Ivory Coast’s government was to meet with the party of former president Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday for talks on what his supporters have announced as his impending return.

In an apparent sign of discord, Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly said the date of June 17, announced by the party on Monday, had not been previously agreed by the government.

“The date was to be discussed consensually” between the government and Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), he said, adding: “It was not.”

Gbagbo is a highly controversial figure in Ivory Coast, where he was forced out a decade ago after a civil war that claimed several thousand lives.

He was then hauled off to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity arising from that conflict.

He was acquitted in 2019, and an appeal against that ruling failed in March, opening the way for his return.

Speculation of when that will be has been building for months, and his supporters say they want to welcome him in triumph.

But the government is in favour of a lower profile, wary of potential unrest if tens of thousands of his supporters turn out.

Coulibaly, who is also government spokesman, said that in order to set a date “consensually… arrangements must be implemented,” notably for Gbagbo’s “safety”.

Wednesday’s talks will bring together the minister of national reconciliation, Kouadio Konan Bertin, and the leaders of the FPI, officials said.

Gbagbo’s refusal to concede defeat in presidential elections in 2010 triggered a showdown with victor Alassane Ouattara and dug a deep rift in the country along north-south lines.

The pro-Gbagbo camp is portraying their leader as an elder statesman who can calm political waters that reached storm pitch last year.

Scores of people died in election-related violence after Gbagbo’s erstwhile rival Ouattara announced he would bid for a third term in office — a move that critics said breached the constitution.

Gbagbo’s return will be the start of a “new phase”, FPI secretary-general Assoa Adou said on Monday — “an important phase for the future of Ivory Coast, the phase of reconciliation, peace, the reconstruction of our country”.

Source: AFP

West African leaders decided at an extraordinary summit on Sunday to suspend Mali from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bodies after a second coup in nine months by the poor Sahel country’s military, but stopped short of reimposing sanctions.

The putsch had sparked warnings of fresh sanctions and deep concerns over stability in the volatile Sahel region.

Ten regional heads of state and three foreign ministers attended the summit in the Ghanaian capital Accra, with former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan serving as mediator in the crisis.

“The suspension from ECOWAS takes immediate effect until the deadline of the end of February 2022 when they are supposed to hand over to a democratically elected government,” Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said after the meeting.

The final declaration called for the immediate appointment of a new civilian prime minister and the formation of an “inclusive” government.

Mali’s new president Colonel Assimi Goita had arrived in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Saturday for preliminary talks.

Goita led the young army officers who overthrew Mali’s elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August over perceived corruption and his failure to quell a bloody jihadist insurgency.

After the takeover, the military agreed to appoint civilians as interim president and prime minister under pressure from ECOWAS.

But on Monday, soldiers detained transitional president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane, releasing them on Thursday while saying that they had resigned.

The twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uproar and marked Mali’s second apparent coup within a year.

Mali’s constitutional court completed Goita’s rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president.

With the junta going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges, including a promise to hold elections in early 2022.

The junta said this week it would continue to respect that timetable, but added that it could be subject to change.

Five dead in fresh attack

ECOWAS issued sanctions against Mali after the August coup before lifting them when the transitional government was put in place.

The 15-nation bloc had warned of reimposing sanctions on the country, as have the United States and former colonial power France.

French leader Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper published Sunday that Paris “could not stay by the side of a country where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or a transition”.

And he warned that France would pull its troops out of Mali if the country lurches towards radical Islamism under Goita’s leadership.

France has around 5,100 troops in the region under its anti-jihadist operation Barkhane, which spans five countries in the Sahel — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

Also Sunday, underscoring Mali’s chronic instability, suspected jihadists killed four civilians and a police officer in southern Mali, a region that has previously been mostly spared from the country’s Islamist unrest, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

The unidentified men attacked a checkpoint near the town of Bougouni, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Mali’s borders with Ivory Coast and Guinea, before dawn, the official said. A local lawmaker confirmed the attack.

Mali is among the world’s poorest countries, and the previous ECOWAS sanctions hit hard.

