Uganda Opposition Figure in Hiding, Another Risks Death in Jail
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine told AFP Wednesday he was on the run following last week’s election, while another, Kizza Besigye, risks dying from illness in jail, his wife said. The east African country on January 15 re‑elected Yoweri Museveni for a seventh term as president — a result Wine denounced as “blatant theft”. The 81‑year‑old president, in power since 1986, maintains tight control over the electoral and security systems. … Wine, who was detained and tortured during the 2021 elections, took part in this month’s polls but went into hiding after a security raid on his home. … Another prominent opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, former personal doctor to Museveni and his political opponent for more than 25 years, was unable to take part in the vote. Abducted in November 2024 during a trip to Kenya, Besigye later resurfaced in Uganda, where he has repeatedly been refused bail pending trial. On Tuesday, his wife Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of the United Nations agency UNAIDS, told Ugandan media there was a “plot to kill” her ailing husband. AFP
After Presidential Election, Ugandan Police Detain a Key Ally of Opposition Figure Bobi Wine
Police on Thursday detained a key ally of opposition figure Bobi Wine, accusing him of participating in bouts of violence in a remote part of central Uganda during last week’s election. Muwanga Kivumbi, a lawmaker who is a deputy president of Wine’s National Unity Platform party, is likely to face criminal charges for his alleged role in violence in his constituency that left seven people dead, said police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke. Those seven people were killed by unidentified security personnel who fired at Kivumbi’s house in Butambala. Kivumbi spoke tearfully at the funerals of those killed, saying they were all victims of violence perpetrated by the armed forces. … The security forces were a constant presence throughout the campaign. Wine said that authorities followed him and harassed his supporters, often using tear gas against them. He campaigned in a flak jacket and helmet because of security fears. AP
More Than 160 Churchgoers Kidnapped in Twin Nigeria Attacks—Clergy
Armed gangs have kidnapped dozens of people attending two churches in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, according to local police. A senior church leader said more than 160 worshippers were abducted by gunmen during Sunday service. It is the latest mass kidnapping in Nigeria, where both Christians and Muslims have been targeted. Gangs, known locally as “bandits”, frequently carry out such attacks in northern and central parts of the country to get ransom payments. Describing Sunday’s attack, local police said gunmen armed with “sophisticated weapons” burst into the two churches in Kurmin Wali, a forest community in Afogo ward, at about 11:25 local time. BBC
Suspected Jihadist Attack Kills 31 Civilians in Niger
An armed attack has killed at least 31 civilians in western Niger near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali in a region rife with jihadist groups, local sources said Tuesday. The assailants struck on Sunday in a village lying in the Tillaberi region, located in the so-called tri-border area — a flashpoint zone where the frontiers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali converge. Jihadists have made the region a fiefdom, carrying out deadly attacks for nearly a decade. Tillaberi became the “deadliest region across central Sahel” in 2025, with more than 1,200 deaths, most of them civilians, according to ACLED, an NGO that monitors conflicts. … In September, the mayor of Gorouol, the local area where Bosiye is located, who had been appointed by the military authorities, was killed in an ambush. A week earlier, armed men on motorcycles had killed 22 villagers in Takoubatt, also in Tillaberi. Niger’s military leaders, who came to power in a 2023 coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence in the region. According to ACLED, jihadist violence killed nearly 2,000 people in 2025 in Niger. AFP
Jihadists Took Over Their Towns. Many Distrust Mali’s Rulers Just as Much.
At least 7,500 Malians have crossed into Mauritania on foot since the end of October, fleeing a jihadist insurgency and a state that can no longer protect them from the fighting. They joined more than 300,000 Malians who have escaped to this remote triangle of Mauritania’s Hodh Chargui region in the last decade, according to the United Nations refugee agency. … However, many Malians say they fear their own rulers as much as they fear the insurgents. The country’s current military government took power in a series of coups in 2020 and 2021, promising to crush JNIM and improve security. It ejected the French and United Nations forces that had once helped contain the insurgency, and in their place hired hundreds of soldiers from Russia’s Wagner Group and its successor, the Africa Corps. These new troops, however, have proved unable to force the jihadists to retreat; indeed, JNIM attacks on civilians increased. Meanwhile, Malian and Russian forces earned a fearsome reputation for executing civilians and displacing entire communities. CS Monitor
Drone Attacks Shock City in Central Sudan as War Inches Closer
Drone strikes have intensified in and around al-Obeid in central Sudan as the country’s devastating civil war closes in on the army-controlled city, causing significant civilian deaths in at least two cases, residents say. The city is one of Sudan’s most important and the capital of North Kordofan state, part of the wider Kordofan region that stands between the RSF’s Darfur stronghold and the army-controlled eastern half of the country. After the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) tightened their grip on the westernmost Darfur region in late October, they shifted their focus to Kordofan and drones have struck weekly in and around al-Obeid, residents say. At around the same time, the paramilitary’s ground forces began taking over towns and villages across the Kordofan region, while also besieging cities in South Kordofan state, according to residents. The force has not yet approached al-Obeid, where daily life has continued despite the looming threat and an exodus late last year as the war intensified. The army and allied forces have positioned themselves on the outskirts of the city. Reuters
