Kenya Garissa students ‘taken hostage’ by al-Shabab
Gunmen have taken students hostage and killed at least 14 people at a university in north-eastern Kenya, aid workers and police say. About 30 others were wounded after attackers stormed a university in Garissa town. Troops have surrounded the campus and are engaging the gunmen. Witnesses spoke of the masked attackers firing indiscriminately and there are fears the casualty toll could rise. Militant Islamist group al-Shabab said it carried out the attack. BBC
Statement by the President on the Nigerian Elections
The last few days have shown the world the strength of Nigeria’s commitment to democratic principles. By turning out in large numbers and sometimes waiting all day to cast their votes, Nigerians came together to decide the future of their country peacefully. I commend President Goodluck Jonathan and President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari for their public commitments to non-violence throughout the campaign. President Jonathan has placed his country’s interests first by conceding the election and congratulating President-Elect Buhari on his victory. I look forward to working with President Jonathan throughout the remainder of his term, and I thank him for his many years of service and his statesmanlike conduct at this critical juncture. I urge President-Elect Buhari and President Jonathan to repeat their calls to their supporters to continue to respect the election outcomes, focus on unifying the country, and together lead Nigeria through a peaceful transition. The White House
Nigeria’s new president, an ex-military man, vows to crush Boko Haram
When the next president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, is asked how he will defeat Boko Haram militants who have terrorized this country, he is quick to remind people of his previous career. As a young man, Buhari rose through the ranks of the Nigerian military, fighting pockets of insurgents in the country’s north and repelling an incursion by Chadian troops in 1983. He later served as a military dictator for more than a year. That was 30 years ago – before democracy came to Nigeria and before the security forces were gutted by leaders who fired top-ranking officers suspected of ties to previous regimes. The Washington Post
Can an ex-dictator clean up Nigeria?
The victory of a 72-year-old former general, Muhammadu Buhari, in the Nigerian elections represents a moment of maturity in West African politics. Buhari, who some 30 years ago was Nigeria’s harsh military leader, could of course prove to be a disaster; so many self-described reformers have been. swath But the peaceful transition of power from President Goodluck Jonathan to President Buhari is the first of its kind in history. And the fact that the winner ran on an anti-corruption platform suggests that ordinary Nigerians have finally had enough of the venality of their elites. For too long, Nigeria’s poor have been victims of their country’s enormous wealth. The cancer of corruption has to be cut out. CNN
Boko Haram: Will US Step Up Assistance To Nigeria After Successful Election?
Despite the refusal to provide weapons to Nigeria, U.S. interests are clearly at stake in the country. Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to to the Islamic State group, and as Yemen, another key area of U.S. operations against Islamist militants, slides into Chaos, concerns are mounting about the efficacy of U.S. counter-terrorism policy in the region. Despite a lack of U.S. military equipment, Nigeria’s government has gone on the offensive against Boko Haram in recent months, with some degree of success. President-elect Buhari has pledged to continue the fight, saying that the group will “soon know the strength of our collective will.” The U.S. has made no comment on what kind of help it may provide Nigeria since the election, if indeed U.S. law and diplomatic relations allow it to ramp up its commitment to the fight. International Business Times
Nigeria President-elect: ‘I’m not surprised’ by victory (video)
Nigerian President-elect Muhammadu Buhari speaks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about why he’s not surprised he won his country’s election. CNN
How Goodluck Jonathan lost the Nigerian election
Goodluck Jonathan has earned the dubious distinction of being the first president in Nigerian history to lose an election. In many ways, Jonathan was the architect of his own downfall. He made critical mistakes that turned the public and allies against him, and led them to gravitate towards the opposition. Here’s where it all went wrong. The Guardian
Buhari the winner, Jega the hero
[..] All these feats would have been mere tantalising phantasms without Attahiru Jega, the same electoral umpire who was demonised in the lead-up to the election by both Jonathan’s PDP and Buhari’s APC. Only in January, Buhari claimed that Jega’s INEC programmed its computers to short-change his votes by 40 percent. Meanwhile, PDP’s anti-Jega crusade began back in September 2014 when he announced additional polling units, and then reached a head with his insistence on checking electoral fraud with the use of voter card readers. The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for him, especially seeing plans being mulled to relieve him of his job, and being literally coerced by the security chiefs into shifting the elections. This is why, notwithstanding the lapses that accompanied this election, Jega deserves nothing but ovation. Al JAzeera
Nigeria president-elect’s stern side now an asset, not a liability
Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who jailed journalists, critics and one of Nigeria’s most famous musicians, Fela Kuti, seems an unlikely figure to rise 30 years later as the country’s savior. Dour, austere, introspective, and defeated in three previous attempts to be president, Buhari has promised Nigerians that he’s now a democrat who has come a long way since he was ousted as a military dictator in 1985. But ironically, it is Buhari’s stern, forbidding side that many Nigerians now admire, after decades of corruption and five years in which the nation drifted under President Goodluck Jonathan’s affable but ineffectual rule. LA Times
