Boko Haram crisis: ‘About 500′ Nigeria children missing
About 500 children aged 11 and under are missing from a Nigerian town recaptured from militants, a former resident of Damasak has told the BBC. A trader in the north-eastern town told Reuters news agency that Boko Haram fighters took the children with them when they fled. Troops from Niger and Chad seized Damasak earlier in March, ending months of control by the Islamist militants. A regional force has recently been helping Nigeria take on the insurgents. The senator representing the north of Borno state, Maina Maaji Lawan, told the BBC’s Nigeria correspondent, Will Ross, the case in Damasak was typical and many hundreds of children are missing. BBC
To understand why West Africa is finally teaming up against Boko Haram, follow the money
The Jan. 2015 announcement of a West African regional task force to counter Boko Haram, combining troops from Niger, Cameroon, and Chad, was greeted with both relief and suspicion in Nigeria. Throughout the country, news of the force’s activities and gains is reported nearly hourly. In the northwestern city of Kano, itself badly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, discussing the regional force has become a pastime among traders. The classic advice to “follow the money” has generated a number of theories as to why Nigeria’s neighbors intervened, and why such action was necessary. Central to the theories of geopoliticians and oil-bugs is the potential oil and natural gas reserves in the Lake Chad basin. Chad and Nigeria had engaged in military skirmishes over that territory in the 1970s, leading many analysts to speculate that Chad was using Boko Haram as a pretext to take over the land. Quartz
Buying an African election: Money rules in Nigeria as lawmakers earn 4 times more than Obama
When Okey Onwa decided to run for a seat in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, a ruling party leader laid out the terms to the 52-year-old lawyer. He would have to pay 2 million naira ($10,048) as an expression of interest and sign post-dated cheques, forfeiting half of his income as a lawmaker to gain the support of the party boss, commonly known as a “godfather” in Nigeria. “When I complained, he told me this was business, that I can try going it alone if I wanted,” Onwa said in an interview in Awka, capital of the southeastern state of Anambra. He said he decided against running because he knew that on his own, he couldn’t raise the 100 million naira he needed for the campaign. Mail and Guardian
Nigeria court bars military from deploying around polling stations – lawyer
The Nigerian federal high court in Lagos has barred the military from deploying around polling stations during March 28 national elections, the lawyer for the parliamentarian who brought the case said on Tuesday. Opposition leader Femi Gbajabiamila had argued that any such deployment would violate the constitution, lawyer Ijeoma Njemanze said, amid opposition fears that soldiers could be used to intimidate voters. The ruling, made on Monday by Justice Ibrahim Buba, does not affect troops already dispatched to northeast Nigeria, where they are needed to battle an Islamist insurgency, she added. The tight election pits President Goodluck Jonathan against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. It was meant to take place on Feb. 14, but was delayed by six weeks because the military said it could not guarantee security, especially in the northeast, where Islamists have waged a six-year insurgency. Reuters
Managing Nigeria’s Election Tensions
Nnamdi Obasi, Senior Analyst, Nigeria, discusses possible outcomes of the general elections rescheduled for 28 March and 11 April, and how the international community should prepare for post-election unrest that looks increasingly likely. Crisis Group: What impact has postponing these elections from February had on Nigeria? Nnamdi Obasi: The decision by the government to delay the vote due on 14 February has had both positive and negative impacts. The extra preparation time enabled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver more permanent voter cards (PVCs) and to test the new PVC readers that will be used to check voter cards. As of 16 March, 56 million voters had collected their PVCs (81 per cent of the total 68.8 million registered voters), up from the 45.1 million (66 per cent) who had collected their cards before the announcement of postponement. Iternational Crisis Group
Nigeria’s oil pipelines are battleground for brittle democracy
Reuben Wilson’s militant days of stalking Nigeria’s swamps in search of oil pipelines to blow up are well behind him. But former Niger Delta insurgents like Wilson say they’re ready to take up arms again if President Goodluck Jonathan doesn’t win elections this week. A son of the oil-rich Delta, Jonathan brokered a gilded pacification deal in 2009. Though almost all eyes are turned northwards, where Islamists Boko Haram have waged a bloody six-year battle, complex ethnic and political rivalries in the south magnified by elections could reignite fighting that once gripped Nigeria. “For many years, we fought in the creeks because we were sidelined even though Nigeria’s wealth comes from here,” said Wilson, thumping a fist on a desk cluttered with awards – mostly from organisations he funds with money the government pays him not to bleed oil pipelines. The Guardian
Tunisia museum reopening cancelled over security fears
The reopening of the National Bardo Museum was cancelled over security concerns on Tuesday, less than a week after Islamist gunmen killed 20 foreign tourists and a policeman in the Tunisian capital. “We have been surprised at the last minute, but the interior ministry says that for security reasons we cannot receive a large number of visitors,” said the museum’s head of communications, Hanene Srarfi, in comments to AFP. The museum was to reopen with a 1:30pm (GMT) ceremony organised by the culture ministry that Srarfi said would take place as planned. France 24
