Sudan Becoming ‘Fertile Ground’ for Jihadis, Says Ex-prime Minister
Sudan’s last civilian prime minister warned the country’s brutal civil war risks turning it into “fertile ground” for the spread of regional terrorism at a time when several African countries are struggling with an onslaught of jihadist violence…Abdalla Hamdok, prime minister between 2019 and 2022 who now leads the Taqaddum, or Progress, coalition of democratic forces, said Sudan’s descent into violence risks bolstering jihadis across the region. “I really feel quite frightened about this,” he told the Financial Times. “With Sudan bordering seven countries, it will become fertile ground for terrorism in a region that is very fragile.”…Hamdok fears the descent into violence in Sudan, which hosted Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, could also connect groups allied to al-Qaeda in the Sahel to jihadis such as Somalia’s al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa, which is linked to Yemeni Houthis. Analysts and officials in neighbouring countries have echoed Hamdok’s concerns. The country was long on the US’s list of state sponsors of terrorism before it was removed under Hamdok in 2020. Financial Times
Libya’s Parliament Approves Appointment of Belqasem as New Central Bank Governor
Libya’s eastern parliament on Monday agreed to appoint Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem as the new central bank governor after the former governor, Sadiq al-Kabir, was fired last month by the presidential council in the capital, Tripoli. Parliament spokesperson Abdullah Bliheg said Monday that all 108 lawmakers voted in favor of appointing Belqasem, who previously was the central bank’s director of banking and monetary control. The parliament also appointed Mari Muftah Rahil Barrasi as his deputy. Belqasem and Barrasi are expected to form a new board of directors for the central bank within 10 days. The decision came as part of a U.N.-facilitated agreement between the parliament and the High Council of State to appoint new leadership for the country’s central bank. AP
Tunisia Presidential Candidate Zammel Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison, Lawyer Says
A Tunisian court sentenced presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel to 12 years in prison on Tuesday on charges of falsifying documents, his lawyer said. It was the third prison sentence imposed on Zammel in two weeks, and was announced five days before the presidential election. Reuters
Botswana Leader, 3 from Opposition Confirmed as Presidential Candidates
Botswana’s High Court has confirmed four presidential candidates will run in the country’s general elections next month. Among them is incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who is seeking a second and final term. By law, presidential candidates in Botswana must provide proof to the chief justice that they have the required number of supporters to be eligible to run. The High Court verified four out of five possible candidates had the required support. The presidential candidates will be Masisi; Duma Boko, leader of the opposition coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC); Dumelang Saleshando of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP); and Mephato Reatile from the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), according to Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane. Biggie Butale, from a smaller opposition group the Botswana Republican Party, failed to meet the requirements…The president is elected indirectly by parliament in Botswana, with recent efforts to introduce direct voting rejected following nationwide consultations. VOA
Rebel Group in Congo Generates $300,000 Monthly in Seized Mining Areas, UN Says
An armed rebel group in Congo generates around $300,000 a month in revenue through its control of a mining area in the east of the country, the U.N. Security Council heard. In April, the M23 — a rebel group with alleged links to Rwanda — seized the Rubaya mining area in eastern Congo, which holds deposits of a key mineral used in the production of smartphones and computers. Over 15% of the world’s supply of tantalum, a rare metal extracted from coltan, comes from Rubaya, Bintou Keita, head of the U.N. mission in Congo, told the Security Council…Tantalum is among the minerals that was identified earlier this year in a letter from Congo’s government questioning Apple about the tech company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” being smuggled in its supply chain. AP
Rwandan Ex-doctor Goes on Trial in France Accused of Genocide
Eugene Rwamucyo, 65, is accused of aiding his country’s authorities in disseminating anti-Tutsi propaganda and of participating in mass murder in an attempt to destroy evidence of genocide. The former doctor, who practiced medicine in France and Belgium after leaving his country, has been charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity, complicity in crimes against humanity and conspiring to prepare those crimes. If found guilty he could face life in prison. Rwamucyo’s trial is the eighth in France relating to the genocide in 1994, when an estimated 800,000 people – mostly ethnic Tutsis – were slaughtered. Rwamucyo, who grew up in a Hutu family, was approached by anti-Tutsi militants in the late 1980s after his return from studying in Russia, according to prosecutors, who accuse him of then spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda. While teaching at university, he also participated in the execution of wounded patients and helped bury them in mass graves “in a final effort to destroy evidence of genocide,” the prosecution said, quoting witness statements. Le Monde with AFP
Cameroon Farmers Turn to Vigilantes and Amulets to Stop Cocoa Theft
Rising cocoa prices driven by global production shortfalls have led to increased thefts of the commodity in farms in Cameroon, farmers and authorities say, forcing farmers to turn to machete-armed vigilantes, and amulets to stop thieves. The surge in prices in Cameroon, attributed to adverse weather conditions and plant diseases in top growers Ivory Coast and Ghana, has attracted thieves to the cocoa farms, escalating security challenges and farmers fearing for their safety. While farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana sell their beans at a fixed farmgate price regulated by authorities, farmers in Cameroon, where the market is liberalized, get a higher market-related price backed by global prices…This has made cocoa a lucrative target for thieves, causing concern among farmers in the country’s cocoa production basins…To tackle the problem, some farm communities have formed vigilante groups armed with whistles, reflective jackets, bows and arrows, machetes and spears to keep watch and send out alerts…In response to the escalating theft, farmers, local authorities, and buyers are implementing measures to secure crops and supply chains including refusing to buy cocoa from unregistered farmers or children. Reuters
Nigerian Airstrike Kills 24 in Kaduna State Village, Residents Say
At least 24 people were killed by an airstrike on a village in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state, residents and a local councillor said on Monday, after an Air Force operation targeting armed gangs and their hideout. The Sept. 27 incident is the latest in a pattern of deadly aerial assaults by the military that have killed civilians, a subject covered in a special Reuters report in June 2023. Nigeria’s military, backed by international allies, has been conducting aggressive campaigns against Islamist insurgents and armed kidnapping gangs. The Air Force said in a statement it was investigating the Kaduna allegations but added that the airstrike was based on “credible intelligence” from numerous reliable sources and “confirmatory surveillance of the target area” before the strike. Reuters
9 Die in Migrant Boat Shipwreck off Spanish Island; 48 Missing
A boat carrying migrants capsized off Spain’s Canary Islands overnight, killing at least nine people and leaving 48 missing, the national maritime rescue service said Saturday. Eighty-four people were on board and 27 were saved after rescuers responded to a distress call received shortly after midnight from off El Hierro, one of the islands in the Atlantic archipelago, a statement said. This follows the death of 39 migrants in early September when their boat sank off Senegal while attempting a similar crossing to the Canaries, from where migrants hope to reach mainland Europe…Almost 40,000 migrants entered the Canaries in 2023, a record on course to be broken this year as easier navigation conditions from September tend to lead to a spike in crossing attempts. VOA
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon Face off at the ICJ over Oil-rich Islands
Equatorial Guinea asked judges at the International Court of Justice to reject Gabon’s claim to several islands in potentially oil-rich waters in the Gulf of Guinea. The African neighbours, both significant oil producers, have asked the United Nations’ top court to settle a dispute centring on the tiny island of Mbanié, less than a kilometre long, off the coast of Gabon…The conflict has been ongoing since 1972, when Gabon’s army drove Equatorial Guinea soldiers from Mbanié. Gabon has since set up its own military presence on the virtually uninhabited island of just 30 hectares…In 2016, after years of mediation by the United Nations, the countries signed an agreement that would ultimately let the ICJ – also known as the World Court – settle the dispute. Equatorial Guinea bases its claim on the islands on a 1900 convention dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets in West Africa. Gabon, meanwhile, says the ICJ should base its judgment on another agreement from 1974. Equatorial Guinea says the document Gabon has offered as proof for the 1974 agreement is unsigned and not an original. Hearings will last a week and Gabon will present its case on Wednesday. The court is expected to give its final and binding ruling sometime next year. RFI
Lake Victoria Countries Working to Fight Crime, Improve Community Relations
Officials from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are meeting for the fourth time in less than two years to find ways to more effectively fight transnational crimes around the Lake Victoria area. Some of the crimes are nature-related, such as illegal fishing, tree cutting and charcoal production. In other cases, criminals take advantage of porous borders to sell drugs and conduct human trafficking. In 2021, the police organization Interpol rescued 121 people trafficked in and around Lake Victoria. Speaking to reporters at the port city of Mombasa, Kenya’s interior ministry principal secretary, Raymond Omollo, said the parties were looking to close gaps in policing and surveillance, while also improving social and economic relations of communities living in the lake region. VOA
Multinational Police Force for Haiti Renewed for Another Year
The U.N. Security Council on Monday approved a one-year renewal for a multinational police force to help Haiti’s embattled national police subdue gangs in the violence-plagued Caribbean nation, and it will now consider turning the mission into a full-fledged U.N. peacekeeping operation…Kenya is leading the mission and its president, William Ruto, visited Haiti about a week and a half ago to meet with officials and Kenyan and Haitian police forces. Ruto said at the U.N. General Assembly last week that he plans to deploy another Kenyan contingent to Haiti by January. So far only about 500 police have been deployed, the majority from Kenya and the rest from Jamaica and Belize. Diplomats say they expect other countries will also be deploying. Kenya’s U.N. envoy pointed to some initial progress in the capital, Port-au-Prince, including their securing important infrastructure, such as the airport and National Hospital, and several major road intersections. VOA
DRC: Dikembe Mutombo, a Towering N.B.A. Presence, Dies at 58
Dikembe Mutombo, who arrived at Georgetown University as an international student with aspirations of being a doctor but who instead became a towering presence in professional basketball and a dedicated humanitarian in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, died on Monday in Atlanta…Mutombo’s mother, Biamba Marie, died at home in 1998 after having a stroke; he had been unable to get hospital care for her due to a government-enforced curfew. That year, he invited business and political insiders to a dinner in Washington to announce a fund-raising campaign for a hospital in Kinshasa to provide treatment for the poor…He finished his career with game averages of 9.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015…Though he occasionally expressed weariness with fund-raising, Mutombo continued his philanthropic work in retirement. He was a spokesman for CARE, sat on several corporate boards and was the N.B.A.’s first designated global ambassador, assisting in the formation of a professional league in Africa. The New York Times