(AFP)

Congo-Brazzaville’s President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has appointed his son Denis-Christel as a cabinet minister – a move that has revived media speculation that he has a dynastic succession in mind.

Not that such a transition looks imminent. Elected to a further term in March, after ruling the country for all but five of the past 41 years, there’s no sign of the 77-year old head of state losing his appetite for wielding power himself.

Yet if Denis-Christel does eventually step into his father’s shoes, this will confirm Congo-Brazzaville’s alignment with an increasingly prevalent pattern in Central Africa.

In neighbouring Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba is the son of Omar Bongo, who ruled from 1967 to 2009, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila ruled for 17 years after succeeding his assassinated father Laurent-Désiré as head of state in 2001.

Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang – in power since deposing his tyrannical uncle Francisco Macías Nguema, the country’s first head of state, back in 1979 – has already installed his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, as vice-president, in pole position to succeed him.

And after Chad’s President Idriss Déby died last month – reportedly from wounds incurred in battle with rebels – his son Mahamat, a four-star army general, rapidly emerged as the leader of the interim ruling military council.

And now there are even rumblings about a possible family succession in Cameroon, where an anonymous “citizens’ movement” campaign has begun to promote the image of Franck Biya, son of the 88-year-old President Paul Biya, who is not yet midway through his latest seven-year term.

Sources close to Franck – who has always stayed out of politics, pursuing a private sector business career and even taking care not to become involved with bids for public sector contracts – indicate that he has nothing to do with the campaign. But nor has he asked the campaigners to desist, or issued a categorical denial of any ambition to succeed his father.

Of course, political dynasties are far from rare – look at the Bushes and Kennedys in the US.

And currently Uganda is seeing a social media campaign touting General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of current head of state Yoweri Museveni, as a potential governing party candidate for the next election in 2026.

But the phenomenon is particularly entrenched in west-central Africa’s petro-economies, where oil revenues often lubricate the networks of political patronage and empire-building.

It can also fuel rivalries and resentments within ruling dynasties and their often complex webs of personal connection.

There are rumours of palace intrigue among the Obiangs, with some family members said to favour an alternative presidential son, Oil Minister Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima.

Gabon: First family intrigues

But it is not just about personal issues. The 2016 Gabonese election saw Ali Bongo face off against former foreign minister and African Union Commission chief Jean Ping.

He happens to be the former partner of the president’s sister Pascaline, making Ali the uncle to their two children.

However, Ping ran on a fundamentally political agenda, presenting himself as the statesman face of opposition who could oversee reform and true democratisation.

And five years later, he has still not acknowledged defeat in what became a bitter contest, amid serious questions about the credibility of the final polling returns that narrowly decided the outcome in the president’s favour.

But Mr Bongo is not looking back. He already seems to be preparing the next step, having appointed his son Nourredin Bongo Valentin as “general coordinator of presidential affairs” in late 2019.

The previous year Mr Bongo had suffered a stroke during a visit to Saudi Arabia and his chief of staff, Brice Laccruche Alihanga, became increasingly prominent in managing affairs during his long illness and convalescence.

But eventually the president reasserted control, with Mr Laccruche demoted, sacked and then arrested over corruption allegations, which he denies.

Meanwhile, Nourredin was installed in this crucial new post where he sees his father every day, is charged with “transmitting his wishes” to the rest of the government machine and has a free hand to intervene across the board on his behalf.

Amid the uncertainty over Ali’s health, some speculate that Nourredin is being lined up to take over. He studied at the UK’s elite Eton College, the London Business School and London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and has a youthful modernising image.

French corruption probe

Far to the north, amid the fragilities of a Chadian political scene that just weeks ago lost the authoritarian Idriss Déby who had dominated it for three decades, huge challenges face his son Mahamat.

With his junta colleagues he must try to keep the regime’s traditional military and clan supporters onside, but he is also under domestic and international pressure to open up political dialogue and respond to demands for meaningful democratisation.

