NIGERIA Islamists raise the stakes as they take on Yar'Adua 7th August 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site A militant leader lies dead after his sect fought the faltering government Within days of a truce being declared between militants in the Niger Delta and the government, serious fighting broke out in Nigeria's poverty-ridden north (AC Vol 50 No 15). It killed over 700 people and displaced thousands more. Although not directly related, the continuing crises in the most economically marginalised areas - the Niger Delta, where the oil industry has destroyed the local economy, and the north, where traditional agriculture is failing to sustain the people - mean that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is fighting a war on two fronts (AC Vol 50 No 14). For the intelligence services and military, that is an ever more threatening challenge.
NIGERIA Inside Boko Haram 7th August 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The late Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf's Boko Haram group had about 2,000 members, some of whom had first attacked police stations in 2003. The group's rhetoric grew increasingly violent,...
SOUTH AFRICA Township protestors take on the ANC government 7th August 2009 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site After weeks of angry protests in the townships, President Zuma and his ministers promise to make the problems of the poorest a priority Pictures of police firing rubber bullets into a crowd of protestors in Thokoza township on 27 July gave President Jacob Zuma's three-month-old government its strongest reality check to...
Under the February 2008 agreement between presidential contenders Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the coalition government committed itself to setting up an independent special tribunal to try the organisers of last year’s political violence which killed more than 1,500 people or refer the worst cases to the International Criminal Court. After a year of stalemate, the government said on 30 July that it would use local courts to try those accused of organising the killings. The critical issue is... Under the February 2008 agreement between presidential contenders Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the coalition government committed itself to setting up an independent special tribunal to try the organisers of last year’s political violence which killed more than 1,500 people or refer the worst cases to the International Criminal Court. After a year of stalemate, the government said on 30 July that it would use local courts to try those accused of organising the killings. The critical issue is what the ICC will do next. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has opened an envelope from former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan listing the principal suspects behind the violence, and the ICC has boxes of witness statements and forensic evidence in support of the prosecution of several Kenyan politicians and business people. Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can take up a case in three circumstances: if the UN Security Council refers the case to the ICC, which didn’t happen in Kenya; if the member country self-refers, which the government had promised to do if it did not set up a ‘special tribunal’ or find an internationally acceptable ‘alternative judicial mechanism’; or lastly if the ICC Prosecutor initiates the case himself based on the Court’s own analysis and other supporting material. Ocampo may take on Kenya’s cases if he agrees that they constitute crimes against humanity and thinks that the evidence would stand up in court. That, judging by opinion polls, is what Kenyans want the ICC to do.Under the February 2008 agreement between presidential contenders Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the coalition government committed itself to setting up an independent special tribunal to try the organisers of last year’s political violence which killed more than 1,500 people or refer the worst cases to the International Criminal Court. After a year of stalemate, the government said on 30 July that it would use local courts to try those accused of organising the killings. The critical issue is what the ICC will do next. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has opened an envelope from former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan listing the principal suspects behind the violence, and the ICC has boxes of witness statements and forensic evidence in support of the prosecution of several Kenyan politicians and business people. Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can take up a case in three circumstances: if the UN Security Council refers the case to the ICC, which didn’t happen in Kenya; if the member country self-refers, which the government had promised to do if it did not set up a ‘special tribunal’ or find an internationally acceptable ‘alternative judicial mechanism’; or lastly if the ICC Prosecutor initiates the case himself based on the Court’s own analysis and other supporting material. Ocampo may take on Kenya’s cases if he agrees that they constitute crimes against humanity and thinks that the evidence would stand up in court. That, judging by opinion polls, is what Kenyans want the ICC to do. Read more
SOUTH AFRICA The poorest protest 7th August 2009 Gauteng Province, around Johannesburg, is the most heavily industrial part of South Africa, with tightly crammed townships and informal settlements for those who came to find work. It...
NAMIBIA Behind the sidelining of General Martin Shalli 7th August 2009 The General is out, SWAPO party wrangles continue, corruption is suspected and China earns a bad name The suspension of the popular chief of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF), Lieutenant General Martin Shalli, on 22 July, has shocked Namibians and angered soldiers. Some regard it...
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE A stolen election, then a coalition 7th August 2009 President Denis Sassou-Nguesso wants to buy off his political opponents and has his numerous family members right behind him Re-elected for a further seven-year presidential term by a crushing majority, according to the official count, Denis Sassou-Nguesso is thinking about forming a national government. He has floated...
KENYA The hard road to truth, justice and reconciliation 7th August 2009 President Mwai Kibaki's 23 July appointment of Bethuel Kiplagat to chair Kenya's newly created Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission is problematic. Some suspect the government will use the TJRC to exonerate any senior politician convicted of election violence and Kiplagat, a senior aide to President Daniel arap Moi, lacks support and credibility, as do some other TJRC members. Furthermore, the TJRC's remit stretches back to 1963. Far from resolving postcolonial crises, this may prove yet another lengthy, expensive inquiry whose conclusions are seen as just another cover-up. Many regard the question of Bethuel Kiplagat's independence as fundamental. He was a leading coordinator of Daniel arap Moi's survival strategy (AC Vol 31 No 24) and critics...
NAMIBIA Namibia's China disappearing act 7th August 2009 The Windhoek corruption case has been wiped from the internet in China. It is being treated like events in Taiwan, Tibet or the activities of the Falun Gong...
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE A general in waiting 7th August 2009 Emmanuel Ngouelondele-Mongo was not the only critic of the conduct of Congo's 12 July presidential election or President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's record in power (AC Vol 50 No 12)....
KENYA A 'government of national impunity' 7th August 2009 The fractious coalition government of President Mwai Kibaki and Premier Raila Odinga may have finally agreed on something: to let impunity reign. Kenyans speak of the transition from...
GABON After Bongo, more Bongo 7th August 2009 He already controls the military and now Ali Ben Bongo intends to control the whole country The face of the late President Omar Bongo Ondimba still figures large on posters along the main boulevards of Libreville. Although his photographic image is fading in the...
ANGOLAPORTUGAL Vicente's Portuguese links 7th August 2009 Foreign oil companies are looking closely at the links between Sonangol Chairman Manuel Vicente's holdings in the Banco de Investimento Global and the spate of contracts awarded by...
ZIMBABWE Parliamentary prosecutions 7th August 2009 A rowdy session is in prospect following parliament's return after the winter recess and President Robert Mugabe's determination to regain control of it. His strategy - and that...
SOMALIAUNITED STATES Washington backs the TFG 7th August 2009 Even before President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia met United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the first leg of her seven-nation African tour, Washington had...