Tunisia closes airspace to western Libya for security reasons
Tunisia has again closed its airspace for flights from western Libya, an official said on Tuesday, just days after allowing Libyan planes from Tripoli back for the first time in around six months. “We’ve suspended temporarily again Libya flights for security reasons,” the transport ministry official said, without elaborating. The moves come after militants killed 20 foreign tourists in an attack on the national museum in Tunis last week. Tunisian officials say the two gunmen had been trained at a jihadist camp in Libya, where Islamic State has made inroads. Tunisia is worried violence will spill over from Libya, where two rival governments fight for control four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Libyan airlines had been allowed only since last week to resume flights to Tunis from Tripoli and other airports in western Libya outside the control of the official government. Reuters
U.S. ambassador to Libya signs off Twitter after online abuse
U.S. ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones has said she will stop communicating through her Twitter account after receiving a barrage of online abuse. The abuse began after Jones tweeted on Monday about an air strike southeast of the capital Tripoli. Pro-government forces said the strike hit an arms depot belonging to Islamist-backed militia forces, who said it had killed eight refugees. “Terrible news today from Tarhouna where 8 innocent displaced Tawergha killed in air strike,” she tweeted, referring to a Libyan minority group. “This violence serves no one’s interest,” said Jones, who is based between Malta and Egypt and has gained more than 50,000 followers since joining Twitter last year. Al Arabiya
Burkina Faso probe begins into Sankara assassination
Burkina Faso has begun an investigation into the 1987 assassination of former president Thomas Sankara, whose family has long called for a probe of his death, an official said Tuesday. Sankara’s relatives have been told that the case of the popular Marxist revolutionary was being pursued by an investigating magistrate from a military tribunal, their lawyer Benewende Sankara, who is no relation, said Tuesday. A high-ranking justice official confirmed the news on condition of anonymity, saying “the case has arrived, the order for the proceedings has been signed, an investigating magistrate has been appointed.” The government ordered in March that Sankara’s body be exhumed in an effort to identify the remains of the late leader, slain in a putsch that saw his former friend and protege Blaise Compaore take power. AFP on Yahoo News
After Ebola
As the disease has faded in West Africa, survivors now wonder how they will survive a new crisis: a lack of work. The Washington Post
Democracy reigns in Lesotho – but which democracy, exactly?
On 28 February, citizens of Lesotho voted in parliamentary and presidential elections. These were snap elections, called two years ahead of time, and were designed to drag the country out of the political and constitutional crisis which had left its government crippled for the last year. They were meant to signal a fresh start for Basotho democracy – and, from the perspective of most observers, they did. ‘Based on its observations, the [Southern African Development Community] Electoral Observation Mission [SEOM] concludes that the 2015 National Assembly Elections in the Kingdom of Lesotho were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair, thus reflecting the will of the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho,’ said South Africa’s Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who led the SEOM. ISS
Sudanese MPs extend president Kiir’s term till 2018
South Sudanese lawmakers on Tuesday passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2015, extending for more three years president Salva Kiir’s mandate in office. President Kiir’s term, according to South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution, officially ends on 9 July. This prompted the introduction of the Bill, which sought to extend the president’s term in office for two additional years. 270 lawmakers attended Tuesday’s session with 264 voting in support of the extension while six opposition MPs voted against parliament’s decision. The motion passed by parliament will see president Kiir in power until July 2018. Sudan Tribune
UN Again Threatens South Sudan Leaders With Sanctions
The U.N. Security Council has expressed “profound disappointment” about the failure of South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar to finalize a peace deal. A council statement issued Tuesday again threatened sanctions against “senior individuals” whom it deemed “responsible for actions or policies that threaten the peace, security or stability of South Sudan.” Fighting in the oil-rich East African country has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million people. VOA
Sisi arrives in Ethiopia to address parliament
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Ethiopia on Monday for a two-day visit to the capital Addis Ababa, the state-owned MENA news agency reported. He was received by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and will conduct bilateral talks with Ethiopian officials on Egyptian-Ethiopian relations. Sisi is also set to address the Ethiopian parliament to ask for recognition of Egypt’s right to a proportion of the Nile River waters. Leaders from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed a declaration of principles on Monday relating to Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam on a tributary of the River Nile.’ Al Arabiya
Nile River: Balancing interests and rights?
