A Journalist Is Abducted in Guinea as Military Authorities Tighten Grip on Media
An investigative journalist was abducted by men in security forces uniforms in Guinea’s capital, his wife and his lawyer told reporters Wednesday, as the military regime continues to tighten its grip on independent media. Habib Marouane Kamara, the editor-in-chief of the online investigative outlet lerevelateur224.com, was headed to meet with a businessman and a friend in Conakry on Tuesday evening, his wife, Mariama Lamarana Diallo, told reporters Wednesday in the city…The men beat Kamara with batons until he fainted, and then picked him up and threw him in their truck, and drove off, Diallo said…Since coming to power, the military junta has been tightening its grip on the independent media, according to rights organizations. Social networks and private radio stations have been cut off, information sites have been interrupted or suspended for several months without explanation, and journalists have faced attacks and arrests. AP
Chad Launches Commission to End Military Pact with France
Chad, the last remaining country in the Sahel to play host French troops, has set up a special commission to oversee the dismantling of the military agreement between Paris and N’Djamena. The commission, chaired by Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abderaman Koulamallah, will be tasked with “officially notifying the French authorities of the denunciation of the military cooperation agreement … through diplomatic channels,” according to a decree signed by the country’s Prime Minister Allamaye Halina….Although no final date for withdrawal has been set, the agreement states that the deadline for termination is six months from notification. Chad announced its decision to terminate the security and defence agreements that have linked it with France since the end of the colonial era on 28 November – mere hours after a visit by France’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot…Chad is currently home to around 1,000 French troops at bases in Ndjamena, Abéché, and Faya-Largeau. RFI
Sudan: Nine Dead, 11 Wounded in Renewed North Darfur Air Raids
Reports indicate that at least nine people have been killed, and 11 others were wounded following an airstrike by the Sudanese Air Force in El Koma in North Darfur, [this week]. The attack is the latest in the series of an intensified campaign of aerial bombardments on the town, which has seen widespread devastation since the conflict began. Omda of El Koma, Ibrahim Idris Dumo, confirmed the bombing targeted civilian area…Civil society activist Saleh Harirein, speaking to Radio Dabanga, said the airstrike involved the deployment of eight barrel bombs across two neighbourhoods, causing extensive damage to homes and infrastructure. Last week, he told Radio Dabanga that the military’s ariel assaults in El Koma have “killed hundreds of people”. Dabanga
South Sudan Peace Talks Resume after 4 Months and the Sacking of a Government Delegation
After four months and the sacking of a government delegation, the stalled South Sudan peace talks resumed Wednesday in Kenya, the latest effort to end the conflict that has long crippled the African country’s economy. The talks are taking place between South Sudan’s government and opposition groups that were not part of the 2018 agreement that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people died. Dubbed Tumaini, which is Swahili for hope, the talks began in May and the sides signed a “commitment declaration” for peace. They subsequently stalled, after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir sacked the previous government delegation to the talks. A new team was then appointed to represent the government side but it was unable to travel to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on two subsequent occasions. No reasons were given for the sackings and travel delays. Last month, Kiir said the talks in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, were not meant to replace the 2018 peace deal but to address and integrate the concerns of holdout groups. While the 2018 peace agreement is yet to be fully implemented, South Sudan has postponed elections, scheduled for December 2024 to 2026. The elections are to be the first in South Sudan since its independence in 2011. AP
Former Ethiopia State Minister Released after Rearrest
Ethiopia’s former state minister for peace was released from jail Thursday, a day after he was rearrested by security forces just minutes after a court cleared him to be freed on bail. Taye Dendea was taken by security forces wearing police uniforms shortly after he walked out of prison Wednesday, according to his family. Taye’s wife, Sintayehu Alemayehu, told VOA’s Horn of Africa Service that he was released a second time Thursday…Taye’s original criticism included blaming the government for the failure of peace talks with the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, in Tanzania last year. VOA
Devastating Floods Worsen Humanitarian Crises in Niger Republic
Disastrous floods have aggravated the humanitarian crisis in the Niger Republic, with residents losing homes and families. On Dec. 2, the floods ravaged the Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, and Tillaberi regions, submerging towns and villages underwater…[H]umanitarian organisations have collaborated to distribute emergency kits such as bedsheets, kitchen utensils, mosquito nets and toiletries to the families affected by the floods…A UNICEF official, who does not want to be described by name, added that “the floods in Niger have brought to the open the vulnerability of communities faced with climatic shocks”. HumAngle
Nigeria: Multiple Bomb Blast Rocks Zamfara Communities Again
At least two explosive devices believed to have been planted by bandits went off at separate locations in the Dansadau District of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Two explosions occurred on the road between Dansadau and Malamawa and another on Malele Road, all in the Dansadau district. A resident, Nuhu Babangida, said passengers in a Canter Truck going to the Dansadau weekly market on Friday escaped death after the truck, loaded with grains, ignited the bomb. Mr Babangida said the explosions on Malamawa and Malele roads went off simultaneously but recorded no casualties. This was the third explosion in five days in the Dansadau Emirate, occurring on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. PREMIUM TIMES reported how at least 12 people were reportedly killed Wednesday morning after an explosive blew off a bridge at Tashar Sahabi. Premium Times
