Ahead of Election, Uganda’s Security Forces Are Accused of Using Violence against the Opposition
The Ugandan presidential candidate known as Bobi Wine wears a flak jacket and helmet while campaigning to protect himself from gunfire. … Wine is challenging President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986 by repeatedly rewriting the rules to stay in power. Term and age limits have been scrapped, rivals jailed or sidelined, and state security forces are a constant presence at opposition rallies as Museveni seeks a seventh term in elections on Jan. 15. Wine, a musician-turned-politician whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, faced similar setbacks in 2021, when he first ran for president. He was often roughed up by the police, clothes ripped from his body, and dozens of his supporters were jailed. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, he charged that this time “the military has largely taken over the election” and that at least three of his supporters have been killed in violent campaign events. … Security forces, notably the military, have repeatedly broken up Wine’s campaign rallies, sending his supporters scampering into ditches and swamps. AP
Ugandan Activist’s Detention Sparks Regional Outcry
Civic groups across East Africa have condemned Uganda’s continued detention of activist Dr Sarah Bireete, calling on the courts to grant her bail and warning that the case points to a shrinking civic space ahead of general elections. In a joint statement, the groups said the detention of Dr Bireete, President of the East African Civil Society Organisations’ Forum (EACSOF), violated her civic rights as Uganda heads to the polls on January 15. Dr Bireete, a prominent Ugandan human rights defender, was remanded for 20 days by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on January 3 to allow prosecutors time to respond to her bail application, despite the charges against her being bailable. She is being held at Luzira Prison. EACSOF expressed concern over the court’s decision, arguing that prolonged pre-trial detention in a bailable matter cannot be treated as a routine procedural step. … Prosecutors accuse her of unlawfully obtaining or disclosing voters’ data, contrary to Uganda’s Data Protection and Privacy Act. …Dr Bireete has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. Her lawyers argue that the charges are being used to criminalise legitimate civil society work, including election observation, voter education and public-interest data verification. … Dr Bireete is a governance expert and heads the Centre for Constitutional Governance, a Kampala-based organisation focused on electoral integrity, constitutionalism and accountability. The East African
Guinea’s Doumbouya to Be Sworn in as President Jan 17
Guinea’s junta leader Mamady Doumbouya will be sworn in as president on January 17 following his electoral victory last month, the presidency announced Tuesday on social media. Doumbouya, who has not been seen publicly since voting in the election, will be inaugurated at the General Lansana Conte Stadium on the outskirts of the capital Conakry, according to the Facebook post. Although he had initially pledged not to run for president after seizing power four years ago, Doumbouya ultimately stood for election in a race in which all main opposition leaders were barred. Guinea’s Supreme Court validated Doumbouya’s victory on Sunday, crediting him with 86.7 percent of the vote. … In September 2021, Doumbouya led a coup to topple Guinea’s first freely elected president, Alpha Conde. During his time as junta leader, he has cracked down on civil liberties and banned protests, while opponents have been arrested, put on trial or driven into exile. AFP
Guinea Ex-security Chief Convicted over 2009 Massacre Dies
A key figure convicted of crimes against humanity for a 2009 stadium massacre in Guinea has died, authorities said Tuesday. Claude Pivi was a former colonel and minister in charge of security under the West African nation’s then-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara. Pivi, also known as Coplan, was convicted in absentia in 2004 for his role in a massacre at a stadium in the capital Conakry where at least 156 people were killed. He died in custody in a Conakry hospital on Tuesday from complications related to diabetes, the public prosecutor’s office said. Tens of thousands of people marched in Conakry in September 2009 to protest against the Camara-led junta that had seized power in a coup the year before. At least 156 people were killed by gunfire, knives, machetes or bayonets in the stadium massacre, according to a UN-mandated international commission of inquiry. Hundreds more were wounded and at least 109 women were raped, in what is considered one of the darkest pages in Guinean history. AFP
Re-elected President of Central African Republic Invites Russia’s Putin to Visit, TASS Says
The newly re-elected president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera, has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit his country, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday. Moscow has become a key ally of Touadera in recent years, with CAR in 2018 becoming the first West and Central African nation to bring in Russia’s Wagner mercenaries as the chronically unstable nation sought to fend off several rebel groups. … In a video interview with TASS, Touadera called Putin a “great leader” and said the Kremlin chief was “very attentive” to relations with Bangui. Commenting on preliminary election results showing Touadera in the lead, the Wagner Group wrote on its Telegram channel: “We have no doubt that the chosen course of maintaining order and peace will prevail.” Touadera’s victory is likely to further Russia’s interests in the country, including in gold and diamond mining. Reuters
Russia Used a Gaming App to Recruit South Africans for the Ukraine War
