Week # 110, Dated 7-12 march 2010
POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES
West Africa: Last week President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo met with Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, to discuss the development of bilateral ties and military cooperation.
Nigeria’s former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has joined the growing number of Nigerians calling for the removal of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, maintaining that the only viable option out of the present political logjam in the country is for the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to declare the President incapacitated and have him impeached.
Moreover in a recent opinion poll conducted by the Alliance for Credible Election (ACE) in Nigeria, on who between President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) should appoint Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has indicated preference for NJC.
Meanwhile despite the fresh crisis that erupted in Nigeria’s Dogo Na Hauwa in Jos last week, former Heads of State, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Earnest Shonekan were hosted to a peace conference in Jos where they called for peace. Meanwhile following the Jos crisis which led to the death of about 400 people, has led to the sacking of the National Security Adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, by the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. A former top spymaster Lt. Gen. Aliyu Mohamed Gusau (rtd) replaced Mukhtar.
Meanwhile last week protesters marched down the streets of Abuja to protest what is seen as a leadership vacuum in Nigeria. They demanded the sacking of the cabinet and a public appearance of President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Authorities have stated that Nigeria may seek the assistance of the United Nations to compel Cameroon to implement the Green Tree Agreement which set the implementation of the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ceding the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.
The Security Council last week extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic and Chad until 15 May, as discussions continue on the future of the operation. Meanwhile Chad's prime minister, Youssouf Saleh Abbas, whose government has been rocked by a series of embezzlement scandals, has stepped down and been replaced by a former oil minister, Emmanuel Nadingar.
An opposition leader in Gambia has criticized a wave of arrests in the country, saying detainees - including a former minister - are being held without charge. High-ranking military and police officials are also reportedly among those detained.
Meanwhile Guinea's rulers have said they country will hold a presidential election on June 27, the first since a military coup in December last year.
According to police and opposition leaders in Togo, riot police used a water cannon and tear gas to attack the headquarters of the main opposition party last week as its leaders huddled inside following a disputed presidential election, in which the son of the country's former dictator was declared winner.
South Africa: A leading member of Malawi’s opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) party has said that President Bingu Wa Mutharika’s government acted irresponsibly when it “secretly” purchased a multi-million dollar presidential jet.
Last week Zimbabwe's unity government has suffered its worst blow since its formation a year ago when President Robert Mugabe stripped effective power from three ministries, and assigned them to ZANU-PF ministers.
Central Africa: The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Dr. William F. Shija, has officially invited the Rwandan Parliament
to join the association. Also last week Rwandan President Paul Kagame joined celebrations in England as Rwanda was formally welcomed into the Commonwealth Club of Nations.
Meanwhile Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections have cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
According to a United Nations official Democratic Republic of Congo army troops have killed 90 Rwandan Hutu rebels during recent operations in Congo's North and South Kivu provinces.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: A recent wave of arrests, negative media coverage, and announcements by political and religious leaders targeting Senegal's gay community has raised concerns of homosexuals in the mainly Muslim country. According to the penal code homosexuality is punishable by law.
West Africa: Last week President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo met with Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, to discuss the development of bilateral ties and military cooperation.
Nigeria’s former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has joined the growing number of Nigerians calling for the removal of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, maintaining that the only viable option out of the present political logjam in the country is for the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to declare the President incapacitated and have him impeached.
Moreover in a recent opinion poll conducted by the Alliance for Credible Election (ACE) in Nigeria, on who between President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) should appoint Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has indicated preference for NJC.
Meanwhile despite the fresh crisis that erupted in Nigeria’s Dogo Na Hauwa in Jos last week, former Heads of State, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Earnest Shonekan were hosted to a peace conference in Jos where they called for peace. Meanwhile following the Jos crisis which led to the death of about 400 people, has led to the sacking of the National Security Adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, by the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. A former top spymaster Lt. Gen. Aliyu Mohamed Gusau (rtd) replaced Mukhtar.
Meanwhile last week protesters marched down the streets of Abuja to protest what is seen as a leadership vacuum in Nigeria. They demanded the sacking of the cabinet and a public appearance of President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Authorities have stated that Nigeria may seek the assistance of the United Nations to compel Cameroon to implement the Green Tree Agreement which set the implementation of the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ceding the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.
