and fraud on each of these occasions. Many independent sources have provided evidence that he did not win the elections in 1992 and that subsequent elections were rampant with fraud. The 87-year-old is today the second-longest-ruling president in Africa (after Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea ), the longest-ruling non-royal leader in the world, and the oldest head-of-state in Africa.

Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni – Uganda

Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni has been serving as the President of Uganda since 1986. Museveni was involved in rebellions that toppled Ugandan leaders Idi Amin (1971–79) and Milton Obote (1980–85) before he captured power in the 1980s. According to US News, Museveni, 75, declared himself president in January 1986 when he seized Kampala after a five-year guerrilla struggle. The ruling party endorsed him as its candidate in the 2021 election after he scrapped a 75-year age limit that would have barred him from standing again.

Obviously, Museveni’s presidency has been marred by involvement in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other Great Lakes region conflicts; the rebellion in Northern Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army, which caused a humanitarian emergency; and the suppression of political opposition and constitutional amendments scrapping presidential term limits (2005) and the presidential age limit (2017). On 16th January 2021, the electoral commission of Uganda announced that Museveni won re-election for a sixth term with 58.6% of the vote.

Denis Sassou Nguesso – Congo

Denis Sassou Nguesso has been President of the Republic of the Congo since 1997. He was previously president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as president, he headed the single-party régime of the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) for 12 years. Research showed that under pressure from international sources, he introduced multiparty politics in 1990 and was then stripped of executive powers by the 1991 National Conference, remaining in office as a ceremonial head of state.

According to the Reuters, he stood as a candidate in the 1992 presidential election but was defeated, placing third. According to the Reuters, Sassou Nguesso was an opposition leader for five years before returning to power during the Second Civil War (1997–1999), in which his rebel forces ousted President Pascal Lissouba.

Following a transitional period, The 76-year-old won the 2002 presidential election, which involved low opposition participation; he was re-elected in the 2009 presidential election. The introduction of a new constitution, passed by referendum in 2015, enabled Sassou Nguesso to stand for another term. He was re-elected in the 2016 presidential election with a majority in the first round.

Idriss Déby – Chad

Idriss Déby Itno has been the President of Chad since 1990. He took power at the head of a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and has since survived various rebellions and coup attempts against his own rule. He won elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006, 2011, and 2016. According to Douglas Farah, he added “Itno” to his surname in January 2006.

He is a graduate of Muammar Gaddafi’s World Revolutionary Center and has been described as authoritarian by several international media sources. Since the 67-year-old man took power at the head of an armed rebellion, he has since abolished presidential term limits in 2005 before reimposing a two-term limit in 2018. It will not be applied retroactively, however, meaning he could serve two terms after the next election in 2021.

Isaias Afwerki – Eritrea

Isaias Afwerki has been the first and current president of Eritrea, a position he has held since after the Eritrean War of Independence in 1993. He led the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in May 1991, ending the 30-year-old war for independence. He has been cited for human rights violations by the United Nations and Amnesty International.

In 2015, Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea under the government of Afwerki last in its Press Freedom Index for the eighth year running. Afwerki, 74, since his rule since it gained independence from Ethiopia. There have never been national elections in Eritrea, which rights groups consider one of the most repressive states in the world.

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh – Djibouti

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh has been the current president of Djibouti since 1999. According to CBS News, Guelleh was first elected as President in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon who had ruled Djibouti since independence in 1977. Guelleh was re-elected in 2005, 2011 and again in 2016; the 2011 election was largely boycotted by the opposition amid complaints about widespread irregularities.

Guelleh has been characterized as a dictator, and his rule has been criticized by some human rights groups. Guelleh, 72, was handpicked to succeed his uncle, independence leader Hassan Gouled Aptidon. He was elected to a fourth five-year term in 2016.

Paul Kagame – Rwanda

Very Tall Paul Kagame is the 6th and current president of Rwanda, having taken office in 2000. Kagame previously commanded the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), an Uganda-based rebel force which invaded Rwanda in 1990 and was one of the parties of the conflict during the Rwandan Civil War and the Rwandan genocide.

He was considered Rwanda’s de facto leader when he served as Vice President and Minister of Defence under President Pasteur Bizimungu from 1994 to 2000. Kagame, 62, was widely seen as the real power in Rwanda after leading the rebel army that ended the 1994 genocide. He was formally elected president by the national assembly in 2000 and changed the constitution in 2015 to extend term limits, a move that could let him stay in power until 2034.

Culled from Qwenu.com

26, January 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Justice for detained journalist Paul Chouta ⁰

Paul Chouta, an independent journalist and a fierce critic of President Paul Biya’s government in Cameroon, has been detained without trial for more than 600 days – his case having been postponed 16 times. So far, the courts have failed to provide credible reasons as to why they continue to detain him and infringe on his right to freedom from arbitrary detention.

The journey leading to the arrest of the journalist who runs an online news platform, Cameroon Web, and manages a famous Facebook page called Le TGV de l’info, has been long and painful. At one time, Chouta was attacked, beaten and stabbed near his house by unknown people. In 2019, he was detained for what police called publishing defamatory content and fake news. He has been vocal in criticising the government and has written extensively on corruption and police abuse.

Freedom of speech is sacrosanct. As media freedom continues to thin in Cameroon, with journalists being detained without trial, taken to court on frivolous charges, threatened, beaten and even murdered, the international community must amplify the call to the Cameroon government to respect and allow journalists to do their work without fear or favour.

Both the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) have clearly spelled out the right to freedom of expression, and Paul and thousands of other Cameroon journalists must be allowed to unequivocally enjoy that right. The world should demand the immediate release of Paul.

Source: Fairplanet