Africa News and Discussions

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Fire razes school dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 children, many of them Indigenous
Source: AP

...

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/guyana-fire- ... fcac893e33

...Guyana is in America

I have reposted the citation in its entirety in the South America Watch thread. I will leave the cited post in this thread, at least for the time being, for readers who first noted it here to refer. Further responses not related to which thread this topic belongs should be made in the South America thread.

[caltrek]

Sudan Factions Agree to 24-Hour Ceasefire
by Nolan Stout
June 9, 2023

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) Warring forces in Sudan have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire this weekend, negotiators from the United States and Saudi Arabia announced Friday, cautioning that they will pull out of peace talks if the agreement is violated.

The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect at 6 a.m. local time on Saturday in a bid to “break the cycle of violence,” according to a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been coordinating negotiations since May 6 between the warring Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, which have been embroiled in conflict for almost two months.

But over the past few weeks, international players have been losing whatever tenuous grasp they had on the conflict, especially since the Sudanese army pulled out of the formal negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 31.

In a joint statement, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said the army and RSF have agreed to refrain from attacks, use of aircraft or drones, aerial bombardment, artillery strikes, reinforcing or resupplying forces, or seeking military advantage as part of the ceasefire.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/sudan-f ... asefire/

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At least 41 killed in rebel attack on Ugandan school near Congo border
Source: AP

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA51 minutes ago

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities recovered the bodies of 41 people, including 38 students, who were burned, shot or hacked to death after suspected rebels attacked a secondary school near the border with Congo, the local mayor said Saturday.

At least six people were abducted by the rebels, who fled across the porous border into Congo after the raid on Friday night, according to the Ugandan military.

Authorities blamed the massacre at Lhubiriha Secondary School in the border town of Mpondwe on the Allied Democratic Forces, a shadowy extremist group with ties to the Islamic State, which has been launching attacks for years from bases in volatile eastern Congo.

The victims included the students, one guard and two members of the local community who were killed outside the school, Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Mayor Selevest Mapoze told The Associated Press.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/uganda-rebel ... b9d1b19b37

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Sudan officials say airstrike kills 17 people, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum
Source: AP

By SAMY MAGDY 2 hours ago

CAIRO (AP) — An airstrike in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Saturday killed at least 17 people, including five children, health officials said, as fighting continued between rival generals seeking to control the country.

The attack was one of the deadliest of the clashes in urban areas of Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan between the military and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

There was no immediate comment Saturday from either side of the conflict on the strike, and it was not clear whether the attack was by warplanes or a drone. The military’s aircraft have repeatedly targeted RSF troops and the RSF has reportedly used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.

The fighting broke out in mid-April, capping months of increasing tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-airstr ... 0277d44018

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Togo Offers Washington a Diplomatic Win if it Takes It
by Komlan Avoulete
July 17, 2023

Introduction:

(International Policy Digest) Togo and the United States boast a long-standing history of bilateral relations, harking back to 1960 when Togo severed ties with France to claim independence. Sylvanus Olympio, Togo’s inaugural president, enjoyed a warm reception from President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Both leaders shared a vision of fostering a prosperous, democratic nation within a robust alliance. But their aspirations were cut short by their assassinations in 1963. Despite the tragic turn of events, the two countries have continued to collaborate. Togo, aiming to become an influential, democratic, and prosperous West African player, would greatly profit from bolstering its U.S. ties.

Like many African countries, Togo grapples with several challenges hindering its evolution into a democratic, developed society. Domestic political issues including electoral disputes, impunity, and corruption, alongside external threats such as terrorism, climate change, and food insecurity arising from the global rise in food prices, plague Togo. The current president, Faure Gnassingbé, and his government are addressing these challenges head-on, implementing actions for the benefit of all citizens, whether native or foreign.

Historically, Togo has played a crucial role in promoting peace and dialogue in regional conflicts, such as Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. It has been recognized for fostering peace, as demonstrated when its capital, Lomé, was hailed the “Capital of Peace, Mediation, Dialogue, and Tolerance” in 2022. Hence, Togo’s neutral stance in the ongoing and bloody war in Ukraine at the United Nations, stressing dialogue as a solution to the conflict, is hardly surprising.

As a market-oriented country, Togo actively seeks cooperation, particularly with the U.S., across issues of shared concern. The U.S. has previously aided Togo in areas such as health, education, security, and economic growth, and backed Togo’s reforms in telecommunications and land titling through a $35 million Threshold program under the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The U.S. and Togo share common objectives of promoting democracy, human rights, regional stability, and West African development. These collaborative relations should be bolstered, particularly in two key areas.