Chad says hundreds of Boko Haram militants, nine soldiers killed in clash
Chad’s army said its forces had killed hundreds of Boko Haram militants and lost nine of its own troops in clashes in northern Nigeria on Wednesday. Soldiers from Chad and Niger drove the insurgents from Malam Fatori, one of Boko Haram’s last major footholds near Nigeria’s border with Niger, earlier this week. Wednesday’s clashes took place as they were mopping up. “There was fighting and we recorded nine dead and 16 injured. There were hundreds of dead on Boko Haram’s side,” said Colonel Azem Bermandoa, a spokesman for Chad’s army. Reuters at Yahoo News
Boko Haram uses children as human bombs
Boko Haram Islamist militants in northern Nigeria are using children as human bombs and targeting women and girls for particularly horrific abuse, including sexual slavery, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that his office had received reports of Boko Haram using children as its first line of attack, as “expendable cannon fodder”. “Bodies of children around 12 years old have been found strewn across such battlefields,” Zeid said. Boko Haram has been attacking towns and villages in northern Nigeria and border regions of neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. “The group has also repeatedly used young children as human bombs, including a case of a 14-year-old girl carrying a baby on her back who detonated a bomb in a marketplace,” Zeid said. News 24
US military aid released to Egypt boosts leader’s legitimacy
The release of U.S. military aid to Egypt withheld following the army’s overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013 has boosted the legitimacy of the former military chief now running the country, nearly a year into his four-year term. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday welcomed the move, another victory in his quest to eliminate some of the last international penalties on his government after companies gave it a strong vote of confidence at a March economic summit that generated tens of billions of dollars in investment. In a statement, el-Sissi’s office said he had told U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone that the decision supports the strategic objectives of both countries in combating terrorism and extremism and maintaining security, particularly in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula. AP
Amnesty: Gambia sentences 3 to death for attempted coup
A human rights group says Gambia has sentenced three soldiers to death after a secret trial in which they were convicted of participating in an attempted coup. Amnesty International said Wednesday that the death sentences were handed down Monday, along with life sentences for three other soldiers. The rights group called the death sentences a “cruel violation” and said they should be commuted to prison terms. It also called for a new trial. Lt. Malick Sanyang, a spokesman for the Gambian Armed Forces, declined to comment when asked about the sentences Wednesday. The Dec. 30 power grab was put down by forces loyal to President Yahya Jammeh, who himself came to power in a coup in 1994. AP
In Tunisia, One Brother Studied Philosophy, Another Gunned Down Tourists
The same day that Jabeur Khachnaoui was gunning down foreign tourists at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis last month, one of his older brothers was on the other side of town, attending a rally against terrorism. The two brothers grew up in a family with three other siblings in this small hamlet of olive groves here in Tunisia’s impoverished southwest. They were close, but in just a few years had ended up deeply divided in their outlook, much like their country itself. The older brother went to study philosophy in Tunis, while the youngest brother stayed at home and became intensely religious. After reading about the attack online late that night, it was friends who broke the news to him that Jabeur Khachnaoui was one of the perpetrators. The New York Times
Morocco dismantles ISIS recruitment cell
Moroccan authorities said on Wednesday they dismantled a cell in the city of Fez that was recruiting fighters for the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The interior ministry said the head of the cell maintained strong ties with ISIS leadership and sent Moroccans to training camps in the two countries, where they received intensive training in weapons handling. “The members of this recruitment cell had received significant foreign funding for the necessary expenses to allow for travel and movement of these fighters,” the ministry statement said, without elaborating. The arrests were made by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, inaugurated this year as part of the kingdom’s beefed up war against terrorism. News 24
East Africa Trade Deal Another Step to Closer U.S.-Africa Economic Ties
n late February, the United States signed a trade deal with the East African Community (EAC), the bloc of five countries around Africa’s Great Lakes. In an email interview, Nora Carina Dihel, a senior trade economist at the World Bank, discussed U.S. trade with the EAC and the rest of Africa. WPR: What is covered by the recent U.S. trade deal with the EAC, and what impact is it likely to have on the economies of the EAC? Nora Carina Dihel: The new cooperation agreement signed by trade ministers from the five EAC countries-Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda-and the U.S. Trade Representative aims at streamlining customs procedures and providing technical assistance to promote trade by facilitating initiatives on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which cover food safety and animal and plant health, as well as technical barriers to trade. World Politics Review
South African continental peacekeeping deployments extended for another year