Guinea-Bissau Junta Sets Election Date Following Last Year’s Coup
Guinea-Bissau’s military junta has set a date for new elections following its takeover late last year, according to a statement by the junta’s leader on Wednesday. In a presidential decree, Gen. Horta Inta-a said … the legislative and presidential elections would be held on Dec. 6. Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including a coup attempt last October. The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises. After the November coup, the military high command in the West African nation inaugurated former army chief of staff Inta-a as the head of the military government, which will oversee a one-year transition period. AP
South African Police Not Yet Able to Defeat Gangs, Minister Says
South Africa’s Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has said that the security forces are not yet able to defeat deadly criminal gangs, in a stark admission that underscores the scale of the country’s crime crisis. Gang violence, alongside robberies, accounts for many murders in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest homicide rates. Cachalia said gang violence had become increasingly complex, especially in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, requiring new strategies beyond traditional policing. … South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised nation, has long struggled with entrenched organised crime. Many people in South Africa own licensed firearms for personal protection, but there are many more illegal guns in circulation. … Despite the creation of an anti-gang unit in 2019, Cachalia said gangsters seemed to be winning the war. “Establishing gang units from time to time is an ad hoc response to a growing problem. I really don’t think that we should be approaching this matter in a point-scoring way.” BBC
Ivory Coast: Robert Beugré Mambé Reappointed as Prime Minister
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara reappointed Robert Beugré Mambé as the country’s prime minister on Wednesday. Mambé previously served as prime minister from 2023 until his resignation just two weeks ago, following Ivory Coast’s parliamentary elections in December. The ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace won 197 of the National Assembly’s 255 seats. Mambé himself was re-elected as representative of Songon. Robert Beugré Mambé has worked in public service for over 40 years. He served as the governor of the Abidjan district from 2011 to 2023 and was known as a discreet technocrat upon his nomination as head of government. While his first appointment came as a surprise to many observers in Ivory Coast, his return is less unexpected. Earlier this month, Alassane Ouattara praised Mambé and his ministers for their work. The Ivorian president chooses continuity after his own landslide victory in the October presidential election. Robert Beugré Mambé is expected to form a new government in the coming days. Africanews
Egyptian Activist Arrested Two Years After Presidential Pardon
Egyptian authorities arrested prominent activist and poet Ahmed Douma early on Tuesday, his lawyer said, more than two years after he was freed under a presidential pardon. Khaled Ali wrote on Facebook that Douma was “arrested from his home at dawn”, although the reason for his arrest was not immediately clear. Douma’s latest post on X criticised police practices and the treatment of prisoners. A leading figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak, Douma was questioned by the authorities five times last year over accusations linked to social media posts. In September, he was held and interrogated for several hours, before being charged by the State Security Prosecution with “spreading false news”. He was then released on bail of 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,040). The activist previously spent around a decade in prison after being convicted of taking part in a protest in 2011 and assaulting police officers. His initial 25‑year sentence was later reduced to 15 years, before he received a presidential pardon in August 2023. AFP
Botswana: Diamond Oversupply Imperils Country’s Economy
Botswana is the world’s second-largest diamond producer after Russia, and relies on the gems for about a third of its GDP. The southern African country held 12 million carats at the end of December, far above the 6.5 million government ceiling, the finance ministry said in its 2026/27 Budget Strategy Paper published on Tuesday. … The downturn has been compounded by softer buying in the United States and China, the world’s biggest diamond markets, where retailers have cut orders amid a shift towards cheaper lab‑grown stones. … “Compounding this situation is the decline in foreign reserves and government savings, which are further constraining fiscal space and exchange rate policy options.” Botswana, a country that is 70% desert, was lifted out of poverty after diamonds were discovered in the 1960s. It is now among several African governments and businesses seeking a stake in De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company. The Africa Report with AFP
Floods Kill Four as Tunisia Sees Heaviest Rain in Decades
Flooding in Tunisia has killed four people, authorities said Tuesday, as schools and businesses were forced to close after parts of the country experienced their heaviest rainfall in more than 70 years. All four deaths occurred in Moknine in the Monastir governorate of the North African country, where “two people were swept away by floodwaters, while a woman drowned in her home”, said Khalil Mechri, a civil defence spokesman. Abderazak Rahal, head of forecasting at the National Institute of Meteorology (INM), told AFP some Tunisian regions had not seen so much rain since 1950. … The latest rainfall has proved record-breaking, but Tunisian streets often flood after heavy downpours, largely because of the state of the country’s infrastructure. Drainage and stormwater networks are often old and poorly maintained, particularly in rapidly expanding urban areas, with waste sometimes clogging the system. Rapid urbanisation of some areas has also led to less rainwater being absorbed into the ground, increasing runoff. AFP