Media Review for August 15, 2012

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 08/15/2012

Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.

Today’s News

Crashes Underline Uganda’s Spotty Record With Helicopters
[...] Uganda has a spotty record with helicopters, having been accused by international investigators of buying junk helicopters at inflated prices. In 2005, Uganda supplied a presidential helicopter to John Garang, the charismatic southern Sudanese guerrilla leader who was the embodiment of hope for millions of people and had just been installed as vice president of Sudan. Mr. Garang was killed when the Ugandan helicopter he was using ran into a mountain. The New York Times

Third crashed Ugandan army helicopter found in Kenya
Rescuers have found the remaining two Ugandan military helicopters that crashed in Kenya on their way to Somalia on Sunday, but the whereabouts of the crew is still unclear. Three helicopter gunships disappeared off radar screens as they navigated around the southern edge of Mount Kenya in bad weather. Rescue teams found one of the Russian-made helicopters and airlifted its seven crew from the mountain’s forested slopes on Monday. One of them had minor injuries. The Independant

Uganda blames bad weather for chopper mishaps
The three Ugandan military aircraft may have crashed due to bad weather as they headed to Somalia on Sunday, authorities in the neighbouring country said Tuesday. “Preliminary information suggests that it was weather to blame,” Jeje Odongo, Uganda’s State Minister for Defence, told reporters, without offering more information. Capital FM

East Africa debates what happens to southern Somalia if al Shabab is routed
 A long-awaited assault on the southern Somali port of Kismayo that Western governments hope will end the influence of al Qaida’s branch in Somalia has been delayed over last-minute negotiations on how to divide the spoils and avoid more civil war should the city fall. McClatchy

US, UN concerned over corrupt Somali transition
World leaders from Africa to the U.S. and Europe said they are growing increasingly concerned that intimidation and corruption are marring the selection of a new Somali parliament, a task still unfinished less than a week before the government’s U.N. mandate expires. AP Stars and Sripes

Africa Pirates: Outlaw Groups Becoming Increasingly Sophisticated
Welcome to the Pirate Action Group. Pirate commander Jamal wishes to congratulate you on being hijacked. Kindly speak to his negotiator about your ransom, bearing in mind that his demands are similar for every vessel he seizes. This is not an absurd joke — this is how the pirates of the African coast do business, and it’s a serious matter for the companies that have to pay out. The Huffington Post

US says new Egypt defense minister wants close ties
The new defense minister appointed by Egypt’s Islamist president has pledged to uphold the strong military ties between Cairo and Washington, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta said Tuesday. In a surprise move Sunday, President Mohamed Morsi retired Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi — head of the military council that assumed power after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak — and replaced him with Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. Daily Nation

Egypt: The President and the Military
President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt shook up the military establishment on Sunday, August 12. After months of analysis suggesting that the military was preventing Egypt’s elected civilian government from establishing any meaningful control, Morsi retired his powerful defense minister and replaced a number of senior generals. While the actions came in the wake of an attack on a Sinai military outpost, the implications of the changes profoundly affect Egypt’s political structure. CSIS

Algerian president under pressure to sack generals, follow in Egypt’s footsteps
Algerians are mounting pressure on President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika to follow in the footsteps of his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Mursi and sack senior army generals. Mursi’s decision, seen by many as the end of the military rule in Egypt, instigated Algerians to bring back to life an article proposed in the 1956 Le congrès de la Soummam, organized by the Free Liberation Front during the Algerian war of independence. Al Arabiya

In Search of ‘True’ Islam: Salafists Abandon Germany for Egypt
Salafist Muslims influenced by a controversial preacher are leaving Germany to move to Egypt in search of the “true” Islam. German intelligence officials, who have been cracking down on radical Muslim groups recently, are concerned they may end up in networks linked to al-Qaida. Spiegle

Eritrea’s flag-carrying runner seeks asylum in UK to flee repressive regime
It was while his team-mates on Eritrea’s Olympic team were out watching the men’s marathon in the Sunday sunshine that Weynay Ghebresilasie finally decided to take the decision that has changed his life forever. Without a goodbye, the 18-year-old walked out of his quarters at the Olympic village, threw away the sim card that had been given to him by the team’s minders and embarked on the process of claiming asylum in the UK – turning his back on a life as a conscript in the army of one of the world’s most reclusive and repressive regimes. The Guardian