Cameroon Truck Drivers Ask Military to Protect Goods Destined for CAR
Road transport has failed to fully resume between Cameroon and the landlocked Central African Republic after a top-level crisis meeting this week to reopen borders sealed by Cameroon following escalating violence in C.A.R. Hundreds of truck drivers say they will cross into C.A.R. when government troops protect them from rebels. Several hundred truck drivers who left Cameroon’s Douala seaport for Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, say they are stranded in Garoua-Boulai, a town on Cameroon’s eastern border with C.A.R…One of the stranded truck drivers, 49-year-old Kum Innocent, said all of the drivers who have been in Garoua-Boulai for over two weeks have agreed to stop shipping goods and humanitarian assistance into C.A.R. because their lives are regularly threatened by armed gangs operating there…Cameroonian truck drivers say they want an immediate release of their kidnapped peers before they resume the shipment of goods to C.A.R. VOA
Kenyan Police in Haiti Submit Resignations over Pay Delays
Nearly 20 of the roughly 400 Kenyan police officers serving in Haiti on a U.N.-backed anti-gang force have submitted letters of resignation from the mission over the past two months because of pay delays and poor conditions, three officers told Reuters…Kenya has deployed about 400 officers since June to lead the MSS, which is meant to comprise around 2,500 personnel from about 10 countries, but the force has been hobbled by funding and staffing shortfalls…The three officers told Reuters that colleagues began to submit letters of resignation in October after trying to resign verbally and being told to put their requests in writing…Among them were at least five senior officers, including a unit commander, who was the first to submit a letter in October, they said. Reuters
Prince Johnson, 72, Warlord Who Executed Liberia’s President, Dies
Prince Johnson, a former warlord who calmly sipped a Budweiser and had a woman fanning him as he watched his soldiers mutilate and murder Liberia’s president, Samuel K. Doe, died on Nov. 28 in a suburb of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia…Though a 2009 government report highlighting Mr. Johnson’s atrocities in Liberia’s civil wars urged that he be brought to justice, he was never prosecuted. Instead, elected to the Senate in 2005 from his native Nimba County, he held office until his death and acted as a power broker in presidential elections…Mr. Johnson’s name was the first on Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s list of “notorious perpetrators” during the country’s two civil wars…His crimes, according to the commission, included killing, extortion, massacre, destruction of property, forced recruitment, assault, abduction, torture, forced labor and rape. The New York Times
Sierra Leone Begins Nationwide Rollout of Ebola Vaccine a Decade after Deadly Outbreak
Authorities in Sierra Leone on Thursday started a nationwide rollout of the single-dose Ebola vaccine, the first such campaign in West Africa where a deadly outbreak 10 years ago resulted in the death of thousands. The 2014 Ebola outbreak – the deadliest in history – was primarily in West Africa but affected Sierra Leone the most, with nearly 4,000 deaths out of the more than 11,000 recorded globally. The country also lost 7% of its healthcare workforce to the outbreak. The nationwide vaccine campaign, implemented by the government in partnership with the global vaccine alliance Gavi, the World Health Organization and the United Nations children’s agency, will target 20,000 frontline workers across the country, officials said…There had been no approved vaccine at the time of the 2014 outbreak that recorded up to 28,000 cases, starting in Guinea before spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, the other two countries affected the most. AP
Ivory Coast Turns to World Bank to Replace Costly Debt
The World Bank will underwrite a loan for Ivory Coast to replace costly bonds less than a year after the world’s biggest cocoa producer paid high rates to tap markets, as African countries struggle to escape expensive debt burdens. The west African nation will use cheap financing to buy back close to €400mn in bonds that will be up for repayment over the next few years and put the savings into public spending in the first such “swap” backed by the World Bank, the institution said on Thursday. “Debt for development” or “debt for nature” swaps — where savings are ploughed into environmental conservation — have swept markets for the bonds of the world’s poorest countries this year, as states are turning to financial engineering to contain a surge in borrowing costs without taking on more debt from official lenders. Financial Times
Ivory Coast’s Beloved Staple Food Gains UN Cultural Heritage Status
Ivory Coast’s beloved staple, attiéké – made from fermented cassava flour – has officially been added to Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage. Attiéké, pronounced atchekay, is a kind of couscous made from ground cassava roots. It is so well-loved that many people have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…Ivory Coast’s Unesco delegate, Ramata Ly-Bakayoko, told the 19th session on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Paraguay, that attiéké was “deeply rooted in the daily lives of its communities”…But it is more than just a meal, it is some people’s livelihood and a pathway to financial autonomy for many women. Attiéké is traditionally made by women and girls. The process can take a few days as there are many steps rooted in tradition, and the skills it takes to make attiéké have also been added to the Unesco heritage list…The Unesco list highlights intangible cultural heritage that are at risk, emphasising the need to protect and preserve traditional practices. The inclusion of attiéké highlights its importance to humanity as a collective, Unesco says. BBC