Complications of a different kind concern the Equatorial Guinean regime which remains totally dominant but has been a core target of a French judicial probe into allegations that family assets were bought in France with the proceeds of corruption.

Both the Bongos and the Nguessos have also been targeted: the 13 individuals formally placed under investigation also include a lawyer who worked for the late President Omar Bongo and several French citizens.

In 2015 French judges ordered the seizure of two properties in the Paris region whose real owner, they believed, was Mr Sassou-Nguesso’s nephew Wilfrid Nguesso; they had already ordered the seizure of around 15 luxury cars. Wilfrid was placed under formal investigation.

In 2016 Mr Sassou-Nguesso launched legal action in a bid to have cases related to him thrown out, while the government spokesman described the cases as an “immense manipulation” aimed at discrediting the president.

But the French judges pressed on and in mid-2017 they placed the president’s daughter Julienne and her husband Guy Johnson, another nephew, Edgar, and a former sister-in-law, Catherine Ignanga, under formal investigation.

They identified €18.4m ($22.4m; £15.9m) in allegedly suspicious transfers that had taken place in 2008-09.

Equatorial Guinea and its luxury sports cars

But it is the Equatorial Guinean Vice-President, Teodoro, who has attracted most attention, with police raiding his luxury residence at 42 Avenue Foch in Paris as far back as 2012 and seizing several cars, including two Bugatti Veyrons and a Rolls Royce Phantom.

Teodoro himself was eventually sentenced to pay a €30m fine.

His government went to the International Court of Justice, arguing that the Avenue Foch mansion, valued at €107m, was its embassy in France and thus protected from seizure by diplomatic immunity.

However, last December the Court rejected that argument. And legislation that has been going through the French parliament will provide for the proceeds realised from such sequestered assets to be set aside and used to finance development projects in the country concerned.

Yet such arrangements will need to be tightly structured. After the authorities in Geneva, Switzerland, began legal action against Teodoro and two other individuals for alleged money laundering and the mismanagement of public assets, the case was eventually settled in September 2019 through an auction of 25 luxury vehicles, with the proceeds reserved for charitable development causes.

A Lamborghini Veneno Roadster fetched SFr8.2m ($9.1m; £6.5m and a blue and black carbon Koenigsegg One sold for SFr4.6m. With seven Ferraris, two other Lamborghinis, five Bentleys, a Maserati, an Aston Martin and a McLaren on the block the auction realised total proceeds of SFr23.4m.

About half were bought by a German dealer, acting for an unnamed client.

Five months later, on 22 February last year, a now-deleted picture was posted on Teodoro’s Instagram account, showing him driving through the streets of the Equatorial Guinean capital Malabo – in the blue and black Koenigsegg.

Despite the recent trend towards presidential dynasties in some countries, it is not clear how sustainable they will prove in an increasingly youthful and urbanised Africa where expectations of change are growing.

Source: BBC

West African leaders will meet in Ghana on Sunday to discuss a response to Mali’s second coup in nine months, with the new president Colonel Assimi Goita attending.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) invited Goita to come to Ghana’s capital Accra for “consultations” ahead of an extraordinary summit on Sunday devoted to Mali, according to a letter from the 15-nation bloc seen by AFP.

He flew to Accra on Saturday, military and airport sources said.

In a statement on Facebook, the office of the Mali presidency said Goita would “take part alongside his counterparts in the sub-region”.

He had served as vice president since leading a coup last August that ousted the democratically elected president, with the roles of president and prime minister held by civilians after pressure from ECOWAS, which has served as a mediator.

However on Monday, soldiers detained transitional president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane, releasing them on Thursday while saying that they had resigned.

The twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uproar and marked the second apparent coup within a year in the Sahel country.

Mali’s constitutional court completed Goita’s rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president.

With the junta going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges, including holding elections in early 2020.

The junta said this week it would continue to respect that timetable, but added that it could be subject to change.

The constitutional court said Goita would “exercise the functions of transitional president to lead the transition process to its conclusion”.

