Vol 54 No 17 | ERITREAETHIOPIA Asmara and the Islamists 21st August 2013 Eritrea may be loosening relations with Al Shabaab A July report by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea claimed that the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice has resumed support to the Somali...
Vol 54 No 16 | SOUTH SUDAN A power struggle, not a coup 1st August 2013 President Salva has opened the leadership contest by sacking his deputy and all his ministers – and has strengthened his position in the process When President Salva Kiir Mayardit sacked his Vice-President, all his ministers, the governing party’s Secretary General and several senior police officers on 23 July, the wo...
Vol 54 No 16 | KENYA Secret suit aims at ICC evidence 1st August 2013 President Kenyatta is suing Safaricom in the High Court in camera In perhaps the strongest signal that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s defence team is now preparing for a full-blown trial at The Hague in November, his lead International Criminal...
Vol 54 No 16 | KENYA The crucial M-Pesa and call logs 1st August 2013 An anonymous blogger from the high-tech communications sector in Kenya has stepped in with highly credible-looking information on the latest court action in the International Crimi...
Vol 54 No 16 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASA M23 takes a hit 1st August 2013 The army turns the tables on the rebels and Rwanda may find it problematic to continue its support for M23 Two weeks of sometimes brutal fighting between the Mouvement du 23 mars and the national army have ramped up the pressure on Kinshasa and Kigali to negotiate a settlement. The Rwan...
Vol 54 No 16 | TANZANIANORTH KOREA The Dar leader 1st August 2013 Washington and Seoul are discreetly putting pressure on Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete to end military cooperation with Pyongyang. Around 18 North Korean military technicians a...
Vol 54 No 16 | SUDANSOUTH SUDANUNITED NATIONS Mission impossible 30th July 2013 The UN Security Council renews its peacekeepers’ mandate in Darfur but UN operations in Sudan have failed to protect civilians or prevent war The worsening political crises in Juba and Khartoum are fuelling hostilities between the two capitals. When South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit sacked his cabinet on ...
Vol 54 No 15 | KENYA Wobbling and nobbling 18th July 2013 The International Criminal Court judges on 15 July rejected an application by Kenyan Vice-President William Ruto to relocate his trial for crimes against humanity to East Africa. I...
Vol 54 No 14 | SOMALIA Aweys at bay, Madobe on top 5th July 2013 President Hassan Sheikh’s government woos Al Shabaab’s Sheikh Aweys but is openly defied by Ahmed Madobe in Kismayo Whether Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’ last week defected or escaped from Al Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen was still unclear as Africa Confidential went to press but mo...
Vol 54 No 14 | KENYA Devolution blues 5th July 2013 Challenges in the Supreme Court over devolution and rows about salaries for MPs and teachers give the new government plenty to think about After only a few weeks in office the Jubilee government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta finds itself putting out a succession of domestic political fires, some of which will leave ...