Politics

9, April 2018

Abduction of Retired Justice Mbeng Martin: Why Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho is WRONG ⁰

Cat-calls have greeted Dr. Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho’s published reaction on the abduction of Retired Justice Mbeng Martin in Ewelle village in the Manyu County and we in Western Europe believe and fervently too that he got it all wrong. Barrister Agbor Balla’s arrogant write-up sparked outrage and even some pro Yaoundé supporters were aghast at his bid to blame the suppression of freedom of speech on the Ambazonian freedom fighters.

The retired judge has always been apolitical and has never ever expressed an opinion on the Cameroon political story including the Southern Cameroons revolution. Consequently, there is more to his abduction than Mr. Agbor Felix claims to know. As Barrister Felix Nkongho tries to come back into the Southern Cameroons lime light, the action taken by Ambazonians that forced a TV channel in Kenya to cancel an interview they had with him reveals Southern Cameroonians and Barrister Agbor Balla are no longer an item.

Agbor Balla claimed that by abducting Justice Mbeng, the perpetrators were “Suppressing freedom of speech, association and attacking others with different views do not represent the values we ought to build.” The man of law added that “We must not be bullied into silence through the barrel of a gun by armed groups.” It is evidently clear that Barrister Agbor Nkongho is seeking for notice and merely speaking for himself. Correspondingly, he is close to two years behind West Cameroon leadership. To be sure, his ill-advised reaction has instead endangered the life of Justice Mbeng Martin.

The press release on Justice Mbeng Martin shows how out of touch Barrister Agbor Balla is with the mood of the Southern Cameroons nation. Far from wanting to score political concessions, the overwhelming majority of Southern Cameroonians want separation from French Cameroun and for the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia to get on with making a success of the divorce process.

Sessekou Isong Ashu

London, UK

8, April 2018

Iran: Foreign Minister to head big delegation to Africa, Latin America ⁰

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday will begin a four-leg tour of African and Latin American countries to discuss the strengthening of relations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the top diplomat will head a ranking political and economic delegation on the tour, which will take him to Senegal, Namibia, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Also accompanying him are representatives of dozens of Iranian companies as well as entrepreneurs from commercial, economic, and science-based spheres of activity, who hail from public and private sectors.

The minister will be holding meetings with political, economic, and parliamentary officials from the four countries. He will also be delivering addresses at joint economic and commercial gatherings as well as some think tanks.

Zarif last toured Africa last October, visiting South Africa, Uganda, and Niger.

He went on a six-leg Latin America tour a year earlier, traveling to Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

The Islamic Revolution in 1979 resulted in a fundamental overhaul of Iranian foreign policy, changing its focus from the West to the developing world.

The former government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promoted the notion of an Iranian “South-South” strategy, aiming to expand relations with Africa and Latin America. In 2006, Ahmadinejad famously attended the African Union summit in Gambia as a guest of honor.

Source: Presstv

7, April 2018

US: Republican lawmaker resigns over sexual harassment accusations ⁰

A US congressman has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by a female former aide amid a string of sexual assault claims in the country.

Republican Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas resigned Friday from Congress a week after the House ethics committee said it was investigating him over allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation involving the female former staff member.

“While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it’s time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve,” the 56-year-old congressman said in a social media video statement.

Farenthold, who represented Corpus Christi in the US House of Representatives, has denied the accusation, but had said in December that he would not seek re-election.

“I had no idea how to run a congressional office, and as a result, I allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional,” Farenthold said in December.

According to a Politico report in December, the congressional Office of Compliance had paid $84,000 from a public fund on behalf of Farenthold for a sexual harassment claim.

This comes after several other US lawmakers have either stepped down or not sought re-election over sexual harassment accusations. President Donald Trump has also been accused by at least two dozen women of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The wave of sexual scandals began when Harvey Weinstein, a leading Hollywood producer, was hit with allegations of sexual harassment, assault or rape.

Trump has said that he was happy that women were now coming forward accusing lawmakers and media figures, many of whom Democrats, of sexual misconduct.

Source: Presstv

6, April 2018

Did Gadaffi fund Ukraine opposition leader’s failed presidential bid? ⁰

Corruption investigators in Ukraine are looking into allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave a multi-million euro donation to the presidential campaign of Yulia Tymoshenko in 2010, Ukrainian MP Volodymyr Ariev said.

Tymoshenko denies the claims, but reports of past illicit campaign financing could damage the Ukrainian opposition leader, who is currently beating President Petro Poroshenko in opinion polls ahead of next year’s presidential vote.

