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Published 19th January 2007

Vol 48 No 2

Somalia

Peace but no keepers

To survive, the new government must widen its support base and bid farewell to Ethiopia's soldiers

African Union leaders will meet in Addis Ababa on 22-24 January to discuss sending 8,000 peacekeepers to Somalia. Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said that an AU force will start deploying by the end of January, as Ethiopia starts pulling out the 5,000 troops who keep the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in power. Negotiations are moving painfully slowly and there is much scepticism about the willingness of African troops to fill the vacuum left by the Ethiopians. Some of Premier Ali Mohamed's allies talk of extending the Ethiopian stay but that would almost certainly provoke a violent counter reaction, given the strength of Somali nationalism and historical enmities with Ethiopia.

Marching across the border

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Ethiopia was always confident of an easy victory over the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, despite the SICC's support from international Islamist volunteers and Eritrea. Addis Ababa...

Tafidan's ghost

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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The three main candidates in April's presidential elections all have close ties to Katsina's late kingmaker Shehu Musa Yar'Adua

General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua's shadow looms large over Nigeria's April presidential elections. Soldier-turned-politician Yar'Adua died in gaol nine years ago on trumped up charges o...

BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW

The investigations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office into the international dealings of the country’s biggest arms producer, BAE Systems, have huge implications for Africa’s own corruption busters. Most of them face heavy political pressure at home and depend critically on cooperation from Western police to pursue investigations against multinational companies. The anti-corruption rhetoric of Western governments is belied by their actions. The British government’s termination on grounds of nati...
The investigations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office into the international dealings of the country’s biggest arms producer, BAE Systems, have huge implications for Africa’s own corruption busters. Most of them face heavy political pressure at home and depend critically on cooperation from Western police to pursue investigations against multinational companies. The anti-corruption rhetoric of Western governments is belied by their actions. The British government’s termination on grounds of national interest of the SFO’s investigation into BAE’s Al Yamamah arms contract with Saudi Arabia has undermined the credibility of commitments on anti-corruption measures. Africa provides two immediate tests of Whitehall’s resolve: the SFO is probing allegations of corrupt payments by BAE on Tanzania’s US$40 mn. radar system and on a $2.6 bn. contract to supply Hawk jets to South Africa (AC Vol 44 No 18). Politically-connected middlemen are accused of handling some $12 mn. on the Tanzania deal and more than $80 mn. in South Africa. Neither Whitehall nor officials in Dar es Salaam or Tshwane have yet shown any enthusiasm for the probe, which could embarrass politicians in all three capitals. But this time the investigators are unlikely to give up.
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