Southern African Leaders Gather For Talks On DR Congo Crisis
Leaders and ministers from the southern African regional group SADC gathered in the Zimbabwe capital Friday ahead of a summit on the conflict in eastern DR Congo, which has raised concerns for regional security. The extraordinary session of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was called after the Rwanda-backed armed group M23 captured most of the city of Goma in the DRC’s mineral-rich east this week in an escalation of violence spanning decades. Thirteen soldiers from South Africa and three from Malawi have been killed in the conflict since last Friday, most of them part of a SADC peacekeeping mission deployed to the area in 2023…The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) deployed to the eastern DRC in December 2023 to restore peace and security amid growing instability. It is made up of around 2,900 troops from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania. AFP
Rwanda-backed Rebels in Eastern Congo Say They Plan to Take Their Fight to the Capital
Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, while Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion and his defense minister rejected calls for talks. In a video message, Congo’s Defense Minister Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita said he has directed plans for any dialogue with the rebels to “be completely burned immediately.”…At a briefing where they sought to assert their control over the eastern city of Goma and surrounding territory in the neighboring South Kivu province, the M23 rebels said they would be open to dialogue with the government, also proposed by the east African regional bloc of which Rwanda is a member. Their motive, however, is to gain political power, Corneille Nangaa, one of the political leaders of M23, said during the briefing. “We want to go to Kinshasa, take power and lead the country,” Nangaa said. AP
France Hands over Last Military Base in Chad
France handed over its last military base in Chad to local authorities on Thursday, two months after the former French colony in central Africa broke off its defense cooperation agreement with Paris. Chad has been a key counterterrorism force in the region and was one of the last countries in which France maintained a large military presence…In a statement on Thursday, Chad’s army announced the French military’s handover to local authorities of the Sergent Adji Kossei air base in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. France had already handed over its two other military bases — Faya in the north and Abeche in the east of the country — in late December and early January. The French army had around 1,000 personnel in Chad…Chadian authorities have said that the end of the defense agreement in no way calls into question the countries’ historical ties and that it wants to maintain relations with France in other areas of common interest. AP
From Wagner to Africa Corps: Mali’s Leaders Play Russian Roulette
There are now 80 Africa Corps emissaries – calling themselves the “precursors” – in the Malian capital. They have begun conducting audits within the army and ministries, in preparation for the deployment of several hundred civilian and military operators. Their objective is to fully replace Wagner and its 2,000 men deployed in Mali…Goïta, who is protected by Wagner’s special forces, accepted the arrival of the Africa Corps when the option was presented to him during a visit by Russian officials to Bamako in September 2023…By the time Prigozhin’s mercenaries rebelled against Moscow in June 2023, the Wagner company, then spearheading Russian policy in Africa, had become an unmanageable hydra for the Kremlin. It had to be dismantled and replaced by a less autonomous structure under the rigid control of the GRU. By September 2023, the project had begun to take shape. Africa Corps set out to recruit 20,000 men to recover the sprawling influence network built up by Prigozhin in Africa, while retaining the formula that had made it so successful: offering the continent’s leaders a comprehensive package comprising security, information, economic and political components. The Africa Report
A French Journalist Recounts 711 Days of Captivity as a Hostage of Islamic Extremists in Mali
[A]s Islamic extremists upended the region, Olivier Dubois, a French journalist, secured a rare interview with a leader of JNIM, an al-Qaida’s affiliate in the Sahel…En route to the interview in Gao, northern Mali, in April 2021, Dubois, a correspondent for Libération and Jeune Afrique publications, was kidnapped. He spent 711 days in desert captivity, sleeping chained to a tree, eating dried goat meat and plotting his escape. Nearly two years after his release, he recounts his ordeal in a book released Thursday in France that draws heavily on notes Dubois secretly kept during his captivity, written on any scrap of paper he could find. “One of the main factors that helped me resist and survive was telling myself that I am a journalist,” Dubois told The Associated Press in the first interview for English-language media since his release…Now that his book — “Prisonnier du désert, 711 jours aux mains d’Al-Qaïda,” which translates in English into “Prisoner of the desert, 711 days in the hands of Al-Qaida” — is out, Dubois said he was hoping he was ready to go back to journalism and move on. AP
‘There’s No Alternative to Civil Rule’ – Nigeria’s Former Military Head of State
Former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, has urged Nigerians, especially political parties, to keep watering and nurturing the tree of democracy, saying “there is no alternative to civil rule’’. Mr Abubakar, a retired general, spoke at the launch of a book titled “100 Years of Political Parties Evolution in Nigeria, 1923 – 2023’’ by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on Thursday in Abuja…Mr Abubakar was military head of state for 11 months between 1998 and 1999 when he handed over to the civilian administration of Olusegun Obasanjo… “Our democracy has been tested and shaken by reactionary forces and survived. It is a testament to citizens’ belief and resilience in representative governance,’’ he said…He said that as Nigeria continued the ongoing Constitution and Electoral Act amendments to correct obvious flaws in the electoral process, it was important to imbibe democratic ideals, ethics and values, and the nation would witness sustainable democracy and development. News Agency of Nigeria
2 Associates of Benin’s President Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Coup Plot
