Sudan’s Military Says It Thwarted ‘Coup’ Attempt
Sudan’s military rulers said they had foiled an attempted military coup, Sudan TV reported late on Thursday. The development comes as the ruling military council and the opposition are in talks on the final details of the power-sharing deal. The security committee, which is part of the military council, said in a statement that the coup attempt had been foiled. It claimed that 16 army officers, some of them are retired, have been arrested and being questioned in connection with the attempt. The committee added that the leader was among those arrested but did not reveal his name and other details. The council says security forces are pursuing additional officers who took part in the attempted coup. The army generals, who ousted longtime leader Omar al-Bashir in April, said the coup plot aimed at obstructing peace in the country. Radio Tamazuj
Sudan Drafting Committee Fails Again to Finalize Agreement on Power-Sharing
The drafting committee of the agreement on the power-sharing between the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) has failed to conclude its works; as the parties will resume talks on Saturday, said the mediators. The TMC and FFC on 5 July struck a deal on the last sticking point which is the composition the Sovereign Council, a collective head of state with mostly symbolic and ceremonial powers. … However, the mediation in the first hours of Friday morning held a short press briefing to announce for the second time that some differences persist between the two parties on Constitutional Declaration which determine the powers of the different organs of the transitional authority and that talks will resume on Saturday. Opposition officials under the cover of anonymity told Sudan Tribune that the TMC members who attended the meeting seem reconsidered their previous positions and accepted almost all that was agreed but they are still sticking on some matters. “They want to have exclusively the power to declare war and to also the second difference is over the formation of committees including the national security one,” said an FFC official after the end of the meeting on Friday morning. Sudan Tribune
[Video] Sudan’s Livestream Massacre
There was a massacre on the streets of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, on 3 June 2019. This is the story of that massacre, told through the phone cameras of those who kept filming, even as they came under live fire. BBC Africa Eye has analysed more than 300 videos shot in Khartoum that day. Using these videos, we bring you a shocking, street level view of the violence that was inflicted on protesters that morning – and the first direct testimony from men who say they took part in this attack. BBC
Hundreds of Thousands Flee Homes in Mali amid Deadly Militia Attacks
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in Mali amid deadly militia attacks on villages in the country’s central region. Over 200,000 have fled so far this year, according to figures from the Rapid Response Mechanism, an emergency response system designed to help deliver aid to vulnerable people. Several massacres since the start of 2019 have killed hundreds of civilians. Hassane Hamadou, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Mali, said: “The first victims of this cycle of violence are civilians. They are killed, they are maimed, they are threatened; and their only chance of survival is to flee. Today, people are caught between armed groups, self-defence militias, and military forces.” Independent
Corruption Perceived to Be on the Increase in Africa
Transparency International and Afrobarometer have launched a new edition of the Global Corruption Barometer — Africa. It shows that most people think that corruption is increasing and governments are not doing enough. To hear more about the findings of 2019’s 10th edition of the Global Corruption Barometer — Africa, DW spoke to Paul Banoba, East Africa regional adviser for Transparency International. … Where there is good rule of law and good practices with regard to it and well-resourced institutions with clear mandates, it improves the functioning of the state. And, when that happens and leadership is committed, it trickles into social will. Where society trusts, it increases the relationship between the state and its citizens, and then we have a situation that is continuously going up. … The police were highlighted by citizens as the institution to which they had to pay the most bribes to access services. DW
Video: Nigeria Police Officers Sent to Fight Kidnapping Caught Receiving Bribes
Some police officers deployed to curb kidnapping along the now dreaded Ife-Ibadan highway, South-west Nigeria, were on Monday caught extorting motorists. The policemen stationed at the outskirt of Ibadan, Ikire, Gbongan and Ile-Ife demanded bribe from the driver of the vehicle conveying this reporter and 17 other passengers on Monday evening. The journey lasted an hour and 15 minutes. Some of the motorists who earlier spoke with Premium Times confirmed the habitual extortion by officers adding that these have heightened now with the additional roadblocks mounted along the road. While the police officers in the outskirts of Ibadan and Ikire collected the naira notes discreetly without questioning the driver, the ones at Gbongan and Ile-Ife did not. An officer at Gbongan, with the inscription Akosoba A on his uniform, collected a 100-naira note from the driver and gave a change of fifty naira. Also, a policeman in Ile-Ife, who appeared in a camouflage, instructed the motorist to park for raising a question but changed his mind after a fifty-naira note was slid into his hands. Premium Times
Kenya: Government Failing to Halt Upsurge in Graft, Citizens Say
Large majorities of Kenyans believe that corruption is worsening and that the government is failing to halt the upsurge, a global graft-fighting organisation reported on Thursday. Two-thirds of Kenyans polled by Transparency International perceive corruption as having increased in the previous 12 months, while an even larger share — 71 percent — say the government is not responding adequately to this spreading scourge. … Kenyan police were cited as the leading recipients of bribes, with increasing percentages of citizens saying they also had to make illicit payoffs to public schools, utilities and public clinics. … Perceptions of members of Parliament are even more negative, with almost half of those surveyed saying at least some MPs are corrupt. An almost identical share held the same negative opinion of government officials at both the national and local levels. But improvements in perception were registered in regard to judges and magistrates. Daily Nation
Civil Society Body Urges Lifting of Media Restrictions in S. Sudan
A South Sudanese civil society body has appealed to country’s authorities to lift restrictions on all online media outlets operating in the young nation. “Among some of the actions are lifting the restriction on the online media outlet namely Alwatan Arabic newspaper, Radio Tamajuz and Sudan Tribune as a sign of building new page for partnership for society progress,” Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) in a release issued Friday.It added, “Prioritizing efforts for making media freedom obey, fulfill and expected in the country should be obligation for all”. Sudan Tribune
