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MALI: The view from Mopti

January 12, 2013 Image 2984

French President François Hollande confirmed on Friday that French troops were being deployed “to fight against terrorist elements”.  Speaking in Paris, Mr Hollande warned: Mali is facing an assault by terrorist elements coming from the north whose brutality and fanaticism is known across the world”. France has advised its nationals to leave the country.

NIGERIA: stand-off on pensions

January 8, 2013 Abdulrasheed Maina

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) remains firmly at odds with President Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential Pension Reform Task Force (PPRTT) , warning that the task force must not be allowed to divert funds to individual states. The NLC has warned repeatedly against any alteration of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and has accused task force chairman Abdulrasheed Maina of overstepping his mandate.

 

SIERRA LEONE: clampdown on traders

January 8, 2013 Image 2969

GHANA: Mahama takes the stage

January 8, 2013 Image 2970

One month after Ghanaians went to the polls, John Dramani Mahama was formally sworn in as President on Monday. While the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is still contesting the election results, arguing that Mahama’s victory was obtained by fraud, the ceremony went ahead as planned.  Several African heads of state attended, including Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.  Ghana’s former president John Kufuor attended despite appeals from NPP activists to stay away.

CAR: humanitarian alert

January 7, 2013 Image 2968

Close to a month after rebels in the Central African Republic launched an offensive against the government of President François Bozizé, there has been mounting concern about the humanitarian situation in the country. Many humanitarian personnel have been relocated to neighbouring Cameroon. Those relief organisations still working in the country have experienced serious problems of access to those affected by the conflict. While the Séléka rebels prepare for dialogue with the government, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is looking to get more information on the scale of the needs and what can be done to meet them.

NEW YEAR MESSAGES

January 3, 2013 Image 2957

African Presidents rarely let the New Year come in without addressing their respective nations and 2013 has been no exception, with everyone from Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso taking to the airwaves. This is not to forget Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Dioncounda Traoré of Mali and several others.

GUINEA-BISSAU: UN names Ramos Horta

January 3, 2013 Image 2955

INTRO: The former president of East Timor, Nobel peace prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta, has been named the new UN special representative in Guinea-Bissau.

Mr Ramos Horta will replace Joseph Mutaboba of Rwanda and will take up his post at the end of January. Ramos-Horta has played a mediating role before in Guinea-Bissau, notably in 2003 when he was the special envoy of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. He also offered to mediate in Guinea-Bissau after the coup in April 2012,

Successive UN mediators have struggled to end the crisis in Guinea-Bissau, which has been hit by a series of coups over the past 30 years, the last being in April 2012

IVORY COAST: Still waiting for reconciliation

January 2, 2013 Image 2953


The post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 saw Alasanne Ouattara installed as President and his opponent, Laurent Gbagbo, facing war crimes in The Hague. The events of that period still cast a heavy shadow over Ivory Coast. The year 2012 saw the country trying hard to develop its economy afresh. But security problems and human rights concerns remained in the picture, while there were also food shortages, notably in the north.

SIERRA LEONE: Little New Year cheer for beggars

January 1, 2013 Image 2949

As in many African cities, beggars in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown face extremely difficult conditions. In a city wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and steep hills, beggars are engaged in a battle for survival, struggling to find food and shelter in an ever-expanding  city, whose population is now estimated to have gone over the one million mark. Many live out on the street, including amputees, who received hideous wounds during the civil war, and former combatants, struggling to find jobs in a city with a chronic unemployment problem.

SENEGAL: A Dakar trial for Hissène Habre?

December 30, 2012 Image 2946

After years of waiting, former Chadian President Hissène Habre now looks much closer to standing trial.

Addressing Senegal’s national assembly, Prime Minister, Abdul M’baye has said his country must respect the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and push ahead with the trial of Chad’s former head of state, Hissène  Habre. M’baye himself has faced accusations of helping to launder money on behalf of Habre when he was a senior banker in Dakar, accusations which M’Baye has firmly refuted.