Read more here: https://intpolicydigest.org/togo-offer ... takes-it/


Togo

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Attempted coup underway in Niger, regional leaders say, with reports guards are holding president
Source: CNN

There has been an attempted coup in Niger, regional leaders say, following reports the country’s president has been seized by his guards.

“ECOWAS condemns in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically-elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition,” the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said.

Niger’s presidential complex was sealed off Wednesday, a journalist on the ground who spoke to CNN, witnessed in the capital Niamey.

A statement on the presidency’s social media channels said President Mohamed Bazoum is “doing well.” CNN cannot verify the statement.

“The President of the Republic and his family are doing well. The Army and the National Guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [Presidential Guard] involved in this fit of anger if they do not return to their better senses,” a tweet from the presidency said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/26/africa/n ... index.html

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Sudan conflict brings new atrocities to Darfur as militias kill, rape, burn homes in rampages
Source: AP

By SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — Amna al-Nour narrowly escaped death twice. The first was when militias torched her family’s home in Sudan’s Darfur region. The second was two months later when paramilitary fighters stopped her and others trying to escape as they tried to reach the border with neighboring Chad.

“They massacred us like sheep,” the 32-year-old teacher said of the attack in late April on her home city Geneina. “They want to uproot us all.”

Al-Nour and her three children now live in a school-turned-refugee housing inside Chad, among more than 260,000 Sudanese, mostly women and children, who have fled what survivors and rights groups say is a new explosion of atrocities in the large western region of Sudan.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as Central or East African. Fears are mounting that that legacy is returning with reports of widespread killings, rapes and destruction of villages in Darfur amid a nationwide power struggle between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-darfur ... e6f666c3ca

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The French embassy in Niger is attacked as protesters waving Russian flags march through the capital
Source: AP

By SAM MEDNICK
Updated 8:03 AM CDT, July 30, 2023

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched Sunday through the streets of the capital, Niamey, waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France.

The protesters marched through the city to the French Embassy, where a door was lit on fire, according to someone who was at the embassy when it happened and videos seen by The AP. Black smoke could be seen rising from across the city. The Nigerien army broke up the crowd of the protesters.

Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region. However, it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders will move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners.

On Sunday at an emergency meeting in Abjua, Nigeria the West African bloc said it was suspending relations with Niger and authorized the use of force if the president was not reinstated within a week.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/niger-coup-m ... 75199c5fbe

[wjfox]

Ghana abolishes the death penalty

It joins a growing list of African countries which are turning away from capital punishment

Rebekah Evans
31 Jul 2023

https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-ne ... th-penalty

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[caltrek]

Here is more on the situation in Niger.

Niger’s Junta Rejects a Diplomatic Visit by Regional and UN Officials Over ‘Atmosphere of Menace’
by Sam Mednick
August 8, 2023

Introduction:

NIAMEY, Niger (AP via Courthouse News) — Niger's military junta has refused the latest diplomatic attempt to reinstall the ousted president, rejecting a proposed visit by representatives of the West African regional bloc, the African Union and United Nations on Tuesday, according to a letter seen by The Associated Press.

The letter cited “evident reasons of security in this atmosphere of menace" against Niger, two weeks after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s democratically elected leader. The regional bloc known as ECOWAS had threatened to use military force if the junta didn't reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum by Sunday, a deadline that was ignored.

On Monday, acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with the coup leaders and said they refused to allow her to meet with Bazoum, whom she described as under “virtual house arrest.” She described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to her appeals to start negotiations and restore constitutional rule.

“These conversations were extremely frank and at times quite difficult because, again, we are pushing for a negotiated solution. It was not easy to get traction there. They are quite firm in their view of how they want to proceed,” Nuland told reporters on a call from Niamey.

ECOWAS is expected to meet again Thursday in Abuja, the capital of neighboring Nigeria, to discuss the situation.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/nigers- ... f-menace/


Niger

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Coup in Niger - Analysis
by James Durso
August 10, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) Almost twenty years to the day after Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote his op-ed “What I Didn’t Find in Africa” about his visit to Niger to confirm if the country was supplying Saddam Hussein with uranium yellowcake, the U.S. found itself again focused on the African country.

On 26 July, Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, was ousted by his presidential guard, and the guard commander and coup leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, was named president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland. It was the seventh coup in the region since 2020, not including a previous attempt in Niger in 2021 that was put down by the same presidential guard.

The coup was condemned by the U.S., France, the UK, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, numerous African governments, and ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States.