Two men in their 20s left South Africa in July 2024 after discussing plans to join the Russian military with an individual they met on Discord, a popular chat app used by video gamers. … The pair were regular users of Discord while playing the military simulation game Arma 3. … The men were put in contact with a recruiter who identified himself on Discord as “@Dash”. … They travelled to Russia via the United Arab Emirates on July 29 and, after arriving, met @Dash and signed one-year military contracts in early September. … In addition to being promised what they believed were lucrative contracts, the two South Africans were told they could qualify for Russian citizenship and receive educational opportunities after their service. Within weeks of signing military contracts near St. Petersburg, a medical certificate showed that one of the men had been killed while fighting in Ukraine. Business Insider Africa
Niger Frees Ex-Minister After Nearly a Year in Detention
Niger’s former oil minister, arrested by the country’s junta nearly a year ago, was released Tuesday, his family and a former aide told AFP. “Minister Mahaman Moustapha Barke was indeed released this Tuesday,” a family member said, requesting anonymity for security reasons. A former aide to Barke also confirmed his release “on Tuesday morning”. In 2023, Barke was appointed minister by the military junta that had seized power in a coup just weeks earlier. The reasons for his detention as well as the conditions of his release remain unknown. Niger’s military rulers, who are regularly accused of cracking down on opposition, media, and dissent, have never commented on the matter. AFP
Suspected Jihadists Attack Mali’s Morila Mine
Suspected jihadists attacked the Morila gold mine in Mali at the weekend, burning equipment and taking seven employees hostage before releasing them, an official from the mining ministry told Reuters on Monday. The attack highlights mounting security risks in Mali, Africa’s third-largest gold producer, which is battling jihadists that have targeted economic assets and foreign investment. Armed men on Saturday attacked the mine, for which U.S.-based Flagship Gold signed an investment agreement last year, a spokesperson for Mali’s mines ministry and another person familiar with the matter said. They burned equipment and took seven employees hostage, but released them all the following evening, the people said. … New York-based Flagship Gold, which incorporated in June 2024, signed a partnership agreement with Mali’s state-owned mining company in October to restart production at the Morila gold mine. Located in Mali’s southern Sikasso region, it holds estimated reserves of 2.5 million ounces, according to the mines ministry. Reuters
China’s Top Diplomat Tours Africa with Focus on Strategic Trade Routes
China’s top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Wednesday, focusing on strategic trade access across eastern and southern Africa as Beijing seeks to secure key shipping routes and resource supply lines. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest‑growing large economy; Somalia, a Horn of Africa state offering access to key global shipping lanes; Tanzania, a logistics hub linking minerals‑rich central Africa to the Indian Ocean; and Lesotho, a small southern African economy. … His trip this year runs until January 12. Beijing aims to highlight countries it views as model partners of President Xi Jinping’s flagship “Belt and Road” infrastructure programme and to expand export markets, particularly in young, increasingly affluent economies such as Ethiopia, where the IMF forecasts growth of 7.2% this year. Reuters
Intra-African Trade Hits $220.3 Billion, but AfCFTA Rollout Lags
Africa is being urged to speed up implementation of the AfCFTA as trade within the continent hits a record high, with experts warning that weak infrastructure, remaining tariffs and poor policy coordination could undermine its benefits. Intra‑African trade surged to an estimated $220.3 billion in 2024, representing a roughly 12.4 per cent increase from the previous year, according to Afreximbank’s African Trade Report. Despite the growth, intra‑regional commerce still accounts for only 15 to 18 per cent of Africa’s total trade, well below Europe and Asia. By comparison, Africa’s total merchandise trade including dealings with the European Union, China and other external partners stood at about $1.5 trillion in 2024, highlighting the continent’s continued reliance on global markets even as regional commerce grows. The Standard
Egypt Signs MoU to Supply Syria with Gas, Ministry Says
Egypt has signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Syria to cooperate on supplying gas for power generation and meeting Syria’s petroleum product needs, Egypt’s petroleum ministry said on Monday. The statement said that Syria would receive gas through regasification ships or gas transportation networks, without providing details on quantities. Due to the destruction of energy infrastructure during its 14-year civil war, Syria today produces just a fraction of the electricity it needs, though the supply of power has improved notably in the past months thanks to supplies of gas from Azerbaijan and Qatar. Reuters
Nigeria’s ‘Kannywood’ Tiptoes Between Censor Boards and Modernity
Long overshadowed by south Nigeria’s Nollywood, filmmakers in the north of Africa’s cinema powerhouse are pushing boundaries in search of international eyeballs — all while navigating the Muslim-majority region’s social conservatism. Young creatives — influenced not just by their peers in the wealthier Christian south of the country, but even as far as India — are hoping to expand the audience beyond Nigeria’s borders for the north’s frenetic “Kannywood” cinema industry, known for churning out some 200 films a month. With some 80 million speakers of the north’s Hausa language spread across west and central Africa — not to mention the vast Nigerian diaspora around the world — Kannywood’s potential market is huge. Yet reconciling international expectations with local constraints is no easy task: Islam’s sharia law code runs alongside common law in Kano state, the bustling cultural hub of northern Nigeria, and a government censor board reviews music and film production. AFP