Two associates of Benin’s president have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, following their arrest last year on suspicion of plotting a coup in the small West African country. Olivier Boko, a businessman and longtime friend of President Patrice Talon, and Oswald Homeky, a former sports minister, were found guilty of “conspiracy against state security” and “corruption of a public official” by the court for financial crimes and terrorism in the capital, Cotonou…Both men were arrested in September after being accused of bribing the commander in charge of the president’s security to carry out a coup…Boko, often seen as Talon’s “right-hand man,” was accused of being the mastermind behind the coup attempt and was arrested separately. Several politicians, including Homeky, had expressed support for Boko’s potential run in the country’s 2026 presidential election…While Benin has been among the most stable democracies in Africa, opposition leaders and human rights organizations have accused Talon of using the justice system to attack his political opponents after taking office in 2016 and changing electoral rules to enable him to consolidate power in 2021. AP
Hospital Nurse in Uganda Dies in Country’s First Ebola Outbreak in 2 Years
A nurse in Uganda has died of Ebola in the first recorded fatality since the country’s last outbreak of the disease ended in early 2023, a health official said Thursday. The 32-year-old male nurse was an employee of Mulago Hospital, the main referral facility in the capital, Kampala…The man died on Wednesday and the Sudan strain of Ebola was confirmed following postmortem tests, Atwine said…Tracing contacts is key to stemming the spread of Ebola, and there are no approved vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola. Uganda’s last outbreak, discovered in September 2022, killed at least 55 people before it was declared over in January 2023…Emmanuel Batiibwe, a physician who helped lead Uganda’s efforts to stop the country’s 2022 outbreak, told The Associated Press that he expected a swift response in tracing all possible Ebola contacts in Kampala and elsewhere…“We have the means of responding quickly now.” AP
Sudanese Political Talks End Without Deal on Broad National Front
Sudanese political factions meeting in Nairobi this week failed to reach a concrete agreement on forming a broad national front encompassing parties and armed movements, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), sources told Sudan Tribune. The talks, convened at the SLM’s invitation, highlighted deep divisions among the groups, particularly over the role of civil society organizations and the relationship between religion and the state…The stalled talks underscore the challenges facing efforts to forge a united civilian front to restore a transition to democratic rule in Sudan. Parallel efforts are underway to broaden the political base, with meetings recently held in Cairo between Tagadum members, the Democratic Bloc, and Mubarak al-Fad ii, head of the National Reconciliation Alliance, to explore a wider round-table conference. Sudan Tribune
Sudan War Displaces Nearly 1 Million People to Chad
Almost one million people have fled into neighboring Chad in the nearly two years since war broke out in Sudan, a consortium of international agencies has said. The 23 organizations said in a press release that those displaced included more than 720,000 Sudanese and more than 220,000 Chadians who returned home because of the conflict. The release said that nine out of 10 people forced into displacement were women and children and many had endured terrible acts of violence, including torture, rape and sexual slavery…“Most refugees cross the border with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and an abundance of harrowing stories,” the press release quotes Alix Camus, President of the INGO Forum and country director of Acted, which supports the management of the transit site in Adré, near the border…Chad hosted around a third of newly displaced Sudanese refugees in 2024, bringing the world’s largest displacement crisis to one of the world’s poorest countries. Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan: UJOSS Wants Detained Journalist Faris Set Free
The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) says it is deeply concerned about the disappearance of freelance journalist Adil Faris on January 23. Faris is the former Managing Director of the then South Sudan Television (SSTV), now SSBC. UJOSS says preliminary information suggests that Faris was in the custody of the National Security Service (NSS) for undisclosed reasons…UJOSS also urges immediate dialogue with NSS to address the concerns, with the Media Authority as a mediator. The union says constructive engagement will ensure journalists’ rights are upheld while addressing security concerns lawfully…Faris, and Emmanuel Monchol Akop, the Editor in Chief of the Dawn Newspaper, were both held in communicado on January 23 and November 28, 2024, respectively. The UJOSS’ preliminary investigations suggest the duo are both held at the NSS detention facility. Radio Tamazuj
Fact-checkers in Ethiopia Take on Disinformation amid Rising Tensions
[M]oves by Meta to end some fact-checking tools such as CrowdTangle, and its decision in January to end a Facebook fact-check program in the U.S., have experts concerned about how to contain the spread of hate speech and disinformation. In Ethiopia, some specialists are already seeking extra training to be able to better spot and debunk false or misleading content…Since its launch, [Ethiopia-based] HaqCheck has identified and debunked thousands of misleading posts shared on social media and has made it easier for the public to verify information, said Kirubel Tesfaye, lead fact-checker at HaqCheck…Much of the misinformation Kirubel and his team deal with involves internal conflicts, border disputes, and the diplomatic tension between Ethiopia and Somalia over a port deal with Somaliland…Beyond debunking false information, the group trains journalists, communication experts and academics. VOA
South Africa and Malaysia to Launch Campaign to Protect Justice
South Africa and Malaysia will launch a campaign to protect and uphold the rulings of the international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC) in the face of what they describe as defiance of ICJ orders and attempts by US Congress to hit the ICC through the use of sanctions. The aim of the nine-nation Hague Group – which includes Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Senegal and Namibia – is to defend the institutions and rulings of the international legal order. The move comes as both the ICC and ICJ face unprecedented challenges to their authority in cases relating to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and people-smuggling in the Mediterranean. Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s international relations minister, said the campaign was aimed at ensuring compliance with international law and protecting the vulnerable. The Guardian