News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Each time I want to fight for African rights, I use only one hand because the other hand is busy trying to keep away…Africans who are fighting me”.
HIGHLIGHTS
Ethiopian landslides kills scores including rescuers
Dangote in a tussle over oil refinery
Ramaphosa rebukes Malema
Algerian Opposition decry pre-election Climate
New HIV infections now outside Africa.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
Death toll from Ethiopian landslides continues to rise
Latest: Kenya political upheaval
Protesters defy William Ruto, pro-State groups counter them
Kenya’s protest being played-out on a ‘Walkie-talkie’ app
Other countries inspired by Kenya’s GenZ
Opinion: America’s Dilemma in Kenya
US/UN ambassador visits Kenyan police in Haiti
IMF to consider Kenya’s economic plan at end of August
UK planned to spend £10B billion on Rwanda migrant scheme
Scores killed in clashes between Somali forces and Al-Shabaab
The basketball team forging a ‘new story’ for South Sudan
‘Catastrophic toll’ as Sudan’s warring sides refuse to budge says MSF
Tanzania’s President fires Foreign, Information ministers
Samia’s embarrassingly large convoy
Uganda arrest protesters marching in Kampala
Ugandan security forces detain dozens of young protesters
West Africa
Burkina to withdraw mining licenses from countries that refuse to sell it military equipment
UN says Guinea Opposition figure tortured in custody*
Flooding drives Liberia to mull moving capital
Nigeria investigates fuel imports after Dangote Refinery rift with regulator
Why Nigerians are praying for success of new refinery
Sierra Leone finds guilty 11 involved in alleged coup
Southern Africa
Botswana proposes law for locals to acquire 24% stakes in mines
Ramaphosa rebukes Malema’s allegations over liberation betrayal
Fmr SAfr FM Pandor regrets not being Dep. President
North Africa
Algerian Opposition criticizes pre-election ‘Authoritarian Climate’
Egyptian authorities host dialogue on detention after new wave of arrests
Moroccan ex-minister who defended government critics sentenced to 5 years
AFRICA GENERAL
EASTERN AFRICA
ETHIOPIA
Death toll from Ethiopian landslides continues to rise
The death toll from two landslides in southern Ethiopia has risen sharply to 229 and the number could increase further, a government official said on Tuesday. A landslide buried people in Gofa zone in Southern Ethiopia regional state, then a second one engulfed others who had gathered to help on Monday morning, officials said. “Searching still going on and there are bodies that are yet to be recovered. The area is very challenging,” Markos Melese, head of the National Disaster Response agency in Gofa Zone, said by phone. “We have so far recovered 157 bodies from two villages … We believe the number will increase.” On Monday, an official said at least 50 people had died and children and police officers were among the dead. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he was deeply saddened by the terrible loss of life, and that federal officials had been deployed to reduce the impact of the disaster.
KENYA
Latest: Kenya political upheaval
Protesters defy William Ruto, pro-State groups counter them
Kenya’s anti-government protesters on Tuesday defied President William Ruto’s warning of dire consequences and staged street demos in various parts of the country to demand his resignation. By noon, protests had been recorded in various parts of Mombasa, Kisumu, Nairobi and Kajiado counties. But unlike previous demos, pro-government groups emerged to counter the anti-Ruto campaigners in the capital Nairobi— staging motorcycle rides in support of the besieged Kenya Kwanza regime. The amorphous group, mainly composed of boda boda riders, crisscrossed the Central Business District honking, whistling and chanting in support of the President. The pro-Ruto protesters, who were granted a free pass at all police roadblocks, carried placards in support of the government including ‘Let us give our president time’, ‘Ruto tuko nyuma yako (We’re behind you, Ruto)’ and ‘Tumechoka na (We’re tired of) Gen Z’. The riders appeared well organised and funded. “Large group of boda bodas are fueling at Rubis next to the entrance of the Haile Selassie expressway. They have been told to line up, someone is footing their bill. Riot police stood by and ignored them,” tweeted journalist Robert Nagila. The heavily armed police later cleared the way when the demonstrators started street rides around the city centre. In Mombasa, police clashed with the protesters who marched in the street of the coastal city to push for the dissolution of government, accusing Dr Ruto of failing to deliver on the promises he made while seeking office in 2022. The officers fired teargas to break up the demo on Moi Avenue, injuring a trader who was rushed for medical attention. In Kitengela, Kajiado County, at least 10 anti-government protesters were arrested after they staged demos in the town that largely remained deserted.
