Trump Envoy Meets DR Congo, Rwanda Representatives in Doha
US President Donald Trump’s senior Africa adviser met with Congolese and Rwandan representatives in Doha on Wednesday, the envoy said, after the two sides agreed to negotiate an end to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east. M23 rebels, who UN experts and the United States say have received military support from Rwanda, have made rapid advances in the eastern DRC since January, seizing key cities in fighting that has killed thousands. A joint declaration signed in the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio committed the two countries to come up with an “initial draft peace agreement” by May 2…The joint declaration said the two sides should expect “significant investments” facilitated by the US government and private sector, including in hydropower and minerals — an area where China has been notably active. But fierce fighting resumed in the days that followed the Washington agreement and fresh clashes erupted along several fronts in the eastern DRC. AFP
First U.N. Aid Reaches Central Khartoum since Sudan War Began, U.N. Says
The first U.N. food aid since Sudan’s conflict began two years ago has reached the centre of the capital Khartoum, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Relief efforts are also scaling up in the western Darfur region amid large-scale displacement. Distributions of 70 metric tonnes of World Food Programme (WFP) supplies for nearly 8,000 people in Khartoum’s Burri neighbourhood are set to begin on Thursday, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters. These mark the first distributions in the downtown area since the conflict erupted. Aid distributions have also started in the Alazhari neighbourhood in south Khartoum, targeting 20,000 people in an area the U.N. considers at high risk of famine, Haq said. Separately, the U.N. is dispatching more humanitarian supplies to Tawila in North Darfur state, where Haq said more than 300,000 people have sought safety after fleeing recent attacks in the Zamzam displacement camp. Sudan Tribune
Sudan Army Chief Names Bashir-era Diplomat as Acting Premier
Sudan’s army chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan appointed on Wednesday a career diplomat as the country’s new acting prime minister, two years into the country’s brutal war. Ambassador Dafallah al-Haj Ali, a veteran envoy who once served as Sudan’s representative to the United Nations under longtime Islamist-military ruler Omar al-Bashir, was most recently the country’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia…The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Ali replaces Osman Hussein, a largely symbolic prime minister installed by Burhan after a 2021 military coup that toppled civilian premier Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government…Early this month, the RSF announced it would form its own rival government, a few weeks after signing a charter in Kenya with a coalition of military and political allies. The move has raised international fears that Sudan could be permanently split between the two sides, both of which have been accused of atrocities. The conflict has already divided Africa’s third largest country in two, with the army controlling the centre, north and east, while the RSF holds nearly all of the western Darfur region and parts of the south. AFP
UN Renews South Sudan Mission’s Mandate for 9 Days
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for nine days, until May 9, as tensions escalate between the country’s political leaders. The short-term extension, approved unanimously in Resolution 2778 (2025), allows the mission to continue using “all necessary means” to carry out its tasks beyond its original expiration date of April 30. The move gives the council more time to deliberate amid worsening political and security conditions in the country. South Sudan has faced renewed instability as friction grows between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, who was placed under house arrest in the capital, Juba, on March 26. The two leaders, longtime rivals, signed a 2018 peace deal that formed a transitional government, but the agreement has been repeatedly undermined by violence and disputes…UNMISS was first established in 2011 under Resolution 1996 to support peacekeeping efforts in South Sudan after its independence. The Security Council has since renewed its mandate annually, citing ongoing threats to regional security. The council held a briefing on South Sudan on April 16, but discussions have yet to yield a long-term resolution. Radio Tamazuj
South Sudan: Kiir Replaces General Intelligence Chief, Security Advisor
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed the head of the country’s General Intelligence Bureau (GIB) and replaced his presidential security advisor in a series of high-level reshuffles, state media reported on Wednesday. Lieutenant General Simon Yien Makuac, who had served as GIB director general since April 2021, was removed from his post without explanation. He was replaced by General Thoi Chany Reat, Kiir’s advisor on national security affairs. Gen. Thoi is from Ayod County in Jonglei State, while his predecessor, Gen. Yien, is from Uror County in the same state…The GIB, a key branch of the National Security Service (NSS), is responsible for gathering and analyzing intelligence on external security threats. Its director general holds one of the most senior roles in the country’s security hierarchy. Since last October, Kiir has made frequent changes to intelligence leadership, a shift from past reshuffles that primarily targeted cabinet ministers and military officials. Radio Tamazuj
Mali Junta Deals New Blow to Civilian Political Parties
Mali’s military junta announced on Wednesday the repeal of rules for political parties that the African nation’s opposition parties say are part of a campaign to dissolve them. The announcement comes after the ruling junta organised a national conference, which recommended this week the dissolution of existing parties and for military leader General Assimi Goita to become head of state without an election. A draft law that would cancel an existing 2005 charter, which sets out the rules for creating, financing and running political parties, was adopted at a military cabinet meeting, an official statement said Wednesday…Mali’s junta on Monday began a consultation on adopting a national charter for political parties, boycotted by nearly all opposition movements out of fear of their dissolution by the soldiers in power. Many Malian opposition parties fear that the military-led government, like its fellow junta-run west African allies in Niger and Burkina Faso, will use the charter to ramp up the junta’s already tough crackdown on political dissent. AFP
UN Calls for Mali to Probe Alleged Executions by Army and Russian Mercenaries
