Heavy fighting rages for 5th day in 3-year Muslim insurgency in Mozambique, threatening Africa’s biggest private investment gas project

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Dozens of civilians and an unknown number of military deaths, some by decapitation, were reported by Human Rights Watch, as communications have been shut off in the strategic town of Palma since al-Shabab insurgents attacked the town from three directions Wednesday. The renewed violence affects the fate of the liquefied natural gas project by the French energy company Total.

About 200 foreign workers who sought refuge at the Hotel Amarula along Palma’s beach have become the targets of insurgent attacks while others trying to reach the hotel were reported killed. Locals have taken to the dense forests outside town to outrun the rebels. Palma is near the border with Tanzania.

Mozambique’s defense and security forces are “working tirelessly to re-establish security and order as fast as possible,” said the Ministry of Defense through a spokesman, adding they will “do everything to guarantee the security” of the local population and of “economic projects.”

Total has issued a statement indicating it has suspended all its operations in the Afungi peninsula and that none of its staff at the site were victims of the attack. “Total trusts the government of Mozambique whose public security forces are currently working to take back the control of the area.”

Al-Shabab already holds Mocimboa da Praia, a town 31 miles south of Palma since their victory there in August. They have no known connections to Somalia’s jihadist rebels of the same name.

By Milan Sime Martinic

President of Tanzania dies age 61

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John Magufuli, a populist leader who contrasted his country with his African neighbors by declaring it “open for business” in the midst of regional pandemic lockdowns, died in a Dar es Salaam hospital Wednesday, announced the government.

His vice president said in a national address that he died of “chronic heart disease.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

Gulf of Guinea pirates a growing threat in West Africa controlling area from Senegal to Angola, to Cabo Verde to Sao Tome and Principe

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Militant groups robbing and kidnapping foreign nationals for ransom have grown into a proper organized criminal network with a hub in Nigeria running pirate operations with impunity, and the problem is getting worse and more widespread in the region, stifling development across the entire west coast of Africa, according to a pirate expert speaking to Alan Kasujja on Africa Daily. Pirates now control an area that reaches as far as 200 knots into international waters, and modern vessels now allow them to evade authorities. Last year, 130 of 135 maritime kidnappings worldwide occurred in the Gulf of Guinea.

The area gets less international attention that the key oil routes of the Straits of Hormuz and the Horn of Africa.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Niger: Peaceful and democratic change of power

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In a first since the country’s independence in 1960, President Mahamadou Issoufou will not use any constitutional amendments or tricks to extend his stay in power and will step down at the end of this term, handing power over to his democratically elected successor, former Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum.

According to The Economist, 13 African heads of state have exceeded their term of office in the past six years.

by Milan Sime Martinic

Displaced people in South Sudan fear return over delay in peace implementation

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JUBA, South Sudan – The South Sudan civil society forum has said that several internally displaced persons and refugees in neighboring countries are fearing to return to their homes because of delay in implementing the revitalized peace deal.

“Lack of plans by the government, looming insecurity and poor services continue to discourage IDPs and refugees from returning home,” said a statement issued by South Sudan Civil Society forum on Monday in Juba.

According to UN agencies, close to one million people are living in IDP camps in the country.

These people were displaced in the aftermath of violence that broke out in December 2013 and renewed violence in July 2016 that displaced thousands in Central, Eastern and Western Equatoria states respectively.

“A comprehensive national plan to facilitate and support repatriation, rehabilitation and resettlement of internally displaced persons and returnees in a voluntary and dignified manner has to be developed,” according to the forum.

It also expressed deep concern over slow implementation of the security arrangement that includes training and unification of the army.

South Sudan is supposed to complete training and unification of 83,000 estimated force to take charge of security during the transitional period before elections are held around 2023.

“The 2018 agreement provided for restoration of permanent and sustainable peace, security and stability in our country envisaged through training, graduation and deployment of national unified forces to take charge of security. Sadly, there is little progress to report on this front,” it said.

By Benjamin Takpiny

ANC leadership to meet with former President Jacob Zuma

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The African National Congress (ANC) leadership has proposed a meeting with Zuma over his refusal to appear before the Zondo commission of inquiry into the state capture.

Zuma agreed to a meeting which is expected to take place soon.

“With regards to former President Zuma, there are quite a number of engagements that are happening, and one of those is an engagement with the top leadership of the ANC which should be happening any day soon,” Ramaphosa told the South African National Editors’ Forum.

“It’s been agreed. He agreed to it. We’ve all agreed to it, that we are going to engage with him. He is a disciplined member of the ANC and we will be able to have an engagement with him. The massage will be earnest, simple and straightforward, that let us all abide by our constitution, respect our institutions, particularly the judiciary,” said Ramaphosa.

Zuma was recently summoned to testify at the Zondo commission. However, his lawyer wrote to the commission saying that would not be attending.

By Zakithi Dlamini

73% drop in migration from Horn of Africa to Gulf countries due to pandemic

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – New data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) this week confirms a nearly three-fourths decline in migration from the East and Horn of Africa regions toward Gulf countries through Yemen during 2020.

These findings are especially significant because African migration through Yemen to the Gulf of Arabia has been high for the past four years. Despite reduced arrivals in 2020 — due in part to Coronavirus-related restrictions — risks for migrants increased, with more detentions, exploitation and forced transfers.

Data released by IOM show that the number of migrants crossing via Yemen from the Horn dropped from a high of 138k in 2019 to 37k in 2020. Forced returns from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were also significantly reduced, passing from nearly 121k Ethiopian migrants in 2019 to 37k in 2020.

Border closures, which have left thousands of workers stranded, resulted in many