Gov’t supporters or goons? Mystery of protesters on motorbikes In Nairobi CBD
Protesters on motorbikes on Tuesday invaded Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) in support of the ruling administration during Tuesday’s anti-government protests. The protesters appeared to have been well-organised and mobilised to counter the anti-government protesters. The group later clashed with other motorbike taxi operators before they ran out of the CBD. The pro-government protesters had easy access to the CBD, with police virtually standing by and allowing them to carry on with their activities…In a break from previous demonstrations, the pro-government protesters were able to access the CBD with little to no hindrance from the pockets of police officers who had been dispatched to the CBD. They moved from street to street with almost reckless abandon, until another group of boda boda operators based in the CBD came face to face with the pro-government group.
Batons, tear gas, live fire – Kenyans face police brutality
The recent wave of the deaths of dozens of people in Kenya, as police cracked down on protests countrywide, began with the shooting of 30-year-old Rex Masai. The killings have further eroded what little trust there was in the police to maintain order. And as a new series of protests is about to begin, there are concerns over how the security forces will respond…At least four police officers so far are to face prosecution for shooting and killing protesters over the last four weeks, amid rising calls for justice for victims of the alleged excessive use of force. But the investigations have been tricky. “We have encountered non-cooperation from the police and to a certain level some intimidation even to our officers,” said John Waiganjo, a commissioner from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). But the investigation into the killing of Mr Masai has not yet resulted in the start of a prosecution, as investigators seek to gather more evidence and record statements. Mr Waiganjo did not comment on this specific case but explained that when investigating injury or death the IPOA needs information on where the guns involved were from and the identity of the officers allegedly involved…It is unsurprising that the IPOA says it has struggled to get witnesses to record statements in Mr Masai’s case or the others, as people are often scared to come forward. The IPOA is using allegations shared on social media of killings, arbitrary arrests and abductions to initiate investigations.
Kenya’s protest being played-out on a ‘Walkie-talkie’ app
Betty had never heard of the Zello app until June 18. But as she participated in Kenya’s “GenZ protests” that month — one of the biggest in the country’s history — the app became her savior. On Zello, “we were getting updates and also updating others on where the tear-gas canisters were being lobbed and which streets had been cordoned off,” Betty, 27, said, requesting to be identified by a pseudonym as she feared backlash from the police. “At one point, I also alerted the group [about] suspected undercover investigative officers who were wearing balaclavas.” … Six protesters told Rest of World that Zello, which allows smartphones to be used as walkie-talkies, helped them find meeting points, evade the police, and alert each other to potential dangers. Digital services experts and political analysts said the app helped the protests become one of the most effective in the country’s history… “Many of the peaceful protesters, well-meaning young people, left town by mid-morning [on June 25 during the protests]. In fact, you could hear them on their Zello, rallying each other to leave town,” Ruto said during a roundtable with local journalists.
JKIA not being sold says Govt
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has allayed fears that the government is mulling the sale of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) saying no such plans have been made. Details had emerged that government had entered into an alleged private deal to lease the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to an Indian firm, Adani Airport Holdings Limited. “Let me put it clearly that the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is not on sale. Its a public assets and a strategic asset. If it what to be sold you can only do it after a full public process that Parliament endorses,” he said. The Prime Cabinet Secretary elaborated that Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) should initiate plans to modernize the international airport to enhance passenger experience and increase traffic…This comes hot on heels as Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka had sought details of the contract between Kenya Airports Authority and transaction advisor ALG a Spanish firm.
