Zone 2- Africa Summary, week # 138

POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES

West Africa: Ghana: At a time when world leaders were headed towards New York to attend the 26th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting, Ghana’s President, John Evans Atta Mills was touring China reportedly to attract investments and build stronger ties between the two nations.

Liberia: The country's President told the General Assembly at a UN debate that tackling corruption and mismanagement represents the greatest challenge that Liberia faces as it continues to rebuild its economy and society after the United Nations helped it end decades of civil war and misrule.

Cameroon: The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has lamented the incessant harassment of Nigerians by Cameroonian gendarmes in Bakassi Peninsula, saying the action amounted to a willful breach of the Green Tree Agreement brokered by the United Nations as part of measures to sustained peace in the area.

Nigeria: Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, have asked President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to allegations that his campaign funds are taken from the nation’s treasury. Meanwhile Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has indefinitely suspended its party primaries, scheduled for October. The move gives President Goodluck Jonathan’s opponents, especially northern PDP elites, more time to choose a strong northern candidate to challenge Jonathan, who is running for the PDP nomination after replacing the deceased Umaru Yaradua as president in May.

The United States of America has de-listed Nigeria from the list of major drug trafficking countries due to the laudable efforts of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Guinea-Bissau’s President told the UN General Assembly that the country needs sustained international support to help the fragile and impoverished nation tackle its major challenges, such as organized crime, high unemployment, environmental degradation and a poorly performing justice system.

Niger’s head of State Salou Djibo has called for the United Nations and other international organizations to observe the forthcoming series of elections to restore the impoverished country to constitutional rule after February's coup d'état.

France's foreign ministry has confirmed that an al-Qaeda group is holding five of its citizens after abducting them from a uranium mine in Niger. France's defense minister has said that there is "every reason" to believe the five French nationals being held by militants are alive.

Elections: Ivory Coast: The head of the U.N. mission to Ivory Coast certified its final voter list as "fair and transparent", adding momentum to plans to hold elections at last after years of failure.

Guinea: Political fighting is preventing Guinea's electoral commission setting a new date for the West African country's delayed poll, raising the danger of unrest. However Guinea's electoral commission has proposed Oct. 10 as the revised date for the final round of voting in the West African country's first democratic election. Meanwhile the Member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have issued a three-week ultimatum to Guinea to organize a run-off election to restore constitutional order in the beleaguered country.

Nigeria: The request by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a shift in the dates of the 2011 general elections has enjoyed the support of more civil society groups in the country who urged the National Assembly to give speedy consideration to the proposal. Meanwhile as the controversy over the date and which constitution should be used to conduct the election rages, a cross section of eminent lawyers last week supported the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for postponing of the 2011 elections.

Central Africa: Congolese President Joseph Kabila arrived in Ituri as part of a tour of the eastern part of the country, which has also touched the Kivus and Katanga. His visit promised a number of development projects for the region.

United Nations peacekeepers are patrolling the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda after reports of arms trafficking by the rebel Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) across DRC and southern Sudan.

Rwanda: Following the recent ruling by French Court that released genocide suspect Eugene Rwamucyo, the Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga termed the ruling as a temporary setback against Rwanda's drive towards according justice to those aggrieved by the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.

Central African Republic: The United Nations will continue to help the Central African Republic (CAR) to consolidate peace after years of ethnic conflict and political unrest by enhancing political dialogue and the reintegration of former fighters into national society.

Meanwhile the UN and the African Union (AU) launched a joint task force on peace and security as the two organizations stepped up their cooperation in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building across the continent.

East Africa/Horn of Africa: Sudan: Key leaders of north and south Sudan promised last week to ensure that next January's planned referendum on independence for the southern region will go forward peacefully and on time.

Meanwhile United States is urging Sudan to meet its obligations under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and hold a referendum on-time that could see the South of the country secede from the North, otherwise, Khartoum could face new sanctions.

Also Amnesty International said in a press release that the Sudanese authorities must halt the harassment and intimidation of journalists in the run up to the referendum on southern independence in January 2011, “No credible poll can be conducted in an environment where freedom of speech is being so openly violated,”

Somalia: The chairman of the Somali concerned group, an advocacy organization based in London has demanded the resignation of President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, accusing the beleaguered leader of failing to meet the aspirations of Somalis. Meanwhile a recent clash in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, between government troops and Islamist insurgents has killed at least 20 people and wounded at least 68 others. Medics say most of the dead are civilians. Also the head of Britain's security services has said al-Qaida plots targeting Britain are increasingly originating from Somalia and Yemen.

The US wants to strengthen its ties with Somalia's breakaway region Somaliland and semi-autonomous region of Puntland. The "aggressive" engagement could help to head off the Islamist insurgents. Meanwhile showing concern the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki called on the Security Council to abandon what he called its hands-off approach to Somalia and strengthen the African peacekeeping force in the country to counter the threat from Islamist militants.

Eritrea is at risk of becoming a failed state, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. It says internal repression coupled with international military conflict means the country is becoming increasingly isolated in the Horn of Africa.

Uganda: With less than six months until next presidential elections, international rights groups have gathered in Uganda to highlight the erosion of freedom of expression in the east African nation.

South Africa: South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has planned to make a new tribunal to punish the journalists on dishonest and immoral reporting. A press freedom group is urging South Africa to abandon proposed controversial laws to limit information involving national security. Whereas President Jacob Zuma has defended the two proposed laws, saying they are needed to protect human rights.

Zimbabwe: New crisis arose in the country when Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai issued a tough assessment of the constitutional revision process led by a parliamentary committee. Meanwhile a Civic Group has urged dissolution of the Parliamentary Committee on constitution charging the committee has demonstrated its incompetence.

