POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES
West Africa: Nascent political group, Nigerians 
in the Diaspora for Jonathan 2011, has said President Goodluck Jonathan is the candidate to beat in next year's presidential election.
At a Civil- Military Forum in Nigeria organized by the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Paul Dike, the federal government has been urged to extend the Niger Delta Amnesty programme to include an apology by the Nigerian military to victims of its high-handedness over the years. Meanwhile The House of Representatives Committee on Defence summoned the Minister of Defence, Chief Adetokunbo Kayode and his Minister of State (Defence), Alhaji Murtala Yar’Adua, over the alleged premature retirement of about 79 officers from the Nigeria Armed Forces.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Nigeria last week in a move considered by analysts as an attempt to build alliances against stronger United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme. He was in Nigeria for a summit of an organization known as the D-8, for a group of developing countries.
In Nigeria the people of Okigwe South Federal Constituency of Imo State have condemned the suspension of their member in the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Nwachukwu and accused the Speaker, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, of diverting N1billion ecological fund meant for the area to Ogun State. Consequently, they have given Bankole a seven-day ultimatum to reverse the suspension and restore in the 2010 budget the N1billion fund meant for checking erosion in Umuariam, Obowo Council area of Imo State.
Meanwhile Nigeria’s House of Representatives has passed the Electoral Act 2010 and empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister political parties, which fail to meet a set of criteria embedded in the new law. The new legislation if adopted by the Senate will effectively checkmate the proliferation of political parties and discourage the existence of ‘mushroom parties’ most of whom have existed only in the portfolios of their founders.
Nigeria’s The National Democratic Party (NDP) clarified last week that it had not taken a decision to endorse former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida as a candidate for the 2011 presidential election.
Nigeria last week assumed the presidency of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the UN Professor Joy Ogwu is to occupy the presidency for the month of July, taking over from Mexico, which presided over the Council in June.
Ghana’s Vice President John Dramani Mahama last week gave the assurance that government would provide logistics and resources that would enhance and deepen decentralization. "We however plead with all the stakeholders in the process to play their roles responsibly to ensure that decentralization and democracy become realities at the grassroots level." he said.
In Liberia George Weah's Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Alhaji Kromah's disqualified All Liberians Coalition Party (ALCOP), along with Winston Tubman's Liberia National Union (LINU} and the New Deal Movement, last week announced a merger in their bid to defeat the ruling Unity Party. The National Elections Commission (NEC) has however barred ALCP because, it says, it has failed to meet the requirements for a functioning political party, amongst them having national offices.
International observers noted that Guinea's first free election since independence in 1958 was hit by some technical problems but appeared to have gone off smoothly. According to preliminary results Former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo won the first round of Guinea's presidential election to restore civilian rule but failed to secure a majority. The second-placed party in Guinea's presidential vote has said it will challenge some poll results. The two are due to go head to head in a July 18 run-off for the presidency of the world's biggest bauxite exporter after the election commission said Diallo won with 39.72 %, ahead of Conde on 20.67 %, but short of an overall majority.
Meanwhile the peaceful poll in Guinea has added to widespread skepticism among residents of neighboring Ivory Coast about whether their leaders are really committed to holding an election already delayed for five years. Just like Guinea, Ivory Coast badly needs a poll to produce a government with the mandate to get the country and its economy back on its feet. But unlike its vastly poorer neighbor, the world's top cocoa-grower seems incapable of doing so, with half a dozen election dates missed since 2005 while politicians wrangle over voter identification or procedures for disarming rebels.
In Sierra Leon the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) charged with the responsibility to serve as a guide and providing checks and balances for political parties in the country, has started putting its house in order to face the challenges pose by the crucial 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Central Africa: Gabon's actions to fight corruption and protect the environment were the focus of discussions today between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the leader of the African nation as he began the final leg of the United Nations chief's third official trip to the continent over the past month. Mr. Ban and President Ali Bongo Ondimba also discussed the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), Gabon's border dispute with Equatorial Guinea and its contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations. The Secretary-General acknowledged Gabon's strides towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.