It is the longest river in the world, and one that has given life to generations of Africans for millennia. But the Nile has come under increasing pressure in recent years, as growing populations have come to depend on the resource. For Egypt, the water supply underpins its very existence; for Ethiopia, it is providing a new opportunity for economic development, while Sudan sees both needs and opportunities. All three have now come together to sign a deal to co-operate over a giant hydro-electric dam being built in Ethiopia, and the sharing of Nile waters. Al Jazeera
Smugglers Peddle ‘Conflict Diamonds’ from Central African Republic, Ignoring Ban
Since a coup d’etat and an extremely bloody aftermath, not much has improved in the Central African Republic and that suits the black market diamond merchants just fine. With news cameras turned away, their trade in ‘conflict diamonds’ is proceeding at a gallop, observers say, despite a global ban. The diamond-trading ban was imposed by the Kimberley Process, a global gem-verification group formed to halt the outflow of precious stones from conflict zones. The Central African Republic is the only country among 22 diamond producers to be covered by a ban. IPS
UN Expected to Approve 1,000 More Peacekeepers for CAR
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday is expected to adopt a resolution that would authorize more than 1,000 additional military and police personnel for the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. The draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press follows up on a request by the U.N. secretary-general in January for another 1,030 peacekeepers to help bring unprecedented violence between Christians and Muslims under control outside the capital, Bangui. The draft would authorize another 750 military personnel and 280 police personnel, as well as 20 corrections officers. AP
Sex abuse poses ‘significant risk’ to UN peacekeeping, says leaked report
The United Nations has been accused of ignoring an internal report that describes sexual exploitation and abuse as “the most significant risk” to peacekeeping missions across the globe. The leaked internal document examines UN peacekeeping missions in Congo, Haiti, Liberia and South Sudan, where 85% of all sexual abuse cases against peacekeepers come from. Of the allegations made in these countries in 2012, 18 (30%) involved minors. The actual number of incidents could be far higher, says the document, referring to significant under-reporting and poor record-keeping, which means that “the UN does not know how serious the problem of SEA [sexual exploitation and abuse] is”. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, in his 2013 annual report told members that the number of sexual abuse cases against UN peacekeepers was, at 51 in 2013, the lowest since measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse were put in place. The Guardian
Exercise Obangame Express 2015 commences
Maritime forces from Gulf of Guinea nations, Europe, South America, the United States and several regional and international organizations began the multinational maritime Exercise, Obangame Express 2015 on March 19. Obangame Express, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), is designed to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness (MDA), information-sharing practices, and tactical interdiction expertise to enhance the collective capabilities of Gulf of Guinea nations to counter sea-based illicit activity, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said. DefenceWeb
Deputy SA Army chief bows out
A change of command parade was held at South African Army headquarters this morning for the new Deputy Army chief, Major General Lawrence Smith, who replaces Major General Les Rudman from the first of next month. Smith said the main focus of the Army will remain external obligations regarding peace support and force preparation needed to keep the army fulfilling its duties. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is engaged in peace support operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Darfur, is patrolling the borders under Operation Corona and has committed a battalion to the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). Chief of the Army Lieutenant General Vusi Masondo expressed his appreciation towards Rudman and said that the Army is going through a very difficult period but, “I want to assure you we take the South African Army seriously…it’s a national asset and we are dedicating our energies to build the South African Army into the kind of army the people of South Africa can be proud of.” DefenceWeb
Malawi gets $18 million IMF aid after commitment to fight corruption
The International Monetary Fund will provide $18.1 million to Malawi after its government promised to tackle the corruption that led to a suspension of aid by donors following large-scale graft involving public funds. Donors led by former colonial ruler Britain have withheld direct aid to the southern African nation for more than a year over a corruption scandal in which top government officials and ministers siphoned millions of dollars from the public purse. Africa Report
Hidden Cruelties: Prison Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa
Last year, during a midnight search for contraband in South Africa’s St. Albans maximum security prison, more than 200 inmates were forced to lie naked on the ground in a human chain, each one’s face pressed into his neighbors’ buttocks. They were then subjected to beatings, electric shocks and torture. The abuse was not an isolated case. According to a complaint lodged by former inmate Bradley McCallum with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), a similar incident occurred at St. Albans in 2005 after the stabbing of a prison warden. In his complaint, McCallum alleged that inmates were forced to lie naked in a human chain, then sprayed with water, bitten by dogs and beaten by guards with batons and pickaxe handles. He described how he himself was shocked, beaten and raped with a baton. As a result of the shock and fear, he said, inmates urinated and defecated on themselves and one another. World Politics Review
Uganda paid US PR firm ‘to clean up image’ after anti-gay bill
A row over a law banning homosexuality in Uganda has been reignited after it emerged that the government paid a US public relations firm to offset negative publicity, a report said Monday. Uganda’s Observer newspaper said the government had spent 614 million shillings ($206,000, 174,000 euros) “to prop up Uganda’s image” after it was “tarnished by the Anti-Homosexuality Act”. It said that many MPs in the east African nation’s parliament, where support is strong for tough anti-gay legislation, were now refusing to approve the government’s payment to Scribe Strategies and Advisors, a Washington-based lobbying firm. “It’s quite unbelievable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could use this money to clear Uganda’s image, yet us as Ugandans we are against this issue of homosexuality,” Florence Nebanda, one of several reportedly furious MPs, was quoted as saying. AFP on Yahoo News
As slave trade abolition is celebrated, millions of Africans continue to live as slaves
More than 200 years ago today (March 25, 1807) the transatlantic slave trade that brought some 17 million Africans to the New World over four centuries was finally ended by US President Thomas Jefferson. But for more than six million people in Africa today, not much has changed. While they are no longer being transported like cattle across the Atlantic Ocean, many remain enslaved in their own countries and others are exploited in foreign countries, where they seek work and a better life. The most recent Global Slavery Index, published in November, 2014, put the total number of slaves on the African continent at 6.4 million, including 5.6 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and an additional 800,000 in the northern region, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Deutsche Welle