The Security Council last week extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic and Chad until 15 May, as discussions continue on the future of the operation. Meanwhile Chad's prime minister, Youssouf Saleh Abbas, whose government has been rocked by a series of embezzlement scandals, has stepped down and been replaced by a former oil minister, Emmanuel Nadingar.
An opposition leader in Gambia has criticized a wave of arrests in the country, saying detainees - including a former minister - are being held without charge. High-ranking military and police officials are also reportedly among those detained.
Meanwhile Guinea's rulers have said they country will hold a presidential election on June 27, the first since a military coup in December last year.
According to police and opposition leaders in Togo, riot police used a water cannon and tear gas to attack the headquarters of the main opposition party last week as its leaders huddled inside following a disputed presidential election, in which the son of the country's former dictator was declared winner.
South Africa: A leading member of Malawi’s opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) party has said that President Bingu Wa Mutharika’s government acted irresponsibly when it “secretly” purchased a multi-million dollar presidential jet.
Last week Zimbabwe's unity government has suffered its worst blow since its formation a year ago when President Robert Mugabe stripped effective power from three ministries, and assigned them to ZANU-PF ministers.
Central Africa: The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Dr. William F. Shija, has officially invited the Rwandan Parliament
to join the association. Also last week Rwandan President Paul Kagame joined celebrations in England as Rwanda was formally welcomed into the Commonwealth Club of Nations.Meanwhile Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections have cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
According to a United Nations official Democratic Republic of Congo army troops have killed 90 Rwandan Hutu rebels during recent operations in Congo's North and South Kivu provinces.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: A recent wave of arrests, negative media coverage, and announcements by political and religious leaders targeting Senegal's gay community has raised concerns of homosexuals in the mainly Muslim country. According to the penal code homosexuality is punishable by law.
African Union Peace and Security Council Chairman Ramtane Lamamra has said that former Niger President Mamadou Tandja should be freed on humanitarian and reconciliation reasons. The 71 year-old Tandja, who was overthrown in a February 18 coup d’état is being held in a presidential building in the capital, Niamey.
Over 10,000 residents in Lagos State have been displaced following the demolition of their houses and shops by men of the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences.
Christian villagers in Nigeria fled their homes fearing new attacks last week even as a senior official accused the country's military chiefs of ignoring warnings about the previous week’s massacre. Meanwhile the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised Nigerians to channel their grievances to the appropriate authority rather than take the laws into their hands. Meanwhile an archbishop of the area has termed the real issues as not religious rather political and ethnic in nature. Thousands of women protested the massacre of mostly Christian villagers by a Muslim clan last week. The demonstration coincided with the start of a three-day fast declared by the authorities in central Plateau State as a mark of reconciliation.
South Africa: Aid agencies in Zimbabwe are appealing to donors to support the $378 million appeal launched last December to support humanitarian and early recovery efforts in the country.
A report by the UN’s top official on indigenous rights has called for urgent action because of the Botswana government’s denial of water and services to the Bushmen and Bakgalagadi tribes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Central Africa: With at least 67,000 refugees in southwest Uganda, the government and aid workers are still battling inadequate resources in what a UN official described as a "silent emergency".
Meanwhile the United Nations last week started to airlift urgent food aid for tens of thousands of people who have fled ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and are seeking refuge in neighboring Republic of Congo (ROC).
According to US and UN reports detailing war crimes Government troops - the FARDC - in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are to blame for much of the epidemic of sexual violence in the east of the country. Meanwhile one of the nation’s a cabinet ministers said that the administration is forming a competent national army to take over after the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUC) withdraws by the end of next year.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, More than 200 million people in Africa are malnourished and the continent requires $620 billion to feed its people in the next 40 years. The number represents 26 percent of the entire population of the continent. Annually, Africa requires $6.5 billion to develop the sector.
In an international forest conference in Paris hosted by the French government President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed that 20 percent of the $30 billion in climate change funds pledged by rich countries during the next three years go to fighting deforestation particularly in the Congo and Amazon River basins in Africa and Latin America.
About 30 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a new strategy is being launched called ‘Asking the Right Questions’, to better respond to the needs of women and children.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reports nearly 5 million lives have been saved since 2002 through programs it has supported for the treatment of these three killer diseases.