Zimbabwe's Mugabe Tells UN Western Sanctions Blocking Anti-Poverty Progress during the General Assembly in New York that “the devastating sanctions” were hindering Zimbabwean progress toward U.N Millennium Development goals on poverty and hunger, among others. He said that despite the sanctions imposed by the United States, Europe and others, Harare had made great progress fighting HIV/Aids and maintaining quality basic education.

African nations pushed for permanent Security Council representation again at the UN General Assembly through the top officials from three African nations (South Africa, Swaziland and Congo) saying it was a travesty that the region that comprises so much of the body’s work does not have a permanent place.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS

West Africa: Nigeria: Despite attempts by various government establishments and international organizations to stem human trafficking, it has been discovered that more Nigerians are at the moment stranded in Mali desperate to find their way to Europe.

Mali: According to aid agencies Good rains in much of northern Mali over recent months have caused pasture to regenerate and animals to begin to recover in parts of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal regions, but extreme vulnerability persists for Gao-based farming communities, who have exhausted all their coping mechanisms and are unable to recover their livelihoods. However with rain comes the risk of illnesses for animals weakened by months of malnutrition, making this a critical time for veterinary care.

Mauritania: Al-Qaeda offshoot in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) accused the Mauritanian government of killing civilians in Mali and of being the agents of France. In a communiqué published by the website Nouakchott Information, AQIM denounced an aerial raid by the Mauritanian army. Senior officers also confirmed that Mauritanian warplanes attacked militants of Al-Qaeda's North African wing in Mali, as the head of Mauritania's ruling party urged support for a "holy war against terrorists".

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) last week adopted the Dakar Declaration that gives women equal participation and full involvement in all peace and security issues in compliance with a landmark UN Security Council resolution.

Five years before the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a new report card shows sub-Saharan Africa making substantial progress. However not all countries there are advancing at the same rate.

Central Africa: Burundi: Several mysterious killings in Burundi, where memories of civil war are still fresh, have spread fear and disrupted livelihoods, while authorities have sought to play down talk of renewed armed insurrection, blaming some of the deaths on bandits.

Rwanda: The Ministry of gender and family promotion has disbursed Rwf 122,748,645 to 10 districts to support orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) to help their households’ start-up income-generating activities.

Meanwhile an increasing number of rape and defilement cases in Nyagatare district Rwanda are becoming the human rights’ issue. According to the district's Intermediate Court, on average, 45 out of 50 cases handled by the court, in a month, are related to sexual abuse with most of the victims, children under 14.

South Africa: Many Zimbabweans in South Africa fail to surmount hurdles to legal residence, due to their failure to meet documentary requirements. This follows the call by South African authorities for them to come forward and establish themselves as legal residents before a December 31 deadline.

Zambia: The United Nations refugee agency is preparing to close two refugee camps in Zambia as the number of Congolese who have successfully returned home in a UN-backed programme over the past three years tops 40,000.

Also in Malawi in a refugee camp where 11000 refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo live together, according to reports rape, stress, hopelessness, domestic and gender based violence are widespread problems.

HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS

West Africa: Nigeria: An unprecedented outbreak of lead poisoning linked to a gold rush has killed at least 200 children in northern Nigeria this year, with a further 18,000 people affected.

Meanwhile according to an official about two million people in northern Nigeria have been displaced after authorities opened the floodgates on two dams. The dams are in Kano state, but about 5,000 villages in neighboring Jigawa state have been affected as well.

South Africa: A new measles outbreak has claimed lives of 70 children in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland Central province in the past two weeks in spite of a national vaccination program carried out earlier this year.

POLITICAL ECONOMY

West Africa: Ghana: Ghana's nearly $13 billion in Chinese loan agreements will be drawn on gradually as projects that require funding arise and only after financing terms are agreed, the government said.

Meanwhile Ghana oil ministry is making good progress in talks with Chinese investors interested in buying a stake in the nation's oil assets. Ghana's Bauxite and aluminum industries have also received a major boost, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese Firm, Bosai Minerals Group, to invest $1.2 billion into the sector, by establishing a modern alumina refinery plant in the country.

Ivory Coast: Ivorian petroleum stocking company GESTOCI will invest $400 million over the next five years to double its capacity to 680,000 tonnes, including building a new unit for stocking petroleum products in the major port of San Pedro, according to the firm’s director general.

Nigeria: The delay in implementation of a new national minimum wage is causing some disquiet in the labour movement as the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is under immense pressure to call its members out on an industrial action.

Central Africa: Rwanda: Rwanda and France signed an Energy deal last month which will see France injects €3.3 million into RECO-RWASCO to support the national electrification programs.

East Africa/Horn of Africa: The 12th East African Community (EAC) partnership fund steering committee has approved a budget of approximately $7 million for the 2010/2011 Financial Year (FY). The EAC Partnership Fund is a basket fund with contributions from development partners to support activities in the EAC.

The Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia Gu Xiaojie said his government is taking various measures to strike the balance on the trade volume exchange between Ethiopia and China, which is in favor of his country.

South Africa: South African President Jacob Zuma tried to mend strained relations with his trade union allies who helped him come to power, promising to get tough on corruption and create more jobs in Africa's largest economy.

Zimbabwe: Billionaire Richard Branson urged people last week to invest in Zimbabwe, saying the world was wrong to wait instead of helping the politically unstable, poor southern African nation revive itself.

Despite re-engagement, Washington has declined to review sanctions on Zimbabwe's Mugabe saying supporters of Mr. Mugabe's former ruling ZANU-PF party have continued to violate human rights, most recently in the nation's constitutional revision process.

The Mozambican and Chinese governments signed an agreement in Maputo last week under which a team of 12 Chinese doctors will work in Maputo Central Hospital, the largest health unit in the country. §

________________________________________________________

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.