Sanctions threat

ECOWAS, which issued sanctions against Mali after the August coup before lifting them when the transitional government was put in place, will meet from 2:00 pm (1400 GMT) in Accra on Sunday.

The 15-nation bloc has warned of reimposing sanctions on the country, as has the United States and former colonial power France.

French leader Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Rwanda and South Africa, said Saturday that he told West African leaders they could not back a country “where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition”.

Ndaw and Ouane’s detention came hours after a government reshuffle that would have replaced the defence and security ministers, both of whom were army officers involved in the August putsch.

On Friday, Goita said the army had had little choice but to intervene.

“We had to choose between disorder and cohesion within the defence and security forces and we chose cohesion,” he said.

Goita added that he wants to name a prime minister from the opposition M5 movement within days.

M5 spearheaded protests against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020 that built up pressure ahead of his ouster, but it was excluded from key posts in the army-dominated post-coup administration.

A rapprochement with the group might serve to soften domestic and foreign criticism of the military.

Mali is regularly ranked among the world’s poorest countries. The previous ECOWAS sanctions were felt hard by the country, which is reeling from numerous crises including a grinding jihadist insurgency.

Source: AFP

Mali’s interim president and premier have been freed from military detention, senior military and government officials said Thursday. Their release came three days after President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to be the country’s second coup in nine months.

“The interim president and prime minister were released overnight around 1.30am [local time]. We were true to our word,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Family members confirmed that President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane had been freed.

The two men have returned to their homes in the capital Bamako, those close to them said, though the conditions of their release were not clear.

The development came a day after military officials said the country’s transitional president and prime minister had “resigned” while in detention, a move the UN called “unacceptable”.

Ndaw and Ouane, tasked with steering the return to civilian rule after a coup last August, were detained by the military on Monday in what the international community called a military coup.

Over the past few days, the UN, along with the African Union and other international bodies, as well as the US, have repeatedly urged Mali’s military to release the transitional leaders.

Ndaw and Ouane had been heading the interim government with the declared aim of restoring full civilian rule within 18 months.

The leader of Mali’s 2020 coup, Col. Assimi Goita, who has been serving as the transitional vice president since September, seized control of the West African country earlier this week by deposing the two leaders in an unprecedented move.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)

The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on Mali behind closed doors Wednesday while West African mediators are set to meet with the country’s detained president and prime minister, sources say, as diplomatic pressure on Mali’s coup leaders mount.

The UN Security Council session on Mali was requested by France, Niger, Tunisia, Kenya and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines days after Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita announced that he had ousted the country’s interim president and prime minister because they failed to consult him about the nomination of a new government.

The move triggered widespread international condemnation and the threat of sanctions, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announcing that Paris had requested the special UN Security Council meeting after the “coup”.

There was no indication as to the chances of a joint declaration being adopted during this emergency meeting.

The detention on Monday of President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, tasked with steering the return to civilian rule after a coup last August, has also drawn in the West African regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a bid to defuse Mali’s latest crisis.

An ECOWAS mediation team arrived in the Malian capital, Bamako, on Tuesday and has now been “given the green light” by strongman Goita to meet with Ndaw and Ouane, a source close to the talks told AFP.

“We are here to help our Malian brothers find a solution to the crisis, but it is clear that ECOWAS could quickly announce sanctions at a future summit,” one member of the delegation, headed by former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, told AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has committed more than 5,000 troops to Mali’s fight against jihadism in the Sahel, has condemned the arrest of Ndaw and Ouane as a “coup d’état within an unacceptable coup d’état”. 

“We are ready in the coming hours to take targeted sanctions” against those responsible, he said after a European Union summit.

On Monday, the UN, African Union, ECOWAS, the EU and the US issued a rare joint statement, attacking the detention and demanding the pair be released.

That demand was echoed on Tuesday by Britain and Germany.

A senior Malian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Ndaw and Ouane had been taken to the Kati military camp near Bamako and “are fine.”