The Democratic Republic of Congo marked 50 Years of Independence last week. As Belgium's King Albert II attended the DRC's 50th anniversary celebrations, rights campaigners were pointing the finger at his country's controversial record as the former colonial power. Half a century after independence, Belgium has still to come to terms with the legacy of the harsh treatment of the colony through the end of the 19th century and its involvement in the assassination of independence hero Patrice Lumumba.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has pledged to work towards permanent democracy in his country, saying the Central African giant is poised to become "a tree of peace and power" on the continent.
In an audiotape made available to reporters, former Burundian rebel leader Agathon Rwasa says the government plans to arrest him on charges of planning to mount a new insurgency. He said he is being targeted because he led the opposition in alleging that crucial local elections in May were rigged.
The leader of the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda has called on President Paul Kagame’s government to help end the escalating violence ahead of the general elections scheduled for August this year.
East & the horn of Africa: Formal negotiations have begun on a new international treaty to control the trade of conventional weapons. More than 190 nations are taking part at U.N. headquarters in New York. Supporters of the treaty say it would save thousands of lives every year. Also vast majority of governments in Africa, Europe and Asia have voted in the General Assembly for the development of the treaty.
Somaliland, which lies on the Horn of Africa in the north-western corner of Somalia, is not formally recognized by any country – this past week however a peaceful presidential election was held there. International observers said it met all the western standards for a free election. Also the incumbent president accepted the result and has handed over power to his successor and bitter political rival. The region is peaceful, stable and has had several transfers of power and free elections in its 20-year history.
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke will face a vote on a motion of no confidence that some 72 Somali lawmakers are planning to table against him in the parliament. The members of parliament said the constitutional tenure of Omar's government has expired, urging the premier to present his new cabinet list to the parliament for approval.
Southern Africa: The former head of South Africa's national police force and former president of Interpol has been convicted of corruption. The former top cop and president of the international police organization Interpol was accused of taking bribes totaling more than $160,000 during a five-year period beginning in 2000.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: The Nigerian Federal Government, the European Union, EU and the International Labour Organisation, ILO last week commenced a multilateral project to curb the forced trafficking of Nigerians to Europe.
In Ghana the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate (TMHD) has vaccinated about 29,520 residents in the Tema Metropolis against the H1N1 pandemic (Swine Flu) as of Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), and other stakeholders have been called upon to initiate effective interventions towards the elimination of child marriage in Ghana.
Liberia has an immediate financing gap of $93.5m to meet 2011 targets to improve disastrously poor levels of safe water, sanitation and hygiene, according to a report released by 12 international and Liberian NGOs.
British supermodel Naomi Campbell is to be served a subpoena and compelled to testify on July 29 in the trial of Charles Taylor about an alleged diamond gift she received from the former Liberian president in South Africa in 1997, Special Court for Sierra Leone judges ruled last week.
The Security Council today expanded the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), and the French forces supporting it, in an effort to strengthen its capacity to consolidate stability in the West African country, and extended the term of the mission until the end of this year.
Central Africa: According to Red Cross officials in Kinshasa the death toll in an oil tanker truck explosion in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo stands at 219. About 100 more are seriously injured with many being transferred to the provincial capital by UN forces helicopter.
Jean-Bosco Uwinkindi, a fugitive suspect in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, has been arrested in Uganda. According to Rwanda's Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama many genocide suspects might still be hiding in neighboring states.
The fugitive Rwandan general granted refugee status in SA was unlikely to be sent back unless there were special circumstances requiring the government to override protections contained in the Refugees Act. Rights groups in SA questioned the government's decision to give refuge to Lt-Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa, who is accused of war crimes saying the move could compromise the integrity of the country's refuge system. Meanwhile reportedly security operatives were involved in the shooting last month of exiled Rwandan General Faustin Nyamwasa, according to South Africa's foreign ministry.