Conflict in the Kivus: The Start of Africa’s Second World War?
If we’re to believe recent official statements and high-level media appearances, there is barely a single country interested in anything other than peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). President Paul Kagame of Rwanda dubiously claimed that no-one has worked harder to end conflict in the DRC than Rwanda, while the Ugandan government has charged headlong into the role of peace negotiator. Suspicious of neighbours’ meddling, the DRC’s donors have mustered as much hand wringing as has been seen in a decade. Think Africa Press

ECOWAS troops only welcome in North: Mali
Mali’s military rejects the deployment of any foreign West African soldiers to the capital, saying any intervention can only take place in the North of the country. Times Live

Ansar al-Din battles isolation
Malian Islamist group Ansar al-Din paid a price for its alliance with al-Qaeda: a poor public image. It is now trying to mitigate the damage through the use of modern technology. The Touareg Islamist group has initiated a new round of discussions on Ansar Al-Mujahideen Network and other jihadist web forums by responding to questions submitted online. Magharebia

Ethiopian leader’s absence grips nation, fuels speculation
Ethiopia’s prime minister is “recovering well,” a spokesman said Wednesday, amid frenzied speculation about the health of the usually visible leader, who has not appeared in public for two months. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, 57, came to power two decades ago and is considered a strong force in the frequently volatile horn of Africa. CNN

Liberia’s growing pains
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faces a fractious political environment and gaping infrastructure deficits as her government tries to attract foreign investors to boost employment. The Africa Report

Zimbabwe: An Opportunity for Closer U.S.-South Africa Relations
As Zimbabwe moves closer to elections, the prospect for political violence, even civil war, grows. President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are wrangling over a new constitution and the timing of upcoming elections. The eighty-eight-year-old Mugabe is suffering from cancer and wants elections soon to ensure his “liberation” legacy. At the same time, Mugabe-allied military factions, flush with off-the-books cash from Marange diamonds mined in the eastern part of the country, are mobilizing to stay in power when Mugabe dies. Council on Foreign Relations

Libyans Now Like America Slightly More Than Do Canadians
About a year and half after the U.S. and several European militaries began bombing Libya as part of the ultimately successfully campaign to aid rebels there and topple Muammar Qaddafi, who was killed last October, Gallup has polled Libyan opinions and found something very unusual: some people in the Middle East seem to actually like America. The Atlantic

Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré and the politics of personal enrichment
By African standards, Burkina Faso is not a particularly spectacular country. It is small, has a tiny population and internal politics which most foreign correspondents tend to find somewhat pedestrian. No wonder that it receives only little attention, even in Africa-focused publications. In those rare cases when something is published on the internal politics of Burkina, it often only scratches the surface and conveys a deceiving image of the country and its primary actors. African Argument

No war with Tanzania, says Banda
Malawian President Joyce Banda said on Wednesday her country will not “go to war” with Tanzania over a border dispute in Lake Malawi, now poised to become a new oil and gas frontier. “Even if the diplomatic route fails, it does not necessarily mean we will go to war with our brothers and sisters in Tanzania because we can resort to other channels to solve the matter,” Banda told reporters in her first public reaction to the issue. News 24

Grandmas Grow Gold in Swaziland
After her daughters died, Khathazile took in her 11 orphaned grandchildren without hesitation. It is what a gogo, or grandmother, does in a country where the world’s highest H.I.V. infection rate has left a sea of motherless children. “God will help us,” she said. Perhaps. But Khathazile has some insurance in case divine intervention fails: Swazi Gold, a highly potent and valuable strain of marijuana that is sought after in the thriving drug market of next-door South Africa. The New York Times

Filling Africa’s technology skills gap
Stand on almost any gridlocked street corner in central Nairobi and you’ll find yourself close to a building site. The Kenyan capital is booming, with multinational after multinational moving their African headquarters here. At the heart of this lies the technology industry, growing by 20% annually. BBC

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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:14 am, filed under Media Review and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.