This year there are less than half the reported meningitis infections than in the same period in 2009, but more patients are dying - 13 percent in 2010 versus 8 percent in 2009 - according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-Disease Surveillance Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which tracks 14 countries prone to meningitis outbreaks between Senegal and Ethiopia.
Reportedly a team from World Health Organisation(WHO) is in Ghana to assess the outbreak of Cerebro- Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in the country.
Niger says it needs $123 million of international assistance to make up for food shortages this year. Poor rains across Africa's Sahelian region have brought below-average harvests in Niger, northern Nigeria, central Chad and northeastern Mali and Burkina Faso. Niger is grappling with an acute food crisis and nearly a million children in the country are malnourished of which at least 200,000 are on the brink of starvation.
Senegalese children were among the 85 million African children vaccinated against polio this week, as part of an international campaign to halt an ongoing wave of the disease in West and Central Africa.
South Africa: According to an industry official Zambia is lobbying for support to sell its ivory stockpile to Japan and China and use the funds towards conservation.
Namibia has become one of the first African countries to launch the climate change adaptation programme, supported by the United Nations Development Programme –UNDP. It focuses on improved planning to help Namibia deal with climate change aspects such as, floods and drought risks. Meanwhile flooding in Mozambique and Angola has displaced thousands of families, prompting both governments to step up rescue operations
South Africa, India and Indonesia are vying to win the U.N.'s top climate change job, a key post to build trust between poor and rich in 2010 after the U.N.'s Copenhagen summit which set few binding targets.
An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in two South African provinces has killed one person, while five were reported dead in Zimbabwe’s capital as a result of typhoid.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has said that a world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.
Central Africa: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) commended Rwanda's efforts to combat deforestation and promote forest conservation.
Meanwhile during the launch of "K-Light in Rwanda Project", a solar powered lantern project it was revealed that the use of environmentally unfriendly Kerosene to light homes, especially in rural areas, is set to reduce following the introduction of solar powered lanterns on the Rwandan market.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: Two multi-national oil field service providers- Africa Oilfields Service Limited (AOS) and Orwell International (Oil & Gas) Limited, have committed $ 5million worth of equipment to Ghana's oil and gas industry. The two corporate entities plan to grow the investment to $ 15million, subject to demand expansion in Ghana.
The recent discovery of oil off the coast of Ghana has elicited claims on portions of the discovery by neighboring Ivory Coast.
Last week Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan ordered a probe into the controversies surrounding the recent sale of the Nigerian Telecommunication Company, NITEL, to a new generation telecom outfit at the cost of $2.5 billion.
South Africa: According to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe will have to rely on its own resources to revive its economy because foreign donors are unlikely to provide nearly enough help. Meanwhile 3 South African businessmen, Nicky Oppenheimer, Patrice
Motsepe and Johann Rupert, have been included in Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.
Central Africa: Advocacy group Global Witness has voiced concerns that former rebels now integrated into the Congolese army have asserted "mafia-style" control over lucrative mining sites. The rich mineral resources of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have long helped fuel conflicts in the lawless area. §
Over 10,000 residents in Lagos State have been displaced following the demolition of their houses and shops by men of the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences.
Christian villagers in Nigeria fled their homes fearing new attacks last week even as a senior official accused the country's military chiefs of ignoring warnings about the previous week’s massacre. Meanwhile the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has advised Nigerians to channel their grievances to the appropriate authority rather than take the laws into their hands. Meanwhile an archbishop of the area has termed the real issues as not religious rather political and ethnic in nature. Thousands of women protested the massacre of mostly Christian villagers by a Muslim clan last week. The demonstration coincided with the start of a three-day fast declared by the authorities in central Plateau State as a mark of reconciliation.
South Africa: Aid agencies in Zimbabwe are appealing to donors to support the $378 million appeal launched last December to support humanitarian and early recovery efforts in the country.
A report by the UN’s top official on indigenous rights has called for urgent action because of the Botswana government’s denial of water and services to the Bushmen and Bakgalagadi tribes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Central Africa: With at least 67,000 refugees in southwest Uganda, the government and aid workers are still battling inadequate resources in what a UN official described as a "silent emergency".