The United Nations agency tasked with promoting press freedom last week condemned the assassination of a prominent independent journalist from Rwanda, who was gunned down outside his home in the capital, Kigali. Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the editor of the bi-monthly Umuvugizi, died on 24 June after being shot at close range near his home.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed new measures announced by the Republic of Congo to boost child protection, calling them a major breakthrough for the Central African nation. President Denis Sassou Nguesso announced the new child protection framework during recent celebrations to mark the Day of the African Child, making Congo the fifth French-speaking African nation to pass such measures.
As the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated its 50th year of independence, critics say daily life for many Congolese remains difficult and precarious. Amnesty International warns that the work of human rights activists in the country is increasingly dangerous and deadly.
East & the horn of Africa: On July 2nd, the U.N. General Assembly voted unanimously to create a new agency dedicated to promoting the rights and needs of women and girls around the world. The U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women is more commonly known as UN Women.
At least two men were killed and three more were injured last week after unidentified assailants hurled a grenade at a house in an area south of the Somali capital Mogadishu. It is believed that those inside were targeted for watching the Germany-Uruguay World Cup clash. Hezb al-Islam and its Al Qaeda-inspired allies from the Shabab movement have banned Somalis in the areas they control from gathering to watch the football World Cup, an activity they deem "un-Islamic".
Southern Africa: Madagascan female activists are asking that the right of women to participate directly in politics be included in a new draft of the country’s Constitution, so that there can be 30 % of female politicians in parliament by 2012 and 50 % by 2015.
Reportedly one of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's closest lieutenants is at the European Union to discuss lifting travel and financial restrictions on the ZANU-PF Party and some of its companies. Meanwhile The U.S. Treasury Department has placed Zimbabwe's president, his wife, and his nephew on its list of people believed to have funded terrorist groups.
Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu claimed in the pro-ZANU-PF Sunday Mail in Harare that two international rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Partnership Africa Canada, tried to "bribe" him at the Kimberley Process Certification conference in Tel Aviv to financially support their work. Mpofu made his 'bribe' allegation after returning to Zimbabwe from a Kimberley Process conference in Tel Aviv that deadlocked on certification of Zimbabwe's diamonds from the Marange area. Meanwhile a statement by Mpofu, that the Cabinet had approved the sale of diamonds from the controversial Marange fields has been dismissed by another minister as "lies".
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: A Coalition comprising 47 groups including Nigeria Liberty Forum, UK, and Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Nigeria, Stepping Stones Nigeria, Stakeholder Democracy Network, UK/Nigeria, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, Netherlands, PLATFORM / remember Saro-Wiwa, UK, Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility, UK, Justice in Nigeria Now, USA, has canvassed a new compensation body to address the recurring issues of oil spills in the Niger Delta region.
Meanwhile Nigeria and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have called on the United States to reconsider a recent ban on new deepwater drilling in response to the disaster caused by a ruptured BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. This development comes as Nigeria warned last week that it will henceforth impose heavy sanctions on Nigerian and other International Oil Companies that fail to implement the Nigerian Content Law to the letter.
Also the leadership of Environmental Health Service Providers Association of Nigeria has asked the Anglo-Dutch oil exploration giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company to commence the process of remediation of all areas affected by its operations and to also ensure that the affected communities are adequately compensated. Their demand is coming as Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited, an affiliate of American oil giant, Exxonmobil is battling to contain the effect of oil spill recorded June 20, 2010. The company has also just recorded another spill from its facility discharged into the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile for the first time, oil giant Shell has admitted that oil companies are not doing enough to deal with oil spills in their areas of operation. The company also said it was not ignorant of its obligation under the Nigerian law to clean up oil spills, but that it would not jeopardize the safety of its staff because of the law.
A new regional centre to help develop the renewable energy potential for West Africa opened last week in Cape Verde's capital Praia. The new Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), a specialized agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is supported by the UN's Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the governments of Cape Verde, Austria and Spain.
Guinea’s Vice President John Dramani Mahama, last week called on the 16 member-states engaged in the prevention of pollution at the Gulf of Guinea to adopt pragmatic Regional Strategic Plan of Action that would combat all threats to marine life.