United Nations experts on Wednesday urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by the army and Russian mercenaries, following the discovery of dozens of bodies near a military camp last week. According to a statement from the U.N. humanitarian agency, the bodies were found near the Kwala military camp in western Mali’s Koulikoro region between April 21 and 22, and are suspected to be those of men arrested by Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Russia-backed Wagner Group ten days earlier. Citing “unconfirmed reports,” the agency said around 60 men, most of them ethnic Fulani, were allegedly tortured and interrogated at the camp about alleged links with “terrorists,” before being executed…The U.N. experts said that, if confirmed, the killings may amount to war crimes, while the forced disappearances may constitute crimes against humanity. They urged Malian authorities to conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the killings and forced disappearances of the men. Fulani people — also known as the Peuhl — are disproportionately represented in Islamic militant groups in central Mali, which has led to them being stigmatized by other ethnic groups and security forces. AP
Kenyan Opposition MP Is Killed in ‘Targeted’ Shooting
Kenyan opposition legislator was shot dead in the capital Nairobi in what police have described as a “targeted and premeditated” crime. MP Charles Were was shot on Wednesday night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road. President Willian Ruto urged police to conduct a “thorough investigation” and said Thursday that those responsible “must be held to account.” Were was in the company of his driver and bodyguard when a motorcycle taxi approached their car, and a passenger disembarked and approached their car before firing at the MP, police said in a statement. The legislator was reelected in 2022 to represent Kasipul constituency in western Kenya for the Orange Democratic Movement party. Opposition leader Raila Odinga described Were as a “gallant son of the soil.” Odinga was President Ruto’s main challenger in the 2022 general election. AP
Ugandan Opposition Accuses President of Using Military Courts to Quash Dissent
Ugandan opposition politicians have accused the president, Yoweri Museveni, of attempting to quash dissent by prosecuting opponents on politically motivated charges in military courts in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections next year. The government is pushing to introduce a law to allow military tribunals to try civilians despite a supreme court ban on the practice. In November, the opposition politician Kizza Besigye was detained in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside his aide Obeid Lutale and taken to Kampala where they were charged before a military tribunal with offences including illegal possession of firearms, threatening national security, and later treachery, which carries the death penalty. His lawyers say the charges are politically motivated. Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate and longtime opponent of Museveni, is one of more than 1,000 civilians, including activists and other politicians, who have been charged in military courts since 2002. In January, Uganda’s supreme court ruled that trying civilians in military courts was unconstitutional and ordered the transfer of trials involving civilians to ordinary courts. Museveni rejected the ruling as the “wrong decision” and vowed to continue using military courts. The Guardian
Somalia: Clan Fighters Strike Al-Shabaab in Central Somalia, Kill Militants and Seize Weapons
The al-Shabaab militants suffered a series of setbacks, Tuesday, following a security operation conducted by the Macawislay fighters in central regions, marking yet another significant gain against the group in recent weeks. Security teams confirmed the death of several militants in central Somalia, with the Macawislay fighters seizing weapons during the planned operation in the dense forests of Ciid-Ciidka within Mahaday, Middle Shabelle. One of the commanding officers, Osman Beerey, who was in charge of the raid, said multiple militants were killed in some of the hideouts targeted by the military backers. The Macawislay fighters work closely with the Somali National Army…The al-Shabaab militants have been trying to disrupt supply routes within the country while taking over strategic areas that had been recovered by the Somali National Army with assistance from the US Africa Command and the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) forces. Garowe Online
South African Police Rescue 44 Ethiopians from Suspected Traffickers
South African police said Thursday they had rescued 44 Ethiopian nationals, 17 of them minors, who were being held against their will in an upscale neighbourhood of Johannesburg. The incident is the latest in a string of human-trafficking cases in Africa’s most industrialised nation, a magnet for undocumented migrants from across the continent. Officers on patrol were alerted to the discovery by screams coming from the house in Sandton, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told journalists…In March, dozens of young Ethiopian adults and children who were also allegedly held captive in a suburban house in Johannesburg escaped, with police finding 32…In January, police rescued 26 undocumented Ethiopians found naked and without documents in Johannesburg, held by suspected traffickers. Last August, more than 80 were discovered locked in a house in inhumane conditions in another suburb of the city. AFP
African Union Ends Gabon Suspension after Oligui Election
Gabon is back in the community of African states after nearly two years out in the cold. The African Union (AU) said Wednesday that sanctions against Libreville had been lifted, reintegrating the central African country into the bloc. The AU’s peace and security council said in a statement on X that it was convinced with Gabon’s political transition. Gabon was suspended when General Brice Oligui Nguema took power after overthrowing president Ali Bongo in August 2023. In April, Oligui overwhelmingly won a presidential election where he was virtually unchallenged. Africanews
Ghana Ex-security Chief Charged Over Siphoned Millions
Ghanaian authorities on Wednesday charged a former top security official with skimming millions of dollars from a cybersecurity contract, according to a court document seen by AFP. Prosecutors said Kwabena Adu-Boahene, a former director of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), which monitors national security communications, used the money to buy property in Ghana and Britain and luxury cars. The charges are the latest in a corruption clampdown by President John Mahama. Adu-Boahene was arrested on March 24 with his wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, who also faces charges. The former official will be prosecuted for theft, money laundering and diverting funds from a $7 million contract to buy a cybersecurity defence system, according to a document signed by Attorney General Dominic Akuritinga Ayine…Ayine told a press conference that investigators had uncovered “another scheme” by Adu Boahene to get money from state utility firm Ghana Water Company. AFP