Africa Media Review for July 25, 2025

Paramilitary Group Kills 32 in a Rampage in Southern Sudan, Activist Group Says
Sudan’s notorious paramilitary group rampaged through a village in the southern Kordofan region, which has become a key frontline in the country’s civil war, killing more than 30 people in a two-day offensive, an activist group said Thursday. The Rapid Support Forces on Wednesday attacked Brima Rashid village, north of the key town of al-Nahud, which the paramilitaries seized earlier this year in West Kordofan province, said the Emergency Room in the area, an activist group tracking the war. The group said it documented the killing of 32 people, including siblings, in the offensive which lasted until Thursday morning. More than 50 others were wounded, it said on its Facebook pages. A spokesman for the RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The toll is up from 27 dead and 47 wounded reported early Wednesday by the Sudan Doctors’ Network, a medical group which also tracks the war. In a statement, the network said RSF fighters “targeted unarmed civilians in their homes – including women, children, and the elderly – in a bloody scene reminiscent of the most horrific crimes against humanity.” AP

‘Human Shield’: Niger’s Ousted President Held by Junta
President Mohamed Bazoum has been languishing for two years along with his wife in Niger’s presidential palace since his ouster by a junta, which is using them as human shields to avert foreign military intervention to free them, according to the couple’s lawyers. They are only allowed medical visits. Their lawyers say they have exhausted all legal recourse and now rely on political action or foreign mediation to secure the couple’s release. The junta leader also resides in the presidential palace…”They are still in two windowless rooms, without access to the outside and without any visitors” except for a doctor once a week, [a source said]. Their activities include reading books brought by the doctor and using a stationary bike. One of Bazoum’s lawyers, American Reed Brody, was in contact with him until October 2023 when his phone was confiscated. Since then, the couple has had no connection with the outside world or access to internet or television…The Bazoums live in the same building as junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, said Brody, who is among several sources who suspect Tiani to be using the Bazoum as a “human shield”…Another source close to Bazoum noted that the president, elected in 2021, has never resigned. “He has convictions and value, he is someone who believes in democracy — resigning would betray his oath,” they said. AFP

Central African Republic Rebels Found Guilty of War Crimes by International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court judges convicted two leaders of a predominantly Christian rebel group in the Central African Republic of multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Thursday, sentencing each to more than a decade in prison. Former Central African Republic soccer federation president Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona and Alfred Yekatom, a rebel leader known as “Rambo,” were found guilty of their involvement in atrocities including murder, torture and attacking civilians. The court sentenced Ngaïssona to 12 years, and Yekatom to 15 years. The charges stem from their roles as senior leaders in a militia known as the anti-Balaka, which engaged in bitter fighting with the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group in 2013 and 2014. The interreligious violence left thousands dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. Mosques, shops and homes were looted and destroyed. Anti-Balaka forces “attacked localities with Muslim civilians, killing and dislocating many of them,” Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said, reading out the verdict in The Hague…The trial of an alleged Seleka commander, Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, is ongoing…Separate proceedings against Beina and five others at a specially-created court are slated to begin in the Central African Republic on Friday. AP

Gunmen Kill 14 in North-central Nigeria Market ‘Ambush’
Unidentified gunmen in Nigeria’s restive Plateau state killed 14 people in an ambush Thursday as they returned home from a weekly market, local residents and a Red Cross official told AFP. The north-central state has long been gripped by conflicts over dwindling land and attacks by armed gangs known as “bandits”, mostly across rural areas where government presence is sparse and impunity is almost guaranteed. Following the ambush, two youths were killed in a revenge attack across ethnic lines, residents said. The gunmen opened fire Thursday evening on vehicles returning from the market in Bokkos town, residents said, near a village called Mangor…The Bokkos area is known as a major hub for potato farming in Nigeria. The town’s Monday and Thursday markets host traders from as far away as Chad, Benin, Niger and Cameroon. Land grabbing, political and economic tensions between locals and those considered outsiders, as well as an influx of hardline Muslim and Christian preachers, have heightened divisions in recent decades. AFP

Nigeria: Court Orders Police to Pay #EndSARS Protesters N10m over Rights Violation
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to pay N10 million in damages to some #EndSARS protesters for the violation of their fundamental rights. Trial judge, Justice Musa Kakaki, in his judgment, held that the applicant/protesters were unjustly harassed and their constitutional rights were infringed upon while participating in the fourth memorial rally held on October 20, 2024. Justice Kakaki further held that while law enforcement agencies hold constitutional powers to maintain order, such authority must be exercised within the confines of democracy and the rule of law. The judge affirmed that the applicants were entitled to the constitutional right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association as contained in the Nigerian Constitution…The #EndSARS protesters in the suit had claimed that during the procession, police officers fired live ammunition and tear gas, brutally beat protesters, and carried out arbitrary arrests…In an affidavit, one of the victims, Hassan Soweto, the first applicant and coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, stated that he and other protesters were beaten, tear-gassed, and unlawfully detained without charge. Vanguard

Al-Shabaab Targets Military Bases Near Somali Capital with Bomb-Laden Assault
Al-Shabaab militants launched coordinated attacks on two military outposts near Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, triggering heavy clashes with Somali forces and African Union troops, officials and witnesses said on Friday. The assaults targeted bases in the Sabiid and Caanoole areas of the Lower Shabelle region, where Somali National Army (SNA) troops and Ugandan forces serving under the African Union Mission are stationed. The attacks began with powerful explosions, followed by intense gun battles. Preliminary reports indicated casualties on both sides, including deaths and injuries, though exact figures remain unconfirmed as fighting continued into the afternoon. Sabiid and Caanoole were liberated from Al-Shabaab last month during Operation Silent Storm, which claimed the lives of seven Ugandan soldiers. Residents said Al-Shabaab fighters briefly seized control of both towns after government and ATMIS forces reportedly withdrew under pressure. “Gunfire is still echoing, and people are afraid to leave their homes,” one witness told Garowe Online by phone. Garowe Online

Trial of DR Congo Ex-leader Kabila to Begin Friday: Court
The trial of Democratic Republic of Congo’s former leader Joseph Kabila on charges including treason will open on Friday in Kinshasa, according to a court document seen by AFP on Thursday. A military court will hear the trial of Kabila on charges including homicide, treason and torture linked to his alleged support for the M23 anti-government militia, the charge sheet said. Other charges include “taking part in an insurrection movement”, “crime against the peace and safety of humanity” and “forcible occupation of the city of Goma”. Kabila arrived in May in Goma, seized by the M23 in January before it and the government in July signed a pledge to seek a permanent ceasefire. His successor as president, Felix Tshisekedi, accuses Kabila of being the brains behind the armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda’s help. Kabila, 54, took power following his father Laurent Kabila’s assassination in 2001 and governed DRC until 2019, before leaving the country in 2023. He has branded his successor’s government a “dictatorship” and has been accused by a witness in the case of seeking to remove Tshisekedi from office. AFP

11 Killed in Fresh Eastern DRC Clashes: Local Sources
Clashes Thursday between the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group and Congolese militia in troubled eastern DR Congo killed 11 people just days after a ceasefire, local sources said. The M23 has taken over large areas of eastern DRC since its resurgence in 2021. It seized control of the key regional cities of Goma and Bukavu in January and February following a lightning offensive. Only last weekend in Qatar, the M23 and the Kinshasa government signed a declaration of principles including a commitment to a permanent ceasefire. However, Thursday saw clashes in the town of Luke, in Masisi territory, around 150 kilometres (92 miles) from Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, residents contacted by telephone told AFP. “We have a death toll of 11, including eight civilians … and 21 injured, treated in local health facilities,” a health source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They could not be evacuated to Kiningi or central Masisi as the fighting continues,” the source added, saying the Luke health centre, the largest in the region, “is destroyed.” …Alexandre Kipanda Mungo, chief of the Banyungu district which includes Luke, accused the M23 of being behind the attacks. “The M23 have not abandoned war,” added Mungo, accusing the group of having attacked Luke, Nyamabako and other localities in the area. AFP

Rwanda’s Kagame Appoints Central Banker as New Prime Minister
President Paul Kagame has replaced Rwanda’s long-serving prime minister, naming the deputy governor of the central bank, who was once pardoned for a corruption conviction, to the role responsible for the government’s day-to-day operations. The appointment of Justin Nsengiyumva, the former prime secretary at the education ministry who holds a PhD in economics from the University of Leicester, was announced by the office of the government spokesperson in a post on X late on Wednesday. The post did not say why the incumbent, Edouard Ngirente, was dropped…Kagame appointed Nsengiyumva as deputy governor at the National Bank of Rwanda earlier this year. Nsengiyumva’s official biography says he has worked for the British government, including as senior economist for the Office of Rail and Road. Prior to his work in the UK, Nsengiyumva served as permanent secretary at Rwanda’s education ministry. In 2008, while serving in that role, he was arrested for alleged corruption and later convicted, according to the state-owned New Times newspaper. Reuters

Amnesty Names Jailed Eswatini MPs Prisoners of Conscience
Amnesty International on Friday declared two pro-democracy lawmakers jailed in Eswatini as prisoners of conscience and called for their unconditional release. Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were arrested in July 2021 during a wave of protests in Africa’s last absolute monarchy that were violently quashed by police, leaving dozens dead. They were sentenced last year to respectively 25 and 18 years in jail…”The imprisonment of MPs simply for speaking out is a red line that must never be crossed,” Amnesty said in a statement. Their detention “shows Eswatini’s deepening climate of repression and misuse of the justice system to punish those who dare criticise the government,” it said, calling on authorities to “quash their convictions” and “unconditionally release them”. Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and landlocked by neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986. The 57-year-old ruler has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle and has faced repeated accusations of human rights violations. AFP

Google Commits $37 Million to AI Development in Africa
Google on Thursday unveiled a $37 million package to accelerate artificial intelligence development across Africa, pledging support for local AI research and projects ranging from crop monitoring to adapting technology for the continent’s languages. The commitment from the US tech giant also included efforts to back startups in the health and education sectors. “Africa is home to some of the most important and inspiring work in AI today,” said James Manyika, a senior vice president at the company, speaking during the launch of an “AI community centre” in Ghana’s capital, Accra. The centre will serve as a hub for training, collaboration and experimentation, including programming for AI literacy. Among the flagship initiatives unveiled is the AI Collaborative for Food Security, meant to connect researchers and non-profits to develop tools to improve early hunger detection, crop resilience and decision-making for smallholder farmers…Google is also set to launch a financing platform to back AI-driven startups in the agriculture, health and education sectors…Google also announced $3 million in funding for Masakhane, a tech collective advancing AI tools in more than 40 African languages. AFP