Ghana’s Ex-leader Is Declared the Presidential Election Winner and Pledges ‘Reset’ in a Bad Economy
Ghana’s former leader John Dramani Mahama was declared the winner of the presidential election on Monday…Previously president of the West African nation between 2012 and 2017, the 65-year-old Mahama received 56.5% of votes cast, or 6.3 million votes, the electoral commission said. His main opponent from the current governing party, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat on Sunday and got 41%, or 4.6 million votes. Electoral commissioner Jean Mensa said vote-counting continued in nine constituencies but would not change the final result. Turnout was just over 60%…The election for both the president and members of parliament was seen as a litmus test for democracy in a region shaken by extremist violence and coups. West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, called the election generally peaceful, not unusual for Ghana. AP
Attack On Convoy In Jihadist-plagued West Niger Kills 21
Gunmen killed 21 civilians in an attack on a goods convoy in western Niger near the borders with fellow conflict-wracked Sahel states Mali and Burkina Faso, local sources told AFP on Saturday. The frontier lands between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have long been a hideout for jihadists linked to the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, who have waged a bloody insurgent war against the government…In the past, the country’s drivers were able to take the safer route through to the ports of neighbouring Benin…Tera, which has become the epicentre of jihadist violence in Niger, is an obligatory crossing point for the thousands of lorries carrying goods from Togo’s Atlantic port of Lome to landlocked Niger. But since a diplomatic spat triggered by the July 2023 coup that overthrew Niger’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum, “our country was forced to turn towards the port of Togo”, the transport union explained. That has forced the truckers to divert their route through the high-risk areas of Burkina Faso and Niger. AFP
Senegal ‘Making Progress’ Convincing Military Regimes in Sahel to Remain with Ecowas
In January this year, [Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger] announced they were leaving the Economic Community of West African States…The trio have formed the Alliance of Sahel States after severing ties with France and pivoting towards Russia. In July, Ecowas appointed Senegal’s [President Bassirou Diomaye Faye] as a “facilitator” to try to get them to remain in the bloc. “I am making progress with this mission,” Faye said on Sunday at the Doha Forum for political dialogue in Qatar. “There is nothing today to prevent the Alliance of Sahel States from being maintained, since it is already there and is a response to the security situation facing these countries in particular,” he said. “At the same time, this should not, in my view, mean the disintegration of Ecowas”, he added…Faye spoke ahead of an Ecowas summit scheduled for next Sunday, according to an official from the regional bloc. RFI
Chinese Gold Mining Threatens a Protected UN Heritage Site in Congo
The original boundaries of [the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, an endangered World Heritage site] were established three decades ago, by Congo’s government and encompassed the area where [Kimia Mining, a Chinese company] now mines. But over the years under opaque circumstances, the boundaries shrunk, allowing the company to operate inside the plush forest. The reserve was already on the endangered list, amid threats of conflict and wildlife trafficking. Now the rapid expansion of the Chinese mines threatens to further degrade the forest and the communities living within. Residents and wildlife experts say the mining’s polluting the rivers and soil, decimating trees and swelling the population, increasing poaching, with little accountability…Spanning more than 13,000 square kilometers, the reserve became a protected site in 1996, due to its unique biodiversity and large number of threatened species, including its namesake, the okapi, a forest giraffe, of which it holds some 15% of the world’s remaining 30,000. It’s part of the Congo Basin rainforest — the world’s second-biggest — and a vital carbon sink that helps mitigate climate change. It also has vast mineral wealth such as gold and diamonds. AP
Airstrike on North Darfur Market Kills More than 100, Says Sudan Lawyers’ Group
A Sudanese military airstrike on a market in North Darfur killed more than 100 people on Monday, a pro-democracy lawyers’ group said on Tuesday, in a war marked by claims of atrocities on all sides. The Emergency Lawyers group said the strike also injured hundreds in Kabkabiya, a town about 110 miles (180km) west of El Fasher, the state capital that has been under siege from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May…The group flagged another incident in North Kordofan state in which a drone that had crashed on 26 November exploded on Monday evening, killing six people…The army and the RSF have been accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians and deliberately bombing residential areas…The group also urged the UN and the African Union to deploy a mission to protect civilians in Sudan. The Guardian
Oluyede Officially Assumes Command as Nigeria’s 24th Army Chief
The Nigerian Army on Monday performed a symbolic lowering and hoisting of command flag at Army Headquarters as Olufemi Oluyede, a lieutenant general, assumed command as the 24th chief of army staff (COAS). Mr Oluyede was appointed by President Bola Tinubu on 30 October in acting capacity following the death of his predecessor, Taoreed Lagbaja, a lieutenant general…The symbolic lowering and hoisting of the command flag which signifies the beginning of his tenure, came after the Senate and House of Representatives confirmed his appointment. Until his appointment, Mr Oluyede served as the 56th Commander of the elite Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army, based in Jaji, Kaduna. News Agency of Nigeria
South Sudan: Kiir Fires Army Chief, IGP, and Central Bank Governor
South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Monday night made significant changes in the security sector and Bank of South Sudan leadership. In a series of decrees read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), Gen. Santino Deng Wol was relieved as Chief of Defense Forces and appointed Undersecretary in the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs…Gen. Paul Nang Majok was appointed as the new Chief of Defense Forces. Atak Santino Majak was sacked as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Another decree fired Gen. Atem Marol Biar as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and another appointed Gen. Abraham Peter Manyuat as his replacement. At the Central Bank, Garang Alic was relieved as Governor of the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS), and Johnny Ohisa Damian who served in the position before was reappointed as the new Governor of the Bank of South Sudan. Kiir also dismissed Garang Majak as the first undersecretary of the finance ministry and appointed Arop Nuoi Arop in his place. Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan: Gen. Cirillo’s NAS Says It Will Not Join Tumaini Initiative Talks
The rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka has reiterated that they will never take part in the ongoing Tumaini Initiative peace talks mediated by the Government of Kenya between the Government of South Sudan and holdout opposition groups. In December 2023, President Salva Kiir requested President William Ruto of Kenya to take over the mediation lead from the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, Italy, saying that the talks with the holdout opposition group had taken long without reaching a solution. The talks started in Nairobi on 9 May but halted in July after representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar walked out but resumed last week after a newly constituted government delegation arrived in Nairobi. Samuel Suba, the spokesperson of the rebel outfit, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that their position has not changed regarding the Tumaini Initiative peace talks underway in Nairobi. “Our stand has been clear that those talks are just a renewal of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement which we did not agree to or sign because it did not address solutions for South Sudan to attain genuine peace.” Radio Tamazuj
UN Chief to Visit South Africa as It Steps up to Helm G20
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will head to South Africa on Wednesday, visiting the first African nation to chair the G20 economic bloc. “The secretary-general will underscore that with South Africa taking the G20 helm and being the first African country to preside over the G20, there is a significant opportunity for the G20 to help advance Africa’s priorities,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric [said]…During his one-day visit, Guterres is scheduled to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as other South African senior officials…Guterres on Thursday will visit neighboring Lesotho, where he will meet with King Letsie III, the prime minister, and address the parliament. The U.N. chief plans to highlight the effects of climate change in the country, which is surrounded on all sides by South Africa. VOA
Prosecutors Ask ICC to Convict Central African Republic Militia Leaders
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court asked judges on Monday to find two men accused of leading Christian-dominated militias in attacks on Muslims in Central African Republic in 2013 and 2014 guilty of all the charges against them. In their closing arguments, prosecutors said they had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom helped to lead a campaign of violence against Muslim civilians and that the two suspects were guilty of all the war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against them. Both men pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial in 2021. Reuters
Lonely Graves, Scattered Bones: The Stark Reality of One of the Most Overlooked and Fastest-growing Migration Routes
[The “eastern corridor” migration route from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia] is a perilous journey through some of the most punishing terrain anywhere. To reach Djibouti, the migrants must traverse vast expanses of desert and fields of sharp volcanic rock, with scant water and temperatures that can reach 50C (122F) in the summer. After the sea crossing, they must negotiate the war zone of Yemen. Along the way, they are preyed upon by smugglers, bandits and militiamen. Migrants who cannot pay their traffickers are routinely detained and tortured until their families stump up money for their release. Sexual violence against women, who make up 21% of the migrants, is common. If they make it to the Saudi border, the migrants face attacks from Saudi border guards. IOM has recorded about 1,400 drownings since 2014. This is likely to be only a fraction of the total. The Guardian
Mozambique Political Unrest Disrupts Eswatini Sugar Exports
Eswatini’s sugar industry depends heavily on a terminal at the port of Maputo, Mozambique, to send its raw sugar to the European Union and the United States. This terminal, jointly owned by Eswatini, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, has been vital for the country’s sugar industry since the mid-1990s. Nontobeko Mabuza, with the Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA), warned that the unrest in Mozambique poses a grave threat to Eswatini’s exports to regional and European markets…”For consistency and safe delivery, our customers might choose to migrate to using the Durban port as the port from which we ship. This would, however, strain the transport infrastructure and potentially…come at an additional cost, and it would possibly also cause longer turnaround times as the shipments are diverted” from Mozambique to South Africa [Mabuza said].
‘It Is Ambitious, but Ambition Builds the World’: Can the Gambia’s Bold Plan to Cut Plastic Pollution Work?
The Gambia has long acknowledged it has a problem with plastic. For nearly a decade, it has attempted to solve it through legislation, including an anti-littering law in 2007 and a ban on plastic bags in 2015. Now, despite the failure of international plans to cut plastics pollution, the Gambia is redoubling its efforts. In October, the country released a bold roadmap to eliminate plastic over the next decade. The National Action Plan – a strategy designed with the UK organisation Common Seas – aims to target the entire lifecycle of plastics to reduce plastic waste by 86% through improvements to infrastructure, stricter enforcement of new and existing legislation, and by raising public awareness…Key measures in the new plan include a phased ban on single-use plastic bottles, improved access to drinking water to reduce reliance on disposable water bags, and stricter enforcement of the plastic bag ban. The Guardian
Young Francophone Africans Pack Out Poetry Slams as Region’s Woes Pile Up
These days, millions of young people across west and central Africa are experiencing renewed disenchantment, their lives buffeted by a series of coups since 2020 as well as a cost of living crisis, rising unemployment, and in some countries, the ever-present threat posed by jihadist groups…Recently, however, poetry has again provided succour. “At some point, there was no space for young people to express themselves,” said Safurat Balogun, the information director at the Goethe Institut in Abidjan…Since 2013, the organisation has been running slams in four languages across eight African countries as part of its Spoken Word Project…There is also the In the Name of Slam Collective, which organises, among other things, an inter-school league and Babi Slam. Named as a homage to Abidjan’s nickname, the latter is now in its ninth year. Aminata “Aimee Slam” Bamba, one of its founding members, said no subject was taboo. The Guardian