The ECOWAS deadline to reinstate President Bazoum was ignored by the generals, and Niger’s new leaders closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing to attack. ECOWAS leaders will now meet in Nigeria on Thursday to discuss next steps.

Last week, the ECOWAS military leaders prepared a plan to reinstate President Bazoum, which will probably be discussed at the Thursday meeting. However, the Nigerian Senate has rejected military intervention in Niger and without Nigeria, which has a 1,600 kilometer border and the largest military in the region, nothing will happen.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/10082023 ... nalysis/

Of related interset and also found at Eurasia Review: https://www.eurasiareview.com/10082023- ... nalysis/

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Vox posted an article of the Niger coup. It is largely duplicative of points already made in this thread, but I will post a link here as some new information may be interwoven with what has already been presented. At the very least, it corroborates what others have written. Always important in understanding a country so foreign to the experience of most of us.

https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023 ... i-bazoum

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Leader of Militia From Central African Republic Denies War Crimes Charges
by Molly Quell
August 22, 2023

Introduction:

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Courthouse News) — A former militia leader from the Central African Republic told the International Criminal Court on Tuesday he had nothing to do with attacks against Muslims during his country's ongoing civil war.

Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka faces 20 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity atrocities committed against civilians, including murder, rape, pillaging and torture, that are said to have occurred between December 2013 and April 2014.

"I absolutely deny having a part in any plan that involved the crimes that have been charged," the 44-year-old told the court, claiming he was stuck in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo until February 2014.

Sectarian violence in the Central African Republic broke out in late 2012 after Muslim militia groups known as the Seleka ousted President François Bozizé and took control of the capital. Mokom is accused of playing a pivotal role in the anti-Balaka, which formed in response.

Before the case at The Hague can move forward, however, the International Criminal Court is holding a series of hearings over the next three days to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move forward. Just the first step in the trial process, these hearings are known as confirmation of charges.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/leader- ... charges/


Central African Republic

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Analysts Indicate that While Charismatic Leader is Gone, Wagner Will Survive in Africa
by Ope Adetayo
August 26, 2023

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, just left Mali where he filmed a video pledging to make “Africa even more free” before he presumably perished in a plane crash in his home country.

His apparent death – it has yet to be officially confirmed – has sparked concerns for some client governments in Africa who rely on his unique services.

Patronage of Prigozhin’s private military force has been on the rise in recent years since some African governments started turning towards Russia as an alternative international partner in their fight against rising insecurity from various armed groups.

President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central Africa Republic (CAR) was the first to turn to the feared militia in 2018, but the shifting sands of democratic governments that have seen a rise in military takeovers in the Sahel region opened the door widely for Wagner.

Across the Sahel and central Africa, armed groups have continued to expand rapidly, their rise coinciding with protests against former colonial power France, which still wields enormous influence across the region.

Read more here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/ ... ysts-say

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Another Coup, Another Defeat for France in Africa
by Cain Burdeau
August 30, 2023

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — A military coup on Wednesday in the oil-rich West African nation of Gabon became the latest disaster for France's long-standing goal to keep a major presence in its former African colonies.

The coup in Gabon, a former French colony ruled for the past 55 years by a corrupt family dynasty and close ally of France, follows a series of major geopolitical setbacks for Paris in Africa.

The most serious attack on France's African ambitions took place just over a month ago when the democratically elected government of Niger was ousted in a military coup. It was the fourth coup in a Francophone West African nation since 2020.

The coup in Gabon took place early Wednesday morning when the country's mutinous military announced it had taken over the government. The news prompted large crowds of cheering Gabonese to take to the streets in the capital Libreville.

“France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments in the country, and France reaffirms its wish that the outcome of the election, once known, be respected,” French government spokesman Olivier Veran said.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/another ... africa/

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[wjfox]

G20 includes African Union in historic decision

– The African Union has been invited to join the G20 as a permanent member

– The G20 summit is being held in South Asia for the first time, with Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron attending

[...]

Prime Minister Modi in his opening remarks invited the African Union (AU) to take its place in the G20 as a permanent member.

The inclusion of the AU was widely expected ahead of the summit.

The decision will further bolster Modi's efforts to make India the voice of the Global South.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-66724117

[Powers]

G20 includes African Union in historic decision

– The African Union has been invited to join the G20 as a permanent member

– The G20 summit is being held in South Asia for the first time, with Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron attending

[...]

Prime Minister Modi in his opening remarks invited the African Union (AU) to take its place in the G20 as a permanent member.

The inclusion of the AU was widely expected ahead of the summit.

The decision will further bolster Modi's efforts to make India the voice of the Global South.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-66724117

It remains to be seen if it makes any real difference.