POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES West Africa: President Sarkozy’s government invited 14 armies from France’s former African colonies to celebrate their 50th independence anniversary during a military parade. The invitation was extended to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Guinean security forces have uncovered a suspected armed plot to destabilize the West African country as it approaches the decisive round of a presidential election, its prime minister said last week. The world's biggest bauxite exporter is in the process of replacing a military-led government with what would be its first freely elected administration. The first round of voting last month produced no clear winner, and a second round is expected within weeks.
The Union of Islamic Citizens of Liberia in Collaboration with the Concern Muslim of Liberia demonstrated against the leadership of Sheik Kafumba Konneh for what the group termed as election fraud, Corruption and misapplication of funds that were intended for Liberian Muslims. The protest which was held on Saturday, July 10, 2010 at the UMIL Headquarters in Sinkor brought together a group of aggrieved Muslims who demanded that the Supreme Court place an injunction on the induction of the officers elect of the National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL).
In the aftermath of the Nigerian Jos crisis five members of the military Special Task Force (STF) who are on peace keeping mission in Plateau State have been given various jail sentences for offenses committed while on duty. These offences include manslaughter, theft, assaults, house breaking and failure to perform military duties.
Meanwhile No fewer than 13,000 ex-militants are to be sponsored by the Federal Government through the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs to various tertiary institutions both in Nigeria and abroad in pursuance of the post –amnesty programme of the Federal Government.
In Nigeria fifty legal practitioners and anti-corruption crusaders have filed a suit in the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, asking it to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate former president Olusegun Obasanjo and others for their alleged involvement in the Halliburton bribery scandal.
A new dimension has been added to the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan's alleged 2011 presidential aspiration and the contentious zoning of the presidency to the North. A group of Northern leaders and politicians led by former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Chief Solomon Lar last week rose from its Northern Political Summit with a resolution that the President's alleged plan to contest the 2011 presidential poll should be seen as a continuation of his joint presidential ticket with late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua till 2015.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade denied last week that he was grooming his son Karim to step into his shoes. Karim, 41, was given a ministerial position in May and is considered a close presidential advisor to his 84-year-old father. "I have no intention of putting my son in my place before I go," Wade told Europe 1 radio. "But he is free to stand elections when he wants to," he added.
Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has registered 38,129 people who turned 18 years this year during the Voters Registration Exercise in the Upper West Region, according to Mr. Mahama Yahaya, Regional Director of EC.
Central Africa: Sudan's army says it killed at least 300 rebels in clashes last week, while losing more than 70 of its own troops. Sudanese state media quoted General Al-Tayeb al-Musbah Osman who claimed that during the series of clashes with the Darfur region's Justice and Equality Movement government forces destroyed rebels' vehicles. Violence in Darfur has increased since insurgent forces withdrew from peace talks in May.
The order issued by judges for Congolese war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga to be released has received wide coverage online. Judges have ruled that Mr. Lubanga - the first person tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be released unconditionally if the prosecution did not appeal the release order within five days.
An official with Burundi’s army said the military has been put on high alert to protect unarmed civilians, as well as the country’s sensitive installations, following recent deadly twin blasts in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
The United Nation's estimates 20,000 civilians in eastern Congo have been forced to flee their homes over the past week as violence increases along the volatile border with Uganda. The Congolese Armed forces has been trying to root out the remnants of the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan rebel group that has remained dormant for several years in North Kivu.
The head of delegation of the European Union has clarified that the union will not send observers to Rwanda for the presidential elections slated for next month because of limited financial resources.
East & the horn of Africa: Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to retaliate against the Somali Islamic extremist group that took responsibility for the bomb attacks in Kampala that claimed more than 70 lives. Mr. Museveni will push the African Union to upgrade the size and the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Somalia. He has also charged that al-Shabab has been taken over by powerful Middle East extremist groups trying to establish Somalia as a safe haven for terrorists. Meanwhile U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington will "redouble" its efforts against the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab (The Youth).
Southern Africa: The South African government says it is taking measures to address threats of violence against foreigners. South African police have stepped up patrols in several impoverished communities after some foreign-owned shops were looted and hundreds of foreigners reported being threatened with violence if they do not leave the country.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: Aid agencies are struggling to meet the food and water needs of people and their livestock in drought-hit Mali, with potentially "catastrophic gaps" in the humanitarian response, according to Oxfam's country head, Gilles Marion. Some 258,000 people are in need of urgent assistance in Mali, according to the government-led early warning mechanism (SAP), with a further 371,000 at risk, following poor rains across the Sahel region.
Central Africa: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero opted out of an UN-sponsored meeting with Rwandan leader Paul Kagame, after protests that Kagame's regime was linked to Rwanda's genocide. It is the first of the MDG Advocacy Group set up last month by the United Nations to advance the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving extreme poverty by 2015, with Zapatero and Kagame named co-chairs. The Spanish judiciary accuses Kagame of fomenting the ethnic clashes in a bid to seize power. The Rwandan officers are accused of murdering nine Spanish missionaries and expatriates allegedly witnesses to massacres.
Advocates for refugee rights are criticizing the Ugandan government for forcibly returning hundreds of refugees to Rwanda, calling it a violation of national and international law.
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
Southern Africa: The prevalence of chronic malnutrition (in Zimbabwe) is now 33.8 %, according to World Health Organization standards, that means one in every three children is chronically malnourished - a significant public health threat, said George Kembo, director of the Zimbabwe Food and Nutrition Council. Only 8.4 % of children less than two years - meaning one in 10 children - is receiving a diet that is minimally acceptable.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: Nigeria’s state oil firm is insolvent, unable to pay debts of $5bn (£3.3bn), a government minister has said. Junior Finance Minister Remi Babalola said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has asked for help to cover its debts and fund its operations.
Air Nigeria (formerly Virgin Nigeria Airways) has announced that it has cleared all debts it owed banks and is now poised to expand operations, targeting to carry 10,000 passengers daily in its domestic operations.
Ghana’s inflation for the month of June hit 9.52% according to the Ghana Statistical Service. This was the 12th consecutive time that the country’s inflation dropped. Inflation for the month of May stood at 10.68% fueling expectations that the Bank of Ghana will cut its policy rate further down from the current 15%.
African Minerals (AML), with significant iron ore and base metal interests in Sierra Leone, has reached an agreement with its Chinese partner Shandong Iron & Steel Group (SISG) Co Limited to hit a strategic investment of $1.5 billion. The business is in respect of AML's flagship iron ore project at Tonkolili district in the north and related infrastructure projects which valued at approximately US$6 billion.
Southern Africa: Human rights groups have said that they are partially satisfied with the recent agreement made by an international diamond monitor to allow Zimbabwe to export some of its precious stones mined from controversial fields. §
________________________________________________________
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment