Senegal President Faye Announces Dissolution of Parliament
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Thursday, September 12, announced he had dissolved the opposition-dominated parliament and set new legislative elections for November 17…Along with his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, Faye ran on a ticket of sovereignty and leftist pan-Africanism, raising the hopes of young people in a country where three-quarters of the population is under 35. But government action has so far been hampered by the lack of a majority in parliament. According to Senegal’s constitution, Faye could dissolve the opposition-dominated parliament from September 12 and call early legislative elections, which could give him the majority needed to implement his policy agenda. In his address, Faye said, “The pledge of a frank collaboration with the parliamentary majority … was an illusion.” “It has decided to turn its back on the people to pursue its cult of obstruction, thereby blocking the project for which I was elected,” he said. He cited, in particular, the management of public finances under his predecessor Macky Sall, alleging “wilfully hidden excesses” of spending and added that a report approved by Senegal’s court of auditors would soon be published. Le Monde with AFP
UN Warns Some 25 Million Sudanese Risk Famine Without More Donations
The World Food Program needs better access to people at risk of starvation in Sudan and more money from the crisis-weary West to feed more than 25 million people facing acute hunger, the U.N. agency’s director said Thursday. “Sudan’s nearly a forgotten crisis right now,” WFP director Cindy McCain told The Associated Press…While WFP has designated points of entry to bring aid to the hungry, the onset of the rainy season means trucks have difficulty reaching the Zamzam camp, home to more than 400,000 displaced people, that was declared to have crossed the famine thresholds last February…“We need to get in there at scale,” McCain said, “And we need to make sure that the world understands the need and what is at stake if we don’t.” AP
Atmosphere of ‘Desperation, Extreme Fear and Trauma’ Envelops Women of Sudan
An atmosphere of desperation, extreme fear and trauma envelops the women of Sudan in a conflict that has left half of its 50-million-person population in dire need of assistance, according to Laila Baker, a senior regional director from the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA. UN News: What are the impressions of the maternity hospital you visited in Port Sudan? Laila Baker: We met doctors working around the clock. I met a wonderful midwife who was tirelessly going out into the field, making sure that antenatal care was provided and following up with poor women, bringing them to the same hospital. It was inspiring and I think it reflects the beautiful nature of the Sudanese people. The conditions we saw in the maternity hospital were…appalling…I have been working in this field for nearly three decades and have seen many shelters and displaced people in that time. But I have never seen a situation like this, where overcrowding, desperation, lack of food, clean water and hygiene products combine for many women, and the extreme fear and trauma of loss and damage they have suffered either due to conflict, flooding or both. Many have also experienced sexual violence due to their displacement. UN News
Report: IS-Somalia Becomes Financial Hub; Leader Could Be Top IS Chief
The International Crisis Group says Islamic State in Somalia has become an important financial influence for terrorism, and a report suggests the leader of the branch might become the new overall head of the militant group. IS-Somalia is not as active on the battlefield as its local counterpart, the al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia, but it is building relations with other IS branches, the International Crisis Group said in a report released Thursday. In addition, the report says, IS-Somalia is able to finance terror operations in other African countries…The ICG said the Islamic State restructured its African operations in 2020, placing affiliates from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique under the watch of IS headquarters in Somalia’s Puntland region. IS-Somalia is reported to have between 100 and 400 fighters stationed in the northern part of the country. According to ICG, about half of the fighters are believed to be foreigners…Richard Tuta, a Kenyan counterterrorism expert, said Somalia’s weak central government has enabled Somalia to be the financial hub of the IS group. VOA
Pro-Russia Feelings and Disinformation Begin Spilling Into Nigeria
During a 10-day end-bad-governance protest throughout much of Nigeria in August, some demonstrators in Kano, a major northwestern city, unexpectedly waved Russian flags while calling on Russia for assistance in pressuring the Nigerian government to change…[Political analysts said] the public display of pro-Russian feelings in northern Nigeria is an extension of Russian influence in Niger…Russia’s disinformation campaigns in many parts of the world promoting anti-Western, antigovernment and antidemocracy narratives have paved the way for Moscow’s incursion into certain African countries, experts say…“The pattern of how Russia has been able to weaponize and hijack protests for its own political objectives is underappreciated on the continent,” said Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. “This is exactly the pattern we saw in Mali in the 18 months prior to the coup,” he said. “There was a concerted Russian disinformation campaign to discredit the democratic government. So, when you see Russian flags in Nigeria, there is an obvious link to what Russia has done elsewhere.” PassBlue
Maiduguri Flood: Dozens Still Trapped And Missing As Rescue Efforts Intensify Amid Fatalities
[D]ays after severe flooding hit Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in northeast Nigeria, rescue operations are battling against the odds, as many residents remain missing or trapped in the flood. Families who managed to escape still cannot account for missing relatives, fearing the worst. Eyewitnesses report that unidentified bodies have been found floating in the floodwaters, raising concerns for the safety of missing individuals, including children. Hardest-hit areas in the Maiduguri metropolis include Customs, SS Quarters, and the 505 Housing Estate, where rescue teams, already stretched thin, struggle with a lack of resources like motorboats to navigate the dangerous waters…Despite the state government leading the rescue mission, the worsening situation has forced military personnel and local volunteers to join in. Their efforts have been focused on areas like Customs, where individuals are stranded on a flyover bridge. HumAngle
WHO Grants First Mpox Vaccine Approval to Ramp up Response to Disease in Africa and Beyond
The World Health Organization said Friday it has granted its first authorization for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa and beyond. The pre-qualification of the vaccine by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors like GAVI the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF can buy it. But supplies are limited because there’s only a single manufacturer…Under the WHO authorization, the vaccine can be administered in people aged 18 or above in a two-dose regimen. The approval says that while the vaccine is not currently licensed for those under 18 years old, it may be used in infants, children and adolescents “in outbreak settings where the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks.”…Officials at the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that nearly 70% of cases in Congo — the country hardest hit by mpox — are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths. AP
More than 260 Women Sexually Assaulted during Congo Prison Break, UN Report Shows
More than 260 female inmates were sexually assaulted during an attempted mass escape from Democratic Republic of Congo’s Makala Central Prison this month, an internal U.N. report reviewed by Reuters showed. At least 129 people were killed when prison guards used live fire against inmates trying to break free from the Kinshasa prison, which official figures say has a capacity of 1,500 prisoners, but housed more than 15,000 people. The government had said after the attempted breakout in the early hours of Sept. 2. that women had been sexually assaulted, without providing a figure. But an internal U.N. report seen by Reuters on the incident said 268 out of 348 women incarcerated at Makala had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, while the chaos unfolded. Of these, 17 were younger than 19. The report had detailed numbers of the victims as each needed post-attack kits and emergency contraception within 72 hours. Reuters
Libyan Factions Have Not Reached Final Agreement on Central Bank Crisis, UN Libya Mission Says
The UN Libya mission said on Thursday that Libyan factions did not reach a final agreement in the talks aimed at resolving the central bank crisis that has slashed oil output and exports. The two-day consultations to solve the crisis hosted by UNSMIL were between delegates from the Benghazi-based House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the Presidential Council, which are both based in Tripoli. However, the Mission statement did not mention the presence of the delegation of the Presidential Council on the second day of the talks. The Presidential Council, based in Tripoli, had only rarely intervened directly in Libyan politics before its head Mohammed al-Menfi moved in August to replace veteran central bank Governor Sadiq al-Kabir, which led eastern factions to order a halt of oil flows across Libyan oilfields in protest. Reuters
Egypt and Turkey’s Nascent Alliance Tested by New Crisis in Libya
A new alliance between Egypt and Turkey designed to end a long-running dispute over events in the Middle East faces it first major test in the shape of a worsening political crisis in Libya linked to control of its oil wealth. Egypt and Turkey fell out in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab spring, primarily because of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s coup against his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan…But analysts say that if the two countries remain at odds over how to end Libya’s political divisions, the promise of a wider new era of cooperation is likely to prove a false dawn. Libya’s political institutions have been divided between east and west since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Turkey has supported the regime in Libya’s west, sending equipment and troops in 2019 when it looked as if Tripoli would fall to an attack being mounted by the authoritarian warlord Khalifa Haftar. Haftar, whose family dominate politics in eastern Libya, is backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. The Guardian
European Politicians Say Migration Is Out of Control. The Numbers Tell a Different Story
The most commonly used route for migrants is from North Africa, across the dangerous Central Mediterranean to Italy. Yet roughly 64% fewer migrants disembarked in Italy this year than during the same period in 2023, according to IOM and Frontex numbers. Experts say that’s a result of the EU-supported crackdown in Tunisia and Libya, which comes at a price for migrants, many of whom are systematically rounded up and dumped in the desert…Meanwhile, irregular migration from West Africa to the Canary Islands via the Atlantic, the third-most-used route, has more than doubled: More than 25,500 migrants — mostly from Mali, Senegal and other West African countries — had arrived in the islands as of Aug. 31, the U.N. says. Countless other migrants have gone missing along the route, where rough winds and strong Atlantic currents work against them. Several migrant boats, carrying only the remains of Malian, Mauritanian and Senegalese citizens, have been found this year drifting as far away as the Caribbean and off Brazil. Precise numbers are hard to verify, but the Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders has reported more than 4,000 dead or missing. AP
Dadaab Voices: Kenya’s Flagship Refugee Plan Marred by Lack of Consultation
Launched with fanfare last year, the Shirika plan aims to turn the country’s two huge camp complexes – Dadaab and Kakuma – into self-reliant integrated settlements, allowing refugees and host communities to live and work side by side, both benefiting from government services. But while the vision of a progressive refugee policy is compelling, there are plenty of political, financial, and administrative hurdles in the way. For a start, the government is still not clear on what form of ID refugees will need to access public services, and to allow them to move freely outside the camps – if indeed they will be allowed to travel beyond Garissa and Turkana counties where the two camps are located. Currently, refugees risk arrest if they are found outside the camps. The authorities have also been silent on whether, or how, refugees can access work permits, a tricky political issue in a country where unemployment remains a huge concern. There is no clarity either on what development programmes will be available as refugees transition from their dependency on ever-shrinking aid rations, and the government is yet to make any promises on whether the two counties will be granted additional funding to extend their already limited services to refugees. The New Humanitarian
IMF Staff in Kenya for Fact-finding Mission after Protests
A team of staff from the International Monetary Fund is visiting Kenya on a fact-finding trip, the IMF said late on Thursday, part of efforts to craft a way forward in the wake of deadly protests that scuppered the government’s planned tax hikes…Kenya agreed a four-year loan with the IMF in 2021, and signed up for additional lending to support climate change measures in May 2023, taking its total IMF loan access to $3.6 billion…The IMF requires regular reviews of reforms – in Kenya’s case every six months – before it releases tranches of funding. Kenya reached a staff level agreement with the IMF in June on the seventh review of its programme, but the protest and ensuing withdrawal of the finance bill put a sign-off by the fund’s executive board, and subsequent payout, on hold. Kenyan government officials have previously said they expect the IMF board to consider approving the disbursement of a $600 million tranche later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting to discuss this. Reuters
Pravin Gordhan, a South African Government Minister Who Was Activist against Apartheid, Dies at 75
Pravin Gordhan, who was a South African government minister for many years after beginning his political career opposing apartheid, died Friday. He was 75 and had cancer…A political activist from his teenage years, Gordhan joined the struggle against the racist and oppressive system of apartheid and joined the ANC’s underground structures in the 1980s. He was one of the negotiators for the country’s peaceful transition to a constitutional democracy and became a member of parliament in 1994 after Nelson Mandela became the country’s first democratically elected president. His last position in government was as the minister of public enterprises from 2018 to 2024 in charge of state-owned enterprises. He served two terms as finance minister from 2009 to 2014 and again from 2015 to 2017. From 1999 to 2009, Gordhan was the head of the South Africa Revenue Services, which he was credited with transforming into a world-class tax and customs service. Gordhan was an outspoken critic of corruption in government and state-owned enterprises, and was one of the ministers who criticized the leadership of former President Jacob Zuma while he was still serving in his Cabinet. AP