Other countries inspired by Kenya’s GenZ
Nigeria’s police chief warns against Kenyan-style protests
Nigeria’s police chief warned against Kenyan-style protests on Tuesday after frustrated citizens used online platforms to call for demonstrations against poor governance and a cost of living crisis. In what could be President Bola Tinubu’s biggest challenge, Nigerians have taken inspiration from young Kenyans – whose protests forced a government U-turn on tax hikes – and are using X and Instagram platforms to call for peaceful protests from August 1. The last big protest in Nigeria was a demonstration against policy brutality in October 2020. It ended in bloodshed, which demonstrators blamed on soldiers and police, who denied using live rounds. Africa’s most populous nation is grappling with its worst economic hardships in a generation, marked by soaring prices after Tinubu removed some petrol and electricity subsidies and sharply devalued the naira.
Anti-corruption demonstrations break out in Uganda’s capital as people note Kenya’s protest success
Ugandan security forces on Tuesday arrested dozens of people who tried to walk to the parliament building to demonstrate against high-level corruption in protests that authorities said were illegal. The protests were organized by Ugandans who hope to emulate efforts by people in neighboring Kenya, where demonstrations recently forced the president to dismiss almost his entire cabinet after widespread opposition to a proposal to impose new taxes. Ugandans have been provoked by mounting allegations of corruption against the parliament speaker, Anita Among, who has rejected calls for her resignation after revelations online of allegedly irregular expenditure by her office and others close to her…Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, an authoritarian leader in power since 1986, has called the street protests intolerable, and warned protest organizers in a televised address that they were “playing with fire.”
Kenya’s Gen Z inspires youth-led protests across Africa, putting leaders in Nigeria, Uganda in panic mode
From Nigeria to Uganda, leaders from across Africa are watching closely the youth-led anti-government protests in Kenya that, according to experts, could inspire youth across the continent. As the youth-led protests in Kenya later morphed to calls for Ruto’s resignation over bad governance, political experts say these demands for the government to take immediate action against issues that have plagued society, including corruption, could have ripple effects across Africa. Should leaders on the continent not address citizens’ concerns, Kenya’s recent anti-tax protests are likely to further reverberate across the continent, triggering a renewal of nationalism among youth, while sending cold chills down the spine of leaders from Kenya to Malawi to Uganda, accused of bad governance. Drawing inspiration from the protests in Kenya, some Nigerian youths have already finalized plans to hold nationwide protests against widespread hunger and insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria, in the coming weeks, which has put President Bola Tinubu’s administration in panic mode.
Kenya protests could inspire youth across Africa
Political experts say the ongoing anti-government protests in Kenya where youth-led demonstrators are demanding that President William Ruto step down and that government take immediate action against issues that have plagued society, including corruption, could have ripple effects across Africa, should leaders on the continent not address citizens concerns.
Opinion:
America’s Dilemma in Kenya
Washington Erred in Embracing Ruto—but Now Must Double Down on Helping Him Succeed
US/UN ambassador visits Kenyan police in Haiti
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations travelled to Port-au-Prince on Monday (Jul. 22) to meet leaders of the new Haitian transitional government and the Kenyan police. The African personnel are the vanguard of a U.N.-backed force meant to help the Haitian police in its fight against gangs. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced $60 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the Carribean nation. She said the USAID package,which now totals more than $165 million this fiscal year, would fill gaps in nutrition, food security and shelter; improve water and sanitation services; and provide Haitians with cash to buy basic goods. Thomas-Greenfield also said her country would provide additional mine-resistant vehicles. Gangs are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital and surrounding areas.
IMF to consider Kenya’s economic plan at end of August
Kenya has submitted an economic repair plan to the International Monetary Fund and it expects the fund’s board to review it for approval at the end of August, the country’s chief minister told a parliamentary panel. Kenya had to rapidly draw up new spending cuts after widespread youth-led protests against tax hikes previously put forward by President William Ruto’s government left at least 50 people dead. The IMF did not immediately comment. The East African nation has a $3.6 billion IMF programme, and the Fund had reached a staff level agreement on the seventh review of Kenya’s programme in early June. But its board had not signed off on the review when Ruto scrapped the tax hikes that were a core part of its plan to meet IMF targets, and investors said the political turmoil would make getting IMF cash trickier.