Burundian Refugees in Tanzania ‘Threatened with Forced Repatriation’
Burundian refugees in one camp in Tanzania say that the administration there has threatened them with forced repatriation. The refugees told the BBC that they would not feel safe if they went home. The Tanzanian government has denied that there is a plan to send the refugees back home from Nyarugusu camp, which is near the Burundian border. The refugees told BBC Great Lakes that the head of the camp, Jumanne Singani, asked them to return voluntarily before they were forced back. Mr Singani can be heard in audio recordings sent to the BBC by the refugees, urging them to leave because they were causing problems for locals. … More than 200,000 Burundian refugees live in Tanzania, most of them having fled the unrest of 2015. The East African
Kagame, Museveni to Meet in Angola for Regional Security Talks
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni are on Friday expected to shed more light on the political tensions affecting their countries when they meet in Angola for talks on security matters in the Great Lakes. Sources told The EastAfrican that both President Museveni and Kagame will attend the one-day Quadripartite Summit in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on an invitation by Angolan President João Lourenço. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi is also expected to attend the function. Kampala and Kigali have been feuding since 2017 leading to a breakdown in relations early this year that affected the flow of goods and people across their common border. Rwanda accuses Uganda of supporting rebels and dissidents opposed to Kagame’s government, a charge that Museveni denies. Uganda also accuses Kigali of conducting espionage on its soil and infiltrating its security apparatus. The East African
Cameroon Fights Boko Haram Recruitment with Goats, Sheep
The government of Cameroon this week began rolling out an unlikely weapon in the fight against Boko Haram militants. Authorities are distributing thousands of goats and sheep to young Cameroonians in villages along with border with Nigeria. The program aims to providing livestock for a basic income in order to stop the Islamist militant group’s recruiting tactics. The hope is that the livestock will empower thousands of vulnerable families and stop them from joining the extremists, who promise jobs. … Cameroon’s government plans to distribute 60,000 goats and sheep by the end of the year. The minister of livestock, known only as Dr. Taiga, said the animals will go to those who have suffered in the fight against Boko Haram. He said the initiative is to help families who are vulnerable by providing animals that are fruitful and enable them to have money. They will provide for their basic needs, said Taiga, take care of their families, and help to avoid temptations that can jeopardize peace and bring chaos. VOA
Death Toll in Migrant Ship Disaster off Tunisia Coast Rises to 58
The death toll from a ship packed with migrants that sank off the Tunisian coast last weekend has risen to 58 after Tunisia recovered 38 bodies on Thursday, the Tunisian Red Crescent said. More than 80 African migrants in total are feared to have drowned in the incident, in what would be one of the worst migrant boat disasters to date. The boat capsized after setting off for Europe from neighbouring Libya. Retuers
Libya Asks France To Explain How Its Arms Reached Haftar Forces
Libya’s United Nations-recognised government on Thursday demanded urgent answers after Paris conceded French missiles were found at a base used by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar whose forces are fighting to take over the capital Tripoli. Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala has asked his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian to “urgently explain” how the missiles “reached Haftar’s forces, when they were delivered and how”, according to a ministry statement. … France’s defence ministry, confirming a report in the New York Times, on Wednesday said the US-made Javelin missiles discovered in June at a camp south of Tripoli had been purchased by France. But it denied supplying them to Haftar in breach of a UN arms embargo, saying French forces operating in the war-torn country had lost track of them after they were judged to be defective. Al Jazeera
South Africa Deploys Army to Gang-Hit Cape Town
Authorities in South Africa have deployed the army to townships in the port city of Cape Town to deal with an upsurge of gang violence. Police Minister Bheki Cele said the soldiers will work alongside the police in an operation to recover illegal firearms and drugs. At least 13 people were killed in 24 hours last weekend in one of the violence-hit parts of the city. Cape Town’s gang problem goes back many decades. Local reports say the recent upsurge in violence is due to a turf war between rival gangs, fuelled by retaliation attacks. BBC
Far-Right Nationalism Surges in South African Politics
White nationalism has long lurked on the fringes of South African life, stoked by far-right groups that feel their culture is under threat in the multiracial country. But as the May elections showed, far-right white nationalism is moving into the mainstream — and into government. The tiny Freedom Front Plus Party surprised many by taking 2.4% of the vote in the polls. That gave the party an unprecedented 10 seats in the 400-member National Assembly. The party’s aim is to create a homeland for the nation’s mostly white Afrikaans-speaking minority, who are descendants of Dutch settlers four centuries ago. Party leader Pieter Groenewald told VOA that the threat to Afrikaans-speakers, as he put it, is a pressing priority for him. VOA
Tough Times Ahead, Liberians Warned
Amid current economic hardship, Liberians are being warned to brace themselves for more tough times ahead, the Central Bank of Liberia alerts here. The Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Nathaniel Patray has warn Liberians to prepare themselves for a tough time as the country economic suffers depreciation. The Bank sounds the warning Thursday, 11 July during the launch of a public dialogue dubbed Economic Forum under the title: “Taking Stock of the Central Bank of Liberia Monetary Policy Regime and Operations.” This is not what a nation retrogressing to grinding poverty and severe hardship wants to hear, but outgoing Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia Nathaniel R. Patray, III who launched the maiden edition of the Forum, which is expected to be a series of public discussions on the Bank’s monetary policy, says the CBL continues to implement the Remittance Split Policy (RSP) as key instrument for building Gross International Reserves (GIR) for the purpose of withstanding unexpected external shocks to the economy. The New Dawn