President Jacob Zuma wearing his SA National Defence Force (SANDF) commander-in-chief hat has committed South Africa to more than R1,4 billion in expenditure over the next 12 months on three separate out-of-country military deployments. None of the three – to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and in the Mozambique Channel – are new. All three see South African airmen, medics, sailors and soldiers stand alongside uniformed counterparts from Africa and other parts on the world in either peace support or peacekeeping missions (DRC and Sudan) and keeping territorial waters safe from pirates (Mozambique). Zuma yesterday (March 31) informed Parliament of the “extended employment of troops” according to a statement issued by the Presidency. DefenceWeb
Yemenis seek refuge in Somalia and Djibouti
Dozens of Yemenis have crossed the Gulf of Aden in small boats to get to Somalia, Djibouti and Somaliland to escape fighting and Saudi air strikes, the UN refugee agency has said. The UNHCR said it was looking for a possible site for the refugees in Djibouti in case the fighting worsens. At the same time Somali refugees are still continuing to arrive in Yemen to escape violence and poverty at home. Yemen hosts more than 238,000 Somali refugees, the UNHCR says. The UNHCR said that at least 32 Yemenis “fleeing conflict” landed on Somalia’s northern coastline after crossing the treacherous Gulf of Aden and landing in the semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. BBC
Kenya corruption watchdog makes allegations against 175 officials
Five ministers have already left their positions temporarily after President Uhuru Kenyatta made a speech last Thursday in which he directed any public official cited in the report to step aside pending investigation, regardless of rank. The report was not made public until Tuesday, although some parts had been leaked to the media. Kenyatta made the fight against graft a priority on taking office in 2013, but critics say he has failed to be effective. Corruption is seen as a major obstacle to business and national security in Kenya. The report by Kenya’s Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission outlines allegations against members of parliament, senators and governors in what local media has dubbed the “List of Shame”. Times Live
DRC Army Putting Pressure on FDLR
Democratic Republic of Congo government forces, which launched an offensive against FDLR rebels in the east of the country a month ago, has been successful in driving the militants out of parts of North and South Kivu provinces, a military spokesman said. Congolese army spokesman General Leon Richard Kasonga said during the weekend the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a Rwandan rebel movement whose presence in Congo dates back nearly 20 years – has been driven out of two dozen localities in North and South Kivu provinces. Kasonga said the Congolese army had captured all its military objectives identified in its initial plan. He said they also “neutralized” 185 FDLR combatants, and other armed groups in the process. VOA
Ex-Shabab Official Claims al-Qaida Ties Dissolved
A former al-Shabab intelligence official, claiming the Somali militant group “basically” no longer has relations with long-time ally al-Qaida, has raised the possibility it could align itself with the Islamic State group. Zakariya Hersi told VOA’s Somali service that if al-Shabab militants “feel they need foreign relations, since the other ties were cut, then they may seek something to replace that, something that gives them a legitimacy.” Al-Shabab has not confirmed whether it has broken ties or remains allied with al-Qaida. A switch in allegiance would depend on the circumstances, Hersi said, adding that he does not believe any IS alliance was imminent but could occur in the next year or two. VOA
Kenya: Uhuru Slams Travel Alerts, Asks West Not to Lie About Security Intelligence
President Uhuru Kenyatta has slammed foreign countries for continued issuance of advisories restricting travel to Kenya. Australia issued a travel alert last Friday and warned of possible attacks in Nairobi while Britain toughened its warning, asking citizens to avoid most Coastal resorts. Noting that the threat to security is an international concern, Uhuru said advisories against travel to certain countries do not help. “We share our intelligence with other security organs, they should not lie that we don’t,” he added. He spoke during the official opening of the 2015 Kenya Diaspora Easter Investment Conference at Windsor Golf and Country Club, Nairobi on Wednesday. The Star on allAfrica
Record number of migrants expected to drown in Mediterranean this year
A record number of migrants will drown in the Mediterranean this year if the current death rate remains unchecked, after 10 times as many migrants lost their lives during the first three months of 2015 as during the equivalent period in 2014. At least 486 asylum seekers have drowned in the Mediterranean since the start of the year, compared with 46 in the first three months of 2014, according to preliminary figures supplied to the Guardian by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The death toll has risen sharply even though the number of migrants arriving in Europe by sea has remained roughly the same. It suggests that the EU’s decision not to create a like-for-like replacement of Mare Nostrum, a full-scale Italian rescue operation that folded last October, has neither curbed the number of attempts to cross the sea, nor fatalities along the way. The Guardian
Uganda’s ongoing struggle with moonshine
The illegal production of hard liquor is a problem across much of Africa, but it may be at its worst in Uganda. It is a surprising statistic – according to the World Health Organization, Ugandan drinkers consume a shocking 23.7 litres of alcohol per capita and 89 percent of this alcohol is unregulated, home-brewed and illegally sold. Production of this crude homemade alcohol has mushroomed in recent years causing an unknown quantity of social damage, an increase in mental health and blindness cases, as well as hundreds of deaths. Al JAzeera
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