Ariev, who is a member of Poroshenko’s ruling BPP faction, said he and other MPs had formally asked the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) look into the allegations published by pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in February.

As soon as this information appeared in the newspaper, three MPs sent a request to NABU with a request to verify this information.

According to Asharq al-Awsat, a Gaddafi representative flew by private jet to Kiev to deliver a briefcase with 4 million euros ($4.9 million) in cash to help finance Tymoshenko’s ultimately unsuccessful 2010 presidential bid.

“As soon as this information appeared in the newspaper, three MPs sent a request to NABU with a request to verify this information,” Ariev told Reuters after he posted a photo on Facebook of NABU’s alleged written acceptance of the request.

Under Ukrainian law, state bodies must investigate any claims if requested by members of parliament. No criminal case has been launched.

Asked to comment on the allegations, the press service of Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party said: “It is nonsense. The information is not correct.”

NABU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gadaffi’s financing of foreign elections

The case threatens to draw Tymoshenko into a broader scandal surrounding Gaddafi’s alleged bankrolling of foreign elections.

France is investigating whether former President Nicolas Sarkozy received 5 million euros of Libyan cash to finance his 2007 election campaign.

Tymoshenko has been prime minister twice and was imprisoned by former president Viktor Yanukovich in a case condemned by Western leaders as selective justice.

Known for her trademark braided hairstyle, Tymoshenko lost the 2014 presidential race, but the latest poll by Rating shows her ahead of Poroshenko with 18.7 percent support versus 15.6 percent for the incumbent president.

The next presidential election is slated for March 2019.

While Tymoshenko served as prime minister in 2007-2010, Kiev and Tripoli agreed a number of commercial deals including a plan for Libya to grow wheat on 100,000 hectares of Ukrainian land.

Gaddafi visited Kiev during a tour of ex-Soviet states in 2008, three years before he was overthrown and killed by rebels. He hosted Tymoshenko in a Bedouin-style tent that he had pitched in central Kiev as was his habit on official trips.

REUTERS

6, April 2018

Spain: Pro-independence Catalans celebrate as Puigdemont granted bail ⁰

Pro-independence Catalans celebrated the decision by a German court to release on bail the former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont but also protested for the freedom of other jailed separatists in Spain.

The state court in Schleswig, Germany said the 55-year-old ex-president could leave a prison in northern Germany with a 75,000-euro ($92,000) payment. It wasn’t immediately clear when Puigdemont would be released.

In the town of Figueres, around 100 pro-independence protesters stood in silence for a half hour while wearing white masks with red crosses on their mouths. Demonstrators said the masks and crosses symbolize the oppression by the Spanish government.

The protest ended peacefully with a long round of applause.

(Source: AP)

5, April 2018

CPDM crime syndicate “wins” 90% of elective senate seats ⁰

Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), the country’s ruling party has swept an overwhelming majority of seats in the senate after the March 25 polls.

According to official results from the elections body, ELECAM, CPDM won 63 out of the 70 seats available. The remaining seven seats went to the main opposition, Social Democratic Front (SDF).

CPDM won in nine out of the ten regions of the central African country with the SDFwinning only in one of the Anglophone regions – the North West. Seven other parties failed to win a seat.

Cameroon’s parliamentary system caters for 100 senators out of which 70 are to be elected by municipal councillors across the country. The remaining 30 slots are the prerogative of the president.

The senatorial elections marks the start of a busy electoral calender as it is set to be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year. The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President.

President Paul Biya is expected to seek another term in office after over three decades in charge. The country is currently riled by secessionist elements in the Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest regions.

The secessionists have entered an armed phase of a struggle for independence. About twenty five security forces have so far been killed in guerilla style attacks. Government received over 40 separatist members deported from Nigeria, they included leader Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe.

Culled from Africa News

5, April 2018

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio wins Sierra Leone presidential runoff ⁰

Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio has won a narrow victory in a run-off election to become Sierra Leone’s next president, according to official results by the country’s electoral body.

The National Electoral Commission announced at 10:00pm local time that Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won 51.8 percent of a total of over 2.5 million ballots cast in the March 31 vote, beating out the ruling All People’s Congress candidate Samura Kamara, who garnered 48.1 percent.

Kamara, a former foreign affairs minister, and Maada Bio, who briefly ruled Sierra Leone as head of a military junta in 1996, were vying to replace outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits.

I feel happy about the results. I am here because my president Julius Maada Bio has won the election in this country.

Maada Bio is to be sworn in as president tonight at a yet to be disclosed venue.

“The new president will be sworn in tonight,” Chief Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm told Reuters.

SLPP supporters began celebrating in the streets of the capital Freetown on Wednesday evening in anticipation of the official announcement of results.