Meanwhile the United Nations last week started to airlift urgent food aid for tens of thousands of people who have fled ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and are seeking refuge in neighboring Republic of Congo (ROC).
According to US and UN reports detailing war crimes Government troops - the FARDC - in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are to blame for much of the epidemic of sexual violence in the east of the country. Meanwhile one of the nation’s a cabinet ministers said that the administration is forming a competent national army to take over after the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUC) withdraws by the end of next year.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, More than 200 million people in Africa are malnourished and the continent requires $620 billion to feed its people in the next 40 years. The number represents 26 percent of the entire population of the continent. Annually, Africa requires $6.5 billion to develop the sector.
In an international forest conference in Paris hosted by the French government President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed that 20 percent of the $30 billion in climate change funds pledged by rich countries during the next three years go to fighting deforestation particularly in the Congo and Amazon River basins in Africa and Latin America.
About 30 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a new strategy is being launched called ‘Asking the Right Questions’, to better respond to the needs of women and children.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reports nearly 5 million lives have been saved since 2002 through programs it has supported for the treatment of these three killer diseases.
This year there are less than half the reported meningitis infections than in the same period in 2009, but more patients are dying - 13 percent in 2010 versus 8 percent in 2009 - according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-Disease Surveillance Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which tracks 14 countries prone to meningitis outbreaks between Senegal and Ethiopia.
Reportedly a team from World Health Organisation(WHO) is in Ghana to assess the outbreak of Cerebro- Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in the country.
Niger says it needs $123 million of international assistance to make up for food shortages this year. Poor rains across Africa's Sahelian region have brought below-average harvests in Niger, northern Nigeria, central Chad and northeastern Mali and Burkina Faso. Niger is grappling with an acute food crisis and nearly a million children in the country are malnourished of which at least 200,000 are on the brink of starvation.
Senegalese children were among the 85 million African children vaccinated against polio this week, as part of an international campaign to halt an ongoing wave of the disease in West and Central Africa.
South Africa: According to an industry official Zambia is lobbying for support to sell its ivory stockpile to Japan and China and use the funds towards conservation.
Namibia has become one of the first African countries to launch the climate change adaptation programme, supported by the United Nations Development Programme –UNDP. It focuses on improved planning to help Namibia deal with climate change aspects such as, floods and drought risks. Meanwhile flooding in Mozambique and Angola has displaced thousands of families, prompting both governments to step up rescue operations
South Africa, India and Indonesia are vying to win the U.N.'s top climate change job, a key post to build trust between poor and rich in 2010 after the U.N.'s Copenhagen summit which set few binding targets.
An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in two South African provinces has killed one person, while five were reported dead in Zimbabwe’s capital as a result of typhoid.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has said that a world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.
Central Africa: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) commended Rwanda's efforts to combat deforestation and promote forest conservation.
Meanwhile during the launch of "K-Light in Rwanda Project", a solar powered lantern project it was revealed that the use of environmentally unfriendly Kerosene to light homes, especially in rural areas, is set to reduce following the introduction of solar powered lanterns on the Rwandan market.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: Two multi-national oil field service providers- Africa Oilfields Service Limited (AOS) and Orwell International (Oil & Gas) Limited, have committed $ 5million worth of equipment to Ghana's oil and gas industry. The two corporate entities plan to grow the investment to $ 15million, subject to demand expansion in Ghana.
The recent discovery of oil off the coast of Ghana has elicited claims on portions of the discovery by neighboring Ivory Coast.
Last week Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan ordered a probe into the controversies surrounding the recent sale of the Nigerian Telecommunication Company, NITEL, to a new generation telecom outfit at the cost of $2.5 billion.
South Africa: According to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe will have to rely on its own resources to revive its economy because foreign donors are unlikely to provide nearly enough help. Meanwhile 3 South African businessmen, Nicky Oppenheimer, Patrice
Motsepe and Johann Rupert, have been included in Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.Central Africa: Advocacy group Global Witness has voiced concerns that former rebels now integrated into the Congolese army have asserted "mafia-style" control over lucrative mining sites. The rich mineral resources of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have long helped fuel conflicts in the lawless area. §
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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.
Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' The blog development project has been undertaken and jointly developed by the Gilani Research Foundation and BPM as a free resource and social discussion tool.
Please Preview your comments before posting.
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