Week # 119, Dated 9th-16th May, 2010 POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES
West Africa The Nigerian Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) held a special valedictory session in honor of its late Chairman, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who passed away this month on the 6th of May 2010. Following the demise of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn in as the nation's 14th head of state.
Soldiers and policemen in Katsina, Nigeria averted protests as former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited the city to condole the family of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.The visit to the bereaved family had been shrouded in secrecy following security reports that Yar’Adua’s supporters, who were angry with Obasanjo over his recent outburst on the health of Yar’Adua, were planning to hold a demonstration against the visiting former president.
In Gambia a major shakeup occurred at the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul, as there was a massive transfer of Intel officers at the agency’s main headquarters that came into effect in April. The NIA directorate said the move was aimed at strengthening the work of the Agency, as well as its smooth running.
A high powered delegation consisting Senegalese and Gambian officials last week had a meeting in The Gambian village of Tranquil in the Western region of The Gambia, seeking to chart a way forward to find a lasting solution to the looming border impasse between the two countries.
South Africa: Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, surprised many by announcing on state television that he will not participate in the upcoming presidential elections he has scheduled for 26 November this year, in a bid to end the political crisis on the Indian Ocean island..
Last week The National Democratic Institute, a pro-democracy group, gave one of its highest honors, the NDI's W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award, to Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The award recognizes individuals and groups who have demonstrated a commitment to democracy and human rights.
Comoros' highest court has annulled a law which extended the mandate of the islands' leader after weeks of heightened political tensions on the coup-prone archipelago. The Constitutional Court said President Mohamed Abdallah Sambi's term in office would end later this month, and not November 2011, and recommended an interim period to agree on when the next ballot should be held.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: a Forum of NGOs and the 47th Ordinary Session of African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) was organized by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) and ACHPR in collaboration with United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) and Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR). The three-day meeting in the Gambian capital, Banjul, reviewed the situation of human rights violations in the continent.
The lingering crisis that engulfed the American giant, Pfizer Pharmaceutical company, over the 1996 Trovan clinical test in Kano, Nigeria has taken a dangerous dimension as all the 192 victims of the test withdrew their quest for the payment of compensation through the fund technical hospital board voicing issues of mistrust and asked the trust fund to return all their documents and other valuable items in their custody in seven days' time.
Following criticism leveled against Gambia’s worsening human rights record by delegates attending the African Commission’s 47th Ordinary Session in Banjul. Justice Minister Edward Gomez rejected the notion while accusing media of destroying Gambia’s image.
South Africa: Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert, one of South Africa's most prominent white opponents of apartheid who initiated talks between Afrikaner businessmen and the then-banned ANC in 1987, died last week.
In Malawi, NGOs and the government are working together to end forced marriages and other traditional practices that violate the rights of girls. The effort follows reports that more and more girls are being forced into marriage with older men.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
South Africa: With one month to go before the kick-off of the football (soccer) World Cup in South Africa, organizers say they are pleased with the preparations.
South Africa has achieved near universal access to health services for pregnant women and their children, but maternal and infant mortality rates have continued to rise making the chances of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on maternal and child health increasingly remote.
Meanwhile a South African government agency has become the first to join the world's leading patent pool for neglected diseases, a move that could bolster home-grown innovations in the fight against diseases including tuberculosis (TB).
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: China continues its run on African commodities with a $23 Billion Nigeria Oil Deal. Meanwhile the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is proposing a minimum core capital of N25 billion for establishing a non-interest bank in the country.
Abba Abacha, one of the sons of former Nigerian Head of State, Late Gen. Sani Abacha, is facing trail in Geneva, Switzerland, to defend an earlier appeal against his conviction of plundering state resources estimated at $2.2 billion and involvement in criminal organizations.
In its search for investors for its sovereign bonds, Nigeria’s Federal Government has commenced an aggressive drive to sensitize Nigerians in Diaspora on the need to invest in the debt instrument. Meanwhile the Senate approved the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Bill to buy bad debts from the rescued commercial banks and inject funds into the industry through share purchases.
Nigerian Justice Wada Abubakar Omar of a Kano State High Court has dismissed the application of three tobacco companies challenging, among other issues, the jurisdiction of the court to entertain a suit filed against them by the Attorney-General of the state. Meanwhile a civil society organization, Socio Economic Rights Advocacy Project (SERAP), has vowed to challenge the Federal Government in court if it fails to probe the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida’s alleged involvement in the missing $12.4 billion oil revenue accrued to the government during the Gulf war.
Meanwhile the Nigerian federal Government has fine-tuned plans to jack up the Value Added Tax (VAT) by 100 % as President Goodluck Jonathan recently met federal lawmakers and other stakeholders, lobbying them to support the proposed increase when brought to the floor of the National Assembly.
In Nigeria hundreds of passengers were stranded at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos last week following a power outage that paralyzed operations.
A collaboration which will ensure that the Nigerian entertainment industry is taken to the international market kicked of last week, with the World Bank pledging a whopping $20 million to the project.
Gambia is gearing up to host the Africa Travel Association (ATA)'s 35th Annual Congress this week.
South Africa: China has announced a 170 million euros deal with South Africa aimed at building a giant cement plant in the African nation.
Thousands of South African transport workers went on strike last week, an action that could cripple port, freight rail, and pipeline operations across the country. The union called the strike after rejecting a proposed pay raise by the state-owned ports and Rail Company.
The leader of Zambia’s main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party says the government’s announcement of a $1 billion Chinese investment to help build an electric power plant is a “cheaply conceived” ploy to garner votes ahead of next year’s general elections.
Central Africa: A three-day gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where delegates exchanged ideas on Africa's growth strategy and the continent's response to the global economic crisis earlier this month. §
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