Southern Africa: For the first time in half a century, the number of new diagnosed cases of human African trypanosomiasis -also known as sleeping sickness - has dropped below 10,000 thanks to partnerships with drug companies and improved screening, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). Meanwhile without a major breakthrough in preventing and treating diabetes, the number of cases in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double, reaching 24 million by 2030, according to the Brussels-based International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
The outbreak of measles has so far claimed 758 lives, mostly in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa. Ahmadu Yakubu, Regional Immunization Adviser at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) told IRIN there had been lapses in the measles immunization programme because "countries were not seeing cases anymore".
Swaziland has made remarkable progress in reducing HIV transmission from infected mothers to their babies, but health activists worry that this may be stalled or even reversed if lapses in basic health services are not addressed.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: The World Bank, said last week that its commitments to Sub-Saharan Africa, which is its top priority area, rose to $13.85billion in fiscal year 2010, a 28 per cent increase from the $9.9billion recorded in 2009.
According to the 2010 technology and innovation report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development policymakers should "strengthen the competitiveness of small-holder farmers, thus avoiding a rural exodus that would put pressure on the cities and lead to more food imports". Also according to Bakari Seidou, food security advisor to Save the Children UK, the ongoing food crisis in the Sahel is actually a purchasing power crisis: there is food in the markets, but the poorest households cannot afford it. "Cash transfers need to be immediately organized to allow families to buy food," he said. Meanwhile the beginning of the rainy season in the arid Sahel region of West Africa is bringing hopes of renewed grazing land and harvests, but also apprehension in Niger as weakened animals are succumbing to the first rains, according to the government, aid workers and herders.
Nigeria’s crude oil production tumbled 75,000 barrels to 2.01 million barrels, the first decrease since February and the largest reduction of any member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a Bloomberg survey of oil companies, producers and analysts has revealed.
Nigerian company Main One last week launched the commercial service of its 1,920 Gbps, 7000 kilometres long, submarine fibre optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe, two weeks ahead of schedule. The cable is expected to deliver unprecedented broadband capacity to West Africa, more than 10 times what is currently available.
According to the United States Justice Department, Global Engineering firm Technip S.A. has agreed to pay $338 million for scheming to bribe government officials in Nigeria. The Paris-based company conducted the alleged bribery scheme to obtain more than $6 billion in contracts to build the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) in Bonny Island of Rivers State.
According to a press release from the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Ghana, two-way trade between Ghana and the United States amounted to a total of $361 million in the first four months of 2010, a 98% increase from the same period last year.
According to field operator Tullow Oil PLC, Ghana's Tweneboa and Jubilee oil fields could contain up to 1.4 billion and 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in oil and gas reserves respectively. Meanwhile President John Evans Atta Mills has interacted with a delegation from Tullow Oil and assured Ghanaians that the government would account for every pesewa which would accrue from oil revenues in the country.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has, in a landmark ruling, granted an award in favour of Ghana over an arbitration dispute instituted against her on September 24, 2007 by a German investment company, Gustav F. W. Hamester.
The World Bank Board has approved financing in the amount of US$44.7 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to the Government of Ghana as additional funding for the ongoing eGhana Project. The original eGhana Project of US$40 million was approved in 2006 to support the Ghana Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Accelerated Development Program.
Liberian media Executives and officials of the Ministry of Finance Revenue Department last week held a one day roundtable aimed at soliciting the media support in the Ministry of Finance tax awareness and sensitization campaign.
Legislators in Ivory Coast have proposed a general inquiry into corruption in the world's top cocoa grower, focusing on rampant graft in the cocoa export sector and continued diamond smuggling.
As the Sierra Leone government continues to engage the United States government to see reason and return the 1,200 carats of diamonds allegedly smuggled out of the country by some US jewelers in 2009, it is unlikely the government will get back the precious stones as the U.S. state department says America does not have any law sanctioning the release or return of any items seized within the US borders to their state of origin.
Central Africa: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank last week decided to support US$ 12.3 billion in debt relief to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The IMF decision was however controversial, with several countries protesting.
East & the horn of Africa: The East African Community took a giant leap as member states simultaneously launched the Common Market Protocol. The protocol, which was signed on November 20, last year, allows free movement of goods, services, capital and labor in the bloc. §