RWANDA
UK Conservatives planned to spend 10 billion pounds on Rwanda migrant scheme, minister says
Britain’s new Labour interior minister on Monday accused the previous, Conservative government of concealing the fact that it expected to spend 10 billion pounds ($13 billion) on a now-scrapped plan to deport thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda. PM Keir Starmer’s new government scrapped the plan after comfortably winning an election this month. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament that taxpayers had already spent 700 million pounds on chartering flights that never took off, payments to the Rwandan government and many hours of civil servants’ work, among other things. She said that since her appointment as home secretary two weeks ago, she had reviewed the “policies, programmes and legislation that we have inherited”, adding: “It is the most shocking waste of taxpayers’ money that I have ever seen.” The previous Conservative government had announced in 2022 that it would put an end to asylum seekers arriving on small boats by sending those who arrived in Britain without permission to Rwanda. Cooper also said tens of thousands of asylum seekers left in limbo and at risk of deportation would now have their claims processed.
SOMALIA
Scores killed in Somali forces and Al-Shabaab clash
Dozens of fighters were killed in clashes on Monday in the southern tip of Somalia when al Shabaab militants tried to overrun three army bases, officials and the insurgent group said. A local security official said government forces repulsed the attacks and safely detonated four car bombs around 80 km (50 miles) southwest of the port city of Kismayo in Jubbaland state. Videos posted by Jubbaland officials on social media showed at least 35 bodies in a mix of military fatigues near the village of Buulo-Xaaji. The government and al Shabaab often provide wildly differing accounts of the casualties on each side. Farah Hussein, a military official, said five soldiers were killed…and we killed “dozens of them. I counted 30 dead al Shabaab and I could see even more bodies lying ahead of me,” Hussein added. Al Shabaab said on an affiliated radio station that it had stormed the bases and killed dozens of soldiers.
SOUTH SUDAN
The basketball team forging a ‘new story’ for South Sudan
Having fought through one of the longest civil wars on record, South Sudan’s early history was defined by conflict. But now the youngest nation in the world is forging a new identity through basketball. Their success has seen the men’s national side, the Bright Stars, book a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics and also come within seconds of a historic win over the United States at the weekend. Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Luol Deng has been a major inspiration behind their rise. “Since I was born, I have known nothing but conversations about war,” Deng, who spent 15 years in the NBA. “Whenever I was in school, even when I was in the NBA, it was always ‘refugees left because of war’ and ‘war-torn country’. “Now we are finding a new story.” Deng was one of those refugees himself, fleeing with his family as a child and eventually settling in the United Kingdom, but has returned to head the South Sudan Basketball Federation. The country, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, is now one which exports world-class players to the NBA and secured an Olympic berth via their first appearance at the Fiba World Cup last year.
SUDAN
MSF – Catastrophic toll’ as Sudan’s warring sides refuse to budget
Civilians face violence and killings and health workers and medical facilities are suffering persistent attacks amid severe violence being perpetrated by both warring sides in Sudan, Doctors Without Borders has said in a new report. The NGO, known by its French initials MSF, warned in the report issued on Monday that protection of civilians has collapsed, with entire communities “facing indiscriminate violence, killings, torture and sexual violence amid persistent attacks on health workers and medical facilities”. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their supporters are “inflicting horrendous violence on people across the country”, the report, entitled “A war on people – The human cost of conflict and violence in Sudan”, reads. More than 10 million people have been displaced since the war started in April 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) of the United Nations. The war has wrought a catastrophic toll with hospitals attacked, markets bombed, and houses razed to the ground, the MSF report adds.