“They spent the night in good conditions. The president saw his doctor,” the source said.

A member of Goita’s team said that during the talks with the ECOWAS mediators, they had “explained their reasons” for pushing the two men out, and insisted that elections would still be held next year.

They said more talks would be held with the ECOWAS delegation.

Reshuffle sparks army backlash

Young military officers ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August after weeks of demonstrations over perceived government corruption and his handling of the jihadist insurgency.

ECOWAS, a 15-nation regional bloc, threatened sanctions, prompting the junta to hand power to a caretaker government that pledged to reform the constitution.

Ndaw and Ouane had been heading that interim government with the declared aim of restoring full civilian rule within 18 months.

But recently there had been signs of discontent among the public, with the opposition M5 movement demanding a “more legitimate” body.

On May 14, the government said it would appoint a new “broad-based” cabinet.

Designed to respond to growing criticism, the reshuffle saw the military keep the strategic portfolios it controlled during the previous administration.

But two other coup leaders — ex-defence minister Sadio Camara and ex-security minister Colonel Modibo Kone — were replaced, prompting officers to detain the president and prime minister.

‘Intent to sabotage transition’

Goita, who holds the rank of vice president in the transitional government, accused Ndaw and Ouane of failing to consult him on the reshuffle.

“This kind of step testifies to the clear desire of the transitional president and prime minister to seek to breach the transitional charter,” he said, describing this as a “demonstrable intent to sabotage the transition”.

The transitional charter, a document largely drawn up by the colonels, sets down principles for underpinning Mali’s return to civilian rule.

“The scheduled elections will be held in 2022,” Goita added.

But many have doubted whether the military-dominated government had the will — or the ability — to stage reforms on a short timescale.

“What we are experiencing today is the logical outcome of the flaws at the start of the transition,” when the junta sidelined civil society in the formation of the new government, said sociologist Brema Ely Dicko.

In the streets of Bamako, life seemed to continue as normal on Tuesday despite the ouster of Ndaw and Ouane, and many people interviewed by AFP said they were resigned to events.

Tahirou Bah, a civil society activist, attacked “putschist colonels…. (who) fight to the death for power” at a time when “80 percent of our country is under the control of terrorists, drug traffickers and bandits of every kind.”

But, he said, many people simply focused on day-to-day living — “This is survival for many Malians.”

Source:  AFP

The United Nations’ mission in Mali on Monday called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of the country’s president and prime minister, who were detained by the military.

The MINUSMA mission said on Twitter that those who hold the leaders will have to answer for their actions.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for calm and for Mali’s civilian leaders to be released.

“I am deeply concerned by news of detention of civilian leaders of the Malian transition,” Guterres said on Twitter. “I call for calm & their unconditional release.”

The European Union and the African Union also condemned the arrests.

The detentions raised fears of a second coup as President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane lead an interim government that was installed after a putsch in August under the threat of regional sanctions.

Coup leaders and army officers wielded significant influence over the government, however, casting doubt on a pledge to hold elections by early next year.

Two senior officials, who declined to be named, told AFP that soldiers had taken Ndaw and Ouane to the Kati military camp on the outskirts of the capital Bamako.

Their detentions followed a sensitive government reshuffle on Monday afternoon, which was designed to respond to growing criticism of the interim government.

The military kept the strategic portfolios it controlled during the previous administration in the reshuffle.

But two coup leaders — ex-defence minister Sadio Camara and ex-security minister Colonel Modibo Koné — were replaced.

The reshuffle also came at a time of growing political challenges in the capital Bamako, and pressure to stick to the deadline for promised reforms.

Unconfirmed rumours of a potential coup were swirling around Bamako on Monday evening, but the city remained relatively calm. 

Briefly reached by phone before the line cut, Prime Minister Ouane told AFP that soldiers “came to get him”.

A joint statement signed by the UN, AU, ECOWAS, the EU, the US and the UK on Monday condemned the arrest of the politicians and called for their “immediate and unconditional liberty”.