“I feel happy about the results. I am here because my president Julius Maada Bio has won the election in this country,” said Adolfus Kargbo, among a group of SLPP supporters chanting Maada Bio’s name.

Who is Maada Bio?

Julius Maada Bio, 53, has tasted the presidency before having served a military Head of State for about three months. He led the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) military junta government that lasted from January 16 to March 29 1996.

He has also tasted how it feels to be on the ballot paper, he was the Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s candidate for the last elections. He lost to outgoing Ernest Bai Koroma.

As a military ruler, he toppled his boss in the NPRC junta Captain Valentine Strasser in January 1996 but handed over to democratically elected Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the SLPPafter the 1996 presidential elections.

He later retired from active service that year and moved to the United States to further his studies. He earned a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the American University in Washington DC.

He was born on May 12, 1964 and graduated from military academy in October 1987 aged 23. He has played part in peacekeeping ops by the United Nations famously in Liberia. He played a role in the 1992 coup and led the 1996 one before handing over after elections.

He returned from the U.S. to join the SLPP in 2005. Contested to lead the party but lost the bid. He was picked as party’s presidential candidate in 2012 polls and garnered 37% of votes to place second.

He is a Roman Ctholic married to Fatima Bio a practicing Muslim and a Gambian national. They got married in an interfaith ceremony in London in 2013. The couple have a child but Maada Bio has three other children from a previous marriage. The vice presidential candidate of the SLPP is Jalloh Mohamed Juldeh.

The largely peaceful election process has come as a relief for the country of 7 million people, who endured a civil war in the 1990s and whose economy was dragged down by an Ebola epidemic in 2014-15 and a global slump in commodity prices in 2015.

Source: Africa News

4, April 2018

Trump says he could have ‘a very good relationship’ with Putin ⁰

President Donald Trump says he could have “a very good relationship” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, even as the United States and many European nations have expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats.

“Getting along with Russia is a good thing,” Trump said Tuesday during a joint press conference with leaders of three Baltic countries most concerned about the potential for “aggression” from Moscow.

“I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin, and if I did, that would be a great thing. And there’s also a great possibility that that won’t happen. Who knows?”

Trump made the comments as his administration raised the prospect of a White House meeting between the US and Russian presidents.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Putin had “discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’” during their most recent phone conversation last month, and that the White House was among “a number of potential venues.”

Trump called Putin on March 20 to congratulate him on his reelection, stoking criticism he is overly warm with the Russian president even as the US intelligence has conduced Russia interfered in the 2016 US election.

During the White House summit on Tuesday, Trump said he was looking to expand business ties with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as their leaders have called on the US to take a tougher stance against Russia.

US President Donald trump speaks during a joint press conference with President Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia, President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia and President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania in the East Room of the White House on April 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

“The Baltic countries remain a key market for US aircraft, automobiles, machinery and medical equipment, and we welcome increased bilateral trade with all three nations based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity,” he said.

Trump told the foreign leaders that “nobody has been tougher on Russia” than he has been, noting he has pushed for increased military spending and energy production to beat Russia.

“We’re essentially now energy-independent. We’re an exporter of energy. That is not a positive for Russia,” he said.

“We are going to have a military stronger than we’ve ever had before by far,” he added. “That’s not exactly a great thing for Russia.”

The three states, along with the US, moved to impose new sanctions on Moscow in response to the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England last month, an attack that Western officials have blamed on the Kremlin.

The UK says the nerve agent Novichok had been used to poison the pair, claiming only Russia had the capability, motive and intent to be behind the attack.

Moscow has vehemently denied any involvement, saying the substance could have originated from the countries studying Novichok, including the UK itself, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

The Trump administration announced plans to expel 60 Russian diplomatic officials it accused of being spies following the nerve agent attack against Skripal.

Despite diplomatic actions by his administration, Trump has not forcefully condemned Putin and Moscow for the incident.

Moscow has also expelled nearly 60 diplomats from different countries in retaliation.

Source: Presstv

3, April 2018

Egypt: Sisi re-elected in low-turnout election ⁰

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term but with a lower turnout, official results showed on Monday.

Turnout was 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week’s vote. Sisi had been virtually guaranteed a landslide win, confirmed by early tallies as voting ended on Wednesday.

The election featured only one other candidate – himself an ardent Sisi supporter – after all serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January. The main challenger was arrested and his campaign manager beaten up, while other presidential hopefuls pulled out, citing intimidation.

“Every credible opponent was either threatened, harassed, prosecuted or detained,” said FRANCE 24 correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous.