TANZANIA
President Samia Suluhu fires foreign, information ministers
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has fired two senior members of government including the foreign minister in a mini-cabinet reshuffle, her office said. The changes came as Hassan seeks to regain trust from foreign powers over a programme of economic and political reforms, including easing restrictions on opposition parties and media, that some critics had seen as faltering. The presidency announced late on Sunday, July 21, that Hassan terminated the appointments of the minister of foreign affairs and EA cooperation, January Makamba, and the minister of information, communication and information technology, Nape Nnauye. They are influential figures in the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). No reason was given for their removal. Makamba and Nnauye did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Huge Presidential convoy
Following exposure of her extravagant convoy, President appears to be tone deaf to that criticism. This is what she continues to allow:
UGANDA
Protesters marching in Kampala arrested
Ugandan security forces detained a number of young people on Tuesday in downtown Kampala who were taking part in a banned rally against what the protesters say are rampant corruption and human rights abuses by the country’s rulers. Journalists saw the detentions being made, while a video posted by NTV Uganda on the X social media platform also showed a small group of young people being intercepted and detained by police while they were marching. The protesters were holding placards and shouting slogans denouncing corruption. One wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Speaker Must Resign”. Soldiers and police have been deployed around the parliament building and in the centre of the Ugandan capital with the aim of deterring any protesters. On Monday police sealed off the offices of Uganda’s biggest opposition party, accusing it of mobilising for the protests, and detained some party officials, including its lawmakers. The party denied it was organising the march, but said it supported it. Opposition leaders and rights activists say embezzlement and misuse of government funds are widespread in Uganda. They have long accused President Yoweri Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt senior officials who are politically loyal or related to him.
Ugandan security forces detain dozens of young protesters
Ugandan security forces detained dozens of young people on Tuesday, a rights group said, as they took part in a banned protest rally in downtown Kampala against official corruption and alleged human rights abuses by the country’s rulers. A witness saw the detentions being made, while a video posted by NTV Uganda on the X social media platform showed a small group of young people being intercepted and detained by police. The protesters waved placards and shouted slogans denouncing corruption. One wore a T-shirt bearing the words “Speaker Must Resign.” At least 45 people were detained by security personnel during the crackdown, according to Chapter Four, an Ugandan human rights group that is offering legal services to the detainees. A police spokesperson was not immediately available to confirm how many people had been detained.
WEST AFRICA
BURKINA FASO
Traore to withdraw mining licenses for companies from countries that refuse to sell them military equipment.
Burkina Faso will withdraw mining permits granted to companies from countries that refuse to sell military equipment to the African nation, announced the country’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, during an address to the nation. “Some [powers] have refused to sell us [military] equipment, have blocked the equipment we have bought from certain countries because they have the license for certain components,” President Traore said, adding that “these powers also mine minerals in Burkina Faso.” He declared to cheers from the crowd, “This is going to stop…We will exploit them ourselves,” he declared, without specifying which states he was warning. Burkina Faso is now part of the Alliance of Sahel States, which also includes Mali and Niger. The three military-run countries have embarked on a path of diversifying their international partnerships, with relations with the nations’ former colonizer, France, becoming increasingly strained.
GUINEA
UN says Opposition figure tortured in custody
The United Nations said on Friday it was “extremely worried” about the fate of two Guinea opposition leaders reportedly tortured in custody, urging the ruling junta to release them. Oumar Sylla, widely known as Fonike Mengue, and Mamadou Billo Bah — two leaders of a citizens’ collective calling for a return to civilian rule — were arrested on July 9, according to their families and movement. Slammed by their pro-democracy movement as a “kidnapping,” their arrests have provoked a growing international outcry. They are among a long list of opposition figures detained in the troubled West African country since the military seized power in September 2021. … On Thursday, lawyers for the activists wrote to the Hague-based International Criminal Court, saying they were fearful for Sylla and Bah’s lives.
LIBERIA
Flooding drives Liberia to mull moving capital
Severe flooding in Liberia has led a group of senators to propose relocating the capital city away from overcrowded and poorly managed Monrovia, a suggestion met with a mixture of enthusiasm and hesitancy in the West African country. Flash floods triggered by torrential rains between the end of June and early July left nearly 50,000 Liberians in urgent need, the national disaster management agency said. The flood-prone capital was particularly badly hit, owing in part to overpopulation, a poor sewage system, and a lack of building regulation. Meeting to discuss the persistent flooding problem, a senate joint committee in early July suggested establishing a new city to replace Monrovia. … Monrovia is home to 1.5 million people and lies on the Atlantic coast of Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world. The city is the economic, political, and cultural hub of the country, with the Freeport of Monrovia providing a gateway for Liberian exports including iron ore, rubber, and timber to reach the United States and Europe. But the city’s poorly functioning infrastructure can barely keep up with its ever-expanding population.