‘Send a message’

Young military officers ousted former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on August 18 after weeks of protests concerning perceived government corruption and his handling of Mali’s jihadist insurgency.

After the 15-nation West Africa bloc ECOWAS threatened sanctions, the military junta handed power to a caretaker government that pledged to reform the constitution and stage elections within 18 months.

Coup leader Assimi Goita was appointed as vice president of the caretaker administration, and the interim president, Bah Ndaw, is a retired army officer.

Many have doubted whether the military-dominated government has the will, or the ability, to stage reforms on a short timescale.

Among other problems, the vast nation faces a major logistical and security challenge, as swathes of territory are in the hands of jihadists.

Doubts remained despite the interim government last month pledging to hold a constitutional referendum on October 31, with elections to follow in February next year.

On May 14, amid growing anger, the government then said it would appoint a new “broad-based” cabinet.

An official at Mali’s interim presidency, who requested anonymity, said the reshuffle was designed to send a message that “respect for the transition deadline remains the priority”.

He also underscored the necessity of replacing the defence and security ministers.

“They are not emblematic figures of the junta,” the official said, referring to the newly appointed ministers.

Political feuding

In an example of mounting unease, the opposition M5 movement — which spearheaded protests against Keïta in 2020 — this month urged dissolving the interim government and demanded a “more legitimate” body.

But the M5 is divided. Two members of the Union for the Republic and Democracy party, for example, were appointed interim ministers Monday. The party is part of the M5.

Civil disputes in Mali are also adding to the pressure created by political feuding.

The country’s largest union, UNTM, called a second week of strikes Monday after pay negotiations with the interim government collapsed.

Source: AFP and REUTERS

The new government in Congo Brazzaville is sponsored by President Sassou Nguesso’s family.

Former Prime Minister Clément Mouamba’s government resigned on 16 April, just after President Denis Sassou Nguesso was sworn in for a fourth and final presidential term.

Key members of the Congolese head of state’s inner circle immediately pushed candidates to replace Mouamba. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that there was a post-election battle to replace Mr. Mouamba.

Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso, who was appointed on 12 May, is very close to both first lady Antoinette Sassou Nguesso and the president’s youngest son, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso.

However, Post-Sassou era is now on everyone’s thoughts but not lips.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s re-election on 21 March for what will surely be his last term has stirred the ambitions of his close entourage, though no one dares admit to it.

By Asu Vera Eyere in the UK

The Kenyan High Court on Thursday ruled that the constitutional review process initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta is illegal and has been a source of great tension in Kenyan politics in recent months.

The attorney general’s office announced that the government would appeal the decision.

The reform, known as the “Building Bridges Initiative” (BBI), aims to dilute the current “winner takes all” rule, which Kenyatta sees as the cause of repeated post-election conflicts in his country.

A referendum on the issue was in the works, but the five judges of the High Court ruled that the president did not have the right to initiate such a reform and that only Parliament or the citizens could do so.

Kenya’s restive politics

The process, which had been the subject of 11 different appeals filed by political figures or parties, is therefore “unconstitutional, null and void,” they said in their unanimous decision issued Thursday night.

“The constitutional amendment bill is an initiative of the president and the law clearly states that the president does not have the constitutional mandate to initiate constitutional changes by popular initiative,” they explained.

“Civil suits can be filed against the president for violating the Constitution,” they added.

The BBI draft proposes to amend the 2010 constitution, which established a presidential system of government, by creating, among other things, a post of prime minister, two posts of deputy prime minister and a post of opposition leader.

The revision was suggested by a commission set up in 2018 after a historic handshake between President Kenyatta and historic opponent Raila Odinga, who promised to draw a line under years of electoral disputes and political violence.

But it is opposed by Deputy President William Ruto, an ally of Mr. Kenyatta’s since his first election in 2012 and his supposed successor, who sees it as a move to remove him from power.

It is almost election time

Kenya’s presidential election is scheduled for 2022 and Uhuru Kenyatta, who is completing his second term in office, is not eligible to run again.