Sisi said he had wanted more candidates to run and that he had nothing to do with the opposition withdrawals.

The election commission said the vote was free and fair as it gave the results in a televised announcement on Monday.

Sisi won a total of 21.8 million votes compared with 656,534 for his opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, whose tally was less than the 1.8 million spoiled ballots.

The lower turnout is a potential setback for Sisi, who suggested before the vote that he saw it as a referendum on his presidency rather than a genuine contest. Turnout in the 2014 vote that won him his first term was 47 percent.

“This came despite a very fierce campaign by officials to boost turnout,” said Kouddous. “You had officials using a mixture of cajoling and threatening and bullying to get people to the polls. In some provinces, you had police officers going door to door, instructing people to go to the polls. You had boxes of subsidised food with things like cooking oil and sugar being offered in poor areas for people to vote.”

Some voters said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, but did not say who had made the offers.

Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited.

State media had portrayed failure to vote as a betrayal of Egypt.

“This wasn’t about voter attitudes or voter choices,” Kouddous said. “This was about the optics of their participation. It was really about political domination and … a fierce repression of civilian politics.”

Criticism

Critics say former general Sisi’s popularity has been eroded amid tough economic reforms, which have left most Egyptians worse off, and also an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

His supporters say those measures are needed to stabilise the country, which faces a stubborn Islamic State group insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula and which was rocked by unrest after a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.

Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after protests against Morsi. Sisi swept to victory in an election a year later with 97 percent of the vote.

The United Nations expressed concern over the crackdown on dissent, including media, which took place before last week’s vote.

Sisi’s main Western and regional allies have been mostly silent over alleged human rights abuses in Egypt.

During voting last week, the US embassy in Cairo said on Twitter it was “impressed by the enthusiasm and patriotism of Egyptian voters”.

Russia congratulated Sisi on his election win ahead of the official results, and regional ally King Salman of Saudi Arabia called Sisi on Monday to express support, saying his victory came as a result of strong efforts to combat terrorism.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

2, April 2018

Botswana inaugurates new president Masisi in smooth handover ⁰

Botswana’s new president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, used his inauguration speech on Sunday to vow to tackle youth unemployment in one of Africa’s most stable countries.

The swearing-in ceremony in parliament came after Ian Khama stepped down having completed the constitutional maximum of 10 years in office.

As the vice president, Masisi took over automatically, and he is likely to secure a further five-year term in elections in October 2019 when the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is expected to hold on to power.

Botswana prides itself on good governance and rule of law, and the carefully managed handover of power comes a full 18 months ahead of parliamentary elections in 2019.

Masisi, the former vice president, takes over a country widely seen as an African success story that has made good use of its lucrative income from diamond, beef and tourism.

It is rated as the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International.

But it has also struggled with rising unemployment rate of about 18 percent and an HIV epidemic.

“It is because of the peace and tranquillity that our leaders have sustained for so long that Batswana (people) have continued to enjoy relative prosperity,” Masisi said after taking his oath.

“One of my top priorities as the president of this country will be to address the problem of unemployment especially amongst the young people.”

He also pledged to improve treatment and prevention of HIV in a country with a 22 percent infection rate among adults.

Continuity politics

President Masisi, 55, is a close ally of Khama and a BDP veteran.

He is a US-educated former teacher, UNICEF official and education minister, whose father was also a cabinet minister.

“Despite its small size, Botswana continues to play an important role in the promotion of global issues such as respect for human rights, democracy, good governance (and) the rule of law,” Masisi said.

Khama, 65, completed a months-long national farewell tour last week, bidding goodbye to the country’s population of 2.2 million.

He earned a record for straight talking, often criticising leaders including US President Donald Trump and unlike many in the region neighbouring Zimbabwe’s then-president Robert Mugabe as well as Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila.

Khama led the BDP to landslide victories in two elections, although the party won less than 50 percent of the vote for the first time in 2014.

“Internationally, Khama positioned himself as a moral leader,” Matteo Vidiri, a BMI Research analyst, told AFP.

“(But) a slowing economy and increasing public discontent has damaged the narrative of Botswana’s ‘special character’, of a country being able to escape the ‘resource curse’.”

Four opposition parties have said they could unite for the 2019 election to try to unseat the BDP, which has held power since independence from Britain in 1966.

At a farewell event in his home village, Khama was showered with gifts including a 4×4 truck, 143 cows, hundreds of chickens, more than 415,000 pula ($44,000, 35,000 euro) and a fully-equipped luxury caravan.

His father, Seretse Khama, served from 1966 to 1980 as Botswana’s first president.

(AFP)