NIGERIA
Nigeria investigates fuel imports after Dangote Refinery rift with regulator
Nigerian lawmakers on Monday set up a committee to investigate crude shortages to local refineries and importation of dirty fuels, issues at the heart of a rift between the Dangote Refinery and Nigeria’s downnstream oil regulator. The $20 billion Dangote Oil refinery began operations in January but has been unable to get adequate crude supplies from Nigeria where vandalism, sabotage and low investments deter production. Last month, the Dangote Refinery said oil majors were blocking its access to locally produced crude and the regulator was allowing fuel traders to import high-sulphur gasoil thereby undermining its refinery. In response, the head of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the downstream regulator, said the Dangote Refinery was 45% completed hence unable to meet the country’s needs. He also said gasoil processed by the refinery is between 650 to 1200 parts per million of sulphur, thus inferior to imported products. Nigerian regulation allows for the sulphur content in gasoil to be about 50 ppm and is set to begin enforcing the standards from next year. When some lawmakers visited the plant on Saturday, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote insisted on a test of the gasoil from his plant with others sold in the local market. The result showed that Dangote Refinery’s diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, whereas the other two samples showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2,000 ppm, respectively. Dangote announced he was no longer proceeding with an investment into steel production in Nigeria due to allegations that he seeking to be a monopoly.
Why Nigerians are praying for success of new refinery
The $19bn (£15bn) refinery, based along the coast from Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, in the south of the country, is the size of almost 4,000 football pitches. Its construction began back in 2016, and it started production of diesel and an aviation fuel in January of this year. Petrol is now set to follow. The hope is that the facility will end Nigeria’s dependence on imports of these fuels. While Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, and the world’s 15th biggest, none of its existing government-owned refineries are operational. The privately-owned Dangote refinery has been built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. Born in Kano, the 67-year-old has a net worth of $12.6bn (£9.7bn), according to Forbes magazine. Via his company, Dangote Group, he made his fortune in cement and sugar before taking on what many say is his biggest challenge yet when he launched the refinery. … The Dangote refinery will have the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels of fuel per day once fully operational. Devakumar Edwin, vice president of Dangote Group says the refinery will be producing 500,000 before the end of August, which will exceed the country’s 480,000 barrels per day usage. The aim is to export the surplus.
SIERRA LEONE
11 involved in alleged coup found guilty
A court found 11 people guilty of treason and other offenses following what authorities have called an attempted coup, with their leader sentenced to almost 200 years in prison, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. In November, dozens of gunmen broke into the country’s armory and into a prison where the majority of the more than 2,000 inmates were freed. The clashes left 18 security forces dead. Authorities at the time said they arrested around 80 suspects, and a dozen were charged in January, including former president Ernest Bai Koroma, later granted medical leave. The man accused of leading the attack, Amadu Koita Makalo, was sentenced Monday to 182 years in prison on charges of treason, murder and shooting with intent to murder, the judiciary’s spokesperson, Moses Lamin Kamara, told the press. Makalo is an ex-bodyguard of Koroma and has been a vocal critic of the current President Julius Maada Bio on social media. The other 10 were also found guilty of treason and murder and received lengthy prison sentences ranging from 30 to 112 years.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
BOTSWANA
Government proposes law for locals to acquire 24% stakes in minestrone
Botswana is proposing a law that will ask mining companies, once granted a licence, to sell a 24% stake in mines to locals if the government does not exercise its option to acquire the shareholding, a draft bill outlines. The current Mines and Minerals Act allows the government of Botswana, the world’s top diamond producer by value and an emerging copper mining hotspot, to buy a 15% shareholding in any mining project upon being licensed. The existing law gives the government an option to negotiate higher stakes in diamond mines. The government has, however, foregone that option in all recent mining transactions, including Lucara’s acquisition of Karowe Diamond Mine, the purchase of Khoemacau copper mine by China’s MMG and the recently opened Motheo Copper mine owned by Australia’s Sandfire. “Where government does not exercise its option of acquiring a 15% working interest upon granting of a mining licence, the holder shall use his best endeavour to dispose the 24% stake to citizens or citizen-owned companies,” reads the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill due to be tabled in parliament by mines minister Lefoko Moagi.