William Ruto, an ethnic Kalenjin who was promised by Uhuru Kenyatta that he would be the Jubilee presidential candidate in 2022, believes the constitutional review will create a system whereby Kenyatta and Odinga, the country’s two largest ethnic groups, can share power.

The new prime minister’s post, he said, would give Uhuru Kenyatta a chance to stay in office.

In Kenya, which has 42 ethnic groups, political affiliation and community identity are deeply intertwined, and elections have often led to violence.

The post-election crisis that followed the disputed defeat of Raila Odinga in 2007 left more than 1,100 people dead.

The new constitution in 2010 did not prevent further violence after the 2017 presidential election, boycotted by Mr. Odinga after the cancellation of an earlier election won by Mr. Kenyatta.

Source: Africa News

Envoys from Chad’s ruling military council are seeking support from its central African neighbors in fighting rebels who they say endanger a smooth return to civilian rule. Chad’s delegation told Cameroon’s president that without peace, a transition to civilian rule will be impossible, but Chad’s opposition says the military rulers should immediately step down if they genuinely want peace to be restored.

Abdelkerim Idriss Deby, deputy director of cabinet of the Republic of Chad, held discussions for close to two hours with Cameroon President Paul Biya Friday.  Abdelkerim is a son of Chad’s late president, Idriss Deby.

Abdelkerim said Cameroon is one of the five central African states Chad’s military council asked him to visit and give an account of the situation since Deby died April 20, 2021.

Abdelkerim said Chad has been witnessing a series of protests and deadly rebel attacks that are threatening its unity since Deby died. He said Chad’s military council has sent him to all member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to explain plans the military leaders have for a smooth transition to civilian rule. He said Chad needs the assistance of its neighbors for peace to return.

When asked, Abdelkerim declined to comment on the type of assistance his country needs. He said, however, security will be threatened in the region and that threat will spill over to all central African states, should the situation in Chad remain fragile.

A rebel force known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) has been involved in bloody battles with Chadian troops on the central African state’s northern borders with Libya, Niger and Sudan. Chad said several hundred troops, rebels and civilians have been killed within a month.

Chad under Deby was a key ally of France in the fight against jihadist groups across West Africa, including Boko Haram. These terror groups and other jihadist militants have over the years destabilized parts of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode, a lecturer in international security and defense at the University of Yaoundé-Soa, said Chad’s envoys are visiting central African nations to lobby for the kind of support the former president of Chad had from his neighbors all through his 30 years rule.

He said Chad’s late president Deby and Cameroon President Paul Biya signed an agreement to assist each other in maintaining security in both countries and in providing support against attacks. He said Chad’s military council wants to maintain the agreement signed between Cameroon and Chad. He said the terms of the agreement between the countries are clear: An attack on Chad is synonymous with an attack on Cameroon and vice versa.

Marsa Success, a Chadian opposition leader of the Transformers Movement, said although there are serious threats to stability, civilians do not want Chad’s constitution violated. He said the military council is not showing signs of wanting to hand over power to a civilian rule.

Marsa said the charter presented to Chadians by the military council states that the military rulers can renew their mandate of 18 months if insecurity persists. He said a national dialogue should be convened and a civilian designated to lead the transitional period while the military carries out its duty of maintaining peace.

Marsa said any civilian chosen to lead the transition should not be a candidate at the presidential election. He said Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville, should help bring peace by advising Chad’s military to hand power to civilians.

Currently, Chad’s transitional military council is headed by Idriss Deby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Deby. Mahamat was named interim head of state by the council after his father who spent more than three decades in power, and was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, was killed fighting rebels at the age of 68.

Mahamat promised to hold elections within 18 months, but the opposition and rebels dismissed the takeover as a coup and said the military must relinquish power to a civilian-led government.

Thousands were the streets to protest military rule. The demonstrators said they do not support what they called a “Deby monarchy.”

The rebel group FACT has vowed to depose the transitional military council should it fail to hand over power to civilian rule.

Source: VOA