CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila looks into the abyss 30th November 2012 President Joseph Kabila on a visit to Goma in 2009. Teun Voeten / Panos Image courtesy of Panos Pictures After the eastern rebels trounce the national army and opposition movements step up the pressure, the President is fighting for his political life The seizure of Goma by the Mouvement du 23 mars rebels on 20 November has dangerously weakened the regime of President Joseph Kabila Kabange. Backed by Rwanda and Uganda, M23’s brutal campaign in eastern Congo threatens Kinshasa both by exposing the government’s inability to protect the public and by forming opportunistic alliances with other oppositionists. On 28 November, at least some M23 commanders were responding to international pressure to withdraw from Goma but they were tying this to negotiating conditions. Some commanders said they were prepared to pull their troops back to 30 kilometres outside Goma but continued to maintain a threatening posture. There are also credible reports that M23 forces have stolen over US$50 million from the city’s branch of the Banque centrale du Congo.
CONGO-KINSHASA Why Goma fell 30th November 2012 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The full details of Goma’s fall are still murky but the main military push started on 19 November when, say local people, fighters from the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) began to cros...
SIERRA LEONE Clouds over Koroma’s victory 30th November 2012 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Claims of electoral fraud and threats of militant protest by the opposition shadow the start of the President’s second term President Ernest Bai Koroma avoided a potentially contentious second-round in the presidential poll by defeating Julius Maada Bio outright on 17 November. It was announced on 23 No...
Around 100,000 demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on 27 November demanded that President Mursi withdraw the decree that granted him sweeping powers, marking a rare moment of unity for Egypt’s liberals and leftists. Many called for Mursi not just to rescind his ‘constitutional declaration’ – but to step down. Protestors attacked the party offices of his Muslim Brothers in Alexandria and Mansoura and police officers declined to intervene. Hundr... Around 100,000 demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on 27 November demanded that President Mursi withdraw the decree that granted him sweeping powers, marking a rare moment of unity for Egypt’s liberals and leftists. Many called for Mursi not just to rescind his ‘constitutional declaration’ – but to step down. Protestors attacked the party offices of his Muslim Brothers in Alexandria and Mansoura and police officers declined to intervene. Hundreds of people were injured in clashes between Brotherhood supporters and opponents in Mahalla and Port Said. Secular leaders such as Mohamed el Baradei, ex-head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Amr Moussa, ex-Secretary General of the Arab League, lambast Mursi’s government for its narrow Islamist agenda. The Muslim Brothers promised a show of force in Cairo on 1 December. This confrontation marks a critical point for Egypt’s and the region’s post-revolutionary regimes. At the core of the protests is the attempt by Mursi and the Brothers to write a new constitution without reference to any other viewpoints. Most non-Islamist representatives resigned from the Assembly and joined legal moves to dissolve it. Yet Mursi’s decree effectively blocks the courts from doing that. Now his supporters in the Assembly plan to release their draft constitution which Mursi could put to a referendum within weeks. With control of the state machinery, he could push through what is likely to be a strongly Islamist if deftly worded constitution. Read more
NIGERIA Boko Haram looks to Mali 30th November 2012 As the army steps up its crackdown, the Islamist militia’s leaders are strengthening their ties with northern Mali The bombing of a church in Kaduna State on 25 November and attacks on a police station in Abuja on the following day seemed designed, at least in part, to show that the Boko Haram ...
EGYPTSUDAN Egyptians return in search of gold 30th November 2012 Last August, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Onsi Sawiris, 58, bought La Mancha Resources, owner of 40% of Sudan’s Ariab Mining Company. Naguib is a Coptic Christian and telecommunicat...
NAMIBIA SWAPO picks a new leader 30th November 2012 Three hats are in the ring for the SWAPO vice-presidency: the winner will almost certainly become the next head of state In a three-horse race for the vice-presidency of the SWAPO party, Jerry Ekandjo, the Minister of Regional and Local Government, has emerged out of left field. The final decision in...
NIGERIA How politicians help insurgents 30th November 2012 The federal government has played politics with the Boko Haram insurgency, using it to silence opposition from northern politicians who claim that President Goodluck Jonathan has b...
TANZANIA New strains on the Union 30th November 2012 Islamist-inspired violence is accelerating, alongside growing separatist sentiment as a crucial deal on oil exploration is reached Riots, killings and crackdowns have shaken Zanzibar for most of 2012, as Islamist forces mobilise growing support. At the same time, an agreement for Zanzibar to manage its own oil...
SOMALIA Floating arsenals in legal fog 30th November 2012 Indian Ocean piracy is down, thanks to naval patrols, armed guards and ‘panic rooms’, but the law governing ship protection is murky The hijacking of merchant ships off the coast of Somalia has decreased dramatically in the last year. Yet the private military security companies whose armed guards are largely cre...
SUDANANALYSIS The new gold rush 30th November 2012 Khartoum’s new gold mining operations may alleviate its worsening foreign exchange crisis but they will increase financial instability in the medium term. As the world gold price moves steadily upward, old workings are coming back to life. In Sudan, gold has been mined since the time of the Pharaohs, who shifted from silver and set the first international gold standard Sudan’s economy is in a bad way since it lost 75% of its oil revenue in its quarrel with South Sudan. This week, it refused to implement September’s agreement to get oil flowing ag...
TANZANIA Licence to secede 30th November 2012 Zanzibar’s President Ali Mohamed Shein and national President Jakaya Kikwete reached ‘agreement in principle’ on 25 October that Zanzibar could manage its own oil and gas industry,...
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ICC tries more with less 30th November 2012 More crimes are coming into its remit but the ICC’s budget is falling The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, will soon decide whether to begin a formal inquiry into human rights abuses by jihadists in the Sahel. In July, ...
SUDAN The plot thickens 30th November 2012 The former security boss, Lieutenant General Salah Abdullah Mohamed ‘Gosh’, a regular interlocutor with British and United States’ spies, was the best known person arrested for cou...
SOUTH AFRICA Zuma sweeps the boards 30th November 2012 President Jacob Zuma is tightening his grip on state-owned enterprises and purging boards and executives. His advisors say the SOEs often ignore his government’s objectives, behave...
ZIMBABWE Imports and exports 30th November 2012 Food is short across the country and the rains are late. Zimbabwe used to be the regional breadbasket but now relies on Zambia, formerly a maize importer, whose welcome to Zimbab...
MOZAMBIQUE Make mine a mine 30th November 2012 Foreign mining companies await clarification of the regulations after a bill goes before Parliament next month. The mining bill will also open the door to direct ownership by comp...