SOUTH AFRICA
Ramaphosa rebukes Malema over allegations
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday rebuked Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) Julius Malema for suggesting he sold out during the liberation struggle, and said the party’s leader needs a history lesson. Ramaphosa, as he concluded his reply to the debate on his opening address to parliament, also told Malema to learn to play the ball, not the man in political discourse. “Now you spent a considerable amount of time playing me, the man. What is important in building this country, is to play the ball of development,” he said. Malema on Friday repeated an allegation that Ramaphosa was “insulated from any form of arrest or harassment by the apartheid system” while his comrades in the ANC were in exile or in prison. Jacob Zuma, the leader of the new official opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, has said apartheid “could not have lasted even one day without black collaborators like Ramaphosa”. Ramaphosa was twice detained in the 1970s. On Monday, he urged Malema to read about the mineworkers’ movement and speak to those who lived through the strikes in the 1980s that brought the sector to a standstill. “Five years after formation (of the National Union of Miners) they embarked on a 21-day strike, and stopped the entire mining industry in this country — and you call that a sell-out position.” He then, in Afrikaans, asked Malema, who was born in 1981, where he was in the struggle. “Waar was jy?”
Pandor regrets not being Dep. President
Former International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor says she regrets declining the nomination for deputy president that was offered at the 54th ANC conference at NASREC in 2017.She was picked by then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to be his running mate in the ANC presidential race. This move was seen as pressure on Ramaphosa to adhere to the gender equality policy of his party. Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma campaigned for the presidency against Ramaphosa. However, Pandor declined the nomination, and former Deputy President David Mabuza was elected to the position. Pandor reflected on her tenure as a foreign minister and ANC member in a sit down interview with Sunday Times’s Lizeka Tandwa. She also revealed the importance for gender equality in roles. “We had Dlamini-Zuma, but we have also had Sisulu and myself nominated but in the end I declined and I now regret doing that but anyway,” she said.
NORTH AFRICA
EGYPT
Authorities host dialogue on detention after new wave of arrests
Egyptian authorities have extended the pretrial detention of at least 125 people and arrested two journalists shortly before holding a national dialogue on Tuesday to discuss pretrial detention policies, rights lawyers and groups say. Most of those detained were swept up in a wave of arrests following calls for protests on July 12 over economic conditions under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, they said. Although there were no protests, dozens were arrested from their homes and held on accusations including spreading false news, using social media platforms to promote terrorist ideas, and belonging to a terrorist organization, rights lawyer Nabih El-Genady said. On Sunday and Monday the public prosecution extended their detention for 15 days, he and another rights lawyer, Khalid Ali, said. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, a rights group, confirmed that at least 125 people were being held. Authorities have also arrested two journalists in the past week, one a cartoonist for independent news outlet Al-Manassa missing since plain-clothed officers raided his house on Monday, the other a reporter for the Arabic Post new website, said Ali. There was no immediate comment from the public prosecution or Egypt’s State Information Service. Rights groups have long criticised the extensive use of pretrial detention to keep people jailed for years. They say it should be a last resort, not standard procedure.
ALGERIA
Opposition criticizes pre-election ‘Authoritarian Climate’
Eleven prominent Algerian opposition figures wrote an open letter this week, denouncing “the authoritarian climate” surrounding the country’s upcoming presidential election and calling for a broad democratic transition. Under the rule of military-backed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, freedom of expression has witnessed a rollback, experts say, with journalists and opposition members facing prison time and critical media outlets losing state advertising funding they have relied on to stay afloat. In their open letter Sunday, the opposition figures — including well-known politicians, lawyers and academics — said the Sep. 7 election was a rubber stamp exercise in futility. They said the lack of civil liberties makes holding a legitimate election impossible. “No to electoral charades under dictatorship!” they wrote. “Yes to genuine democracy and popular sovereignty.” They also underscored how the government’s security policy in preparation for the election “continues to trample on the will of the people.” “Today’s Algeria is in a more critical situation than before, with short- and medium-term prospects that are even more complex and perilous,” they added. The letter came nearly two weeks after renowned Algerian Workers’ Party leader Louisa Hanoune announced she would withdraw from the race and her party would boycott the election.
MOROCCO
Ex-minister who defended government critics sentenced to five years
Mohamed Ziane, an ex-Moroccan minister of human rights, was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday in a corruption case that his attorney described as retribution for outspokenness and work defending political prisoners. An appeals court in Rabat handed down the sentence after a hearing in which the frail 81-year-old Ziane — once known for his loud and combative rhetoric — was silent as a form of protest. The court had earlier found him and two other colleagues guilty of corruption and embezzling from their political party during Morocco’s 2015 election campaign. Ali Reda Ziane — his attorney who is also his son — strenuously denied the charges faced by his father and his two colleagues. He said the court had not followed typical procedures in the case or any of its appeals, all 17 of which the defence lost. He also linked the proceedings to his father’s defence of journalists and activists who had faced charges for unrelated offences after criticizing the government. “It means freedom of expression has been curtailed in Morocco,” he said in an interview on Monday.
AFRICA- GENERAL NEWS
Thousands of migrant kids have reached the Canary Islands alone
The children sometimes won’t stop crying. Health workers dealing with migrants arriving on Spain’s Canary Islands try to understand if the tears are from illness, injury or, as is often the case, from pure shock. One young Senegalese boy who disembarked recently kept fainting every few minutes, troubling doctors who couldn’t determine the cause. Other migrants finally explained: the boy had witnessed both parents die during the arduous boat voyage from West Africa. Their bodies were thrown overboard into the Atlantic Ocean. “There’s no medicine for that,” said Inmaculada Mora Peces, a 54-year-old emergency doctor who treats migrants arriving on the island of El Hierro. Mora Peces is among a growing number of people sounding the alarm as the archipelago struggles to deal with thousands of teenagers and children traveling alone to the European Union territory from Senegal, Mali, and other African nations, fleeing poverty, conflict and instability. On Tuesday, Spain’s parliament will vote to consider a legislative proposal that would force other regions to take responsibility for some of the minors currently stuck on the Canaries in dire conditions. The bill has sparked a national political crisis and there is no guarantee it will pass…the Canary Islands government says it is overwhelmed, with more than 5,500 minors — far above its capacity for 2,000.
Most new HIV infections now outside Africa
African countries have made swift progress in tackling the virus, with the number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa 56% lower than in 2010, a new report from UNAids said. Globally, infections have fallen by 39% over the same period. “For the first time in the history of the HIV pandemic, more new infections are occurring outside sub-Saharan Africa than in sub-Saharan Africa. This reflects both the prevention achievements in much of sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of comparable progress in the rest of the world,” said the report, which found case numbers were rising in eastern Europe and central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and north Africa. UNAids said the world is “at a crossroads” in efforts to tackle the virus, with action this year key to success. … Sub-Saharan Africa remains home to almost half of people living with HIV who have no treatment. Access is especially low among children, the report warned.
Five things to know about Turkey’s interests in Africa
Over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two decades in power, Ankara has consolidated its foothold on the continent, quadrupling its number of embassies there. Here are five of Turkey’s diplomatic and economic interests and strategies in Africa: ‘Alternative to the West’. At a time when many African countries are turning away from their former colonial rulers, Turkey has looked to fill the void left behind. … Defense and security. Turkey has signed defense agreements with a number of states spanning the breadth of the continent … Those agreements have opened up contracts for Turkey’s defense manufacturers, notably for its reputedly reliable and inexpensive drones. … Fossil fuels and nuclear. Turkey is also expanding its interests in Africa’s energy sector. In September or October it plans to launch an oil and gas exploration mission off the coast of Somalia, similar to the one it is carrying out in Libyan waters. … Infrastructure and construction. Ankara is generally seen as a “reliable partner”, said Didier Billion, Turkey specialist at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs — “particularly in the construction and infrastructure sectors.” … Religion, schools and television. Turkey has accumulated considerable soft power in the region, notably through education, the media and its shared religion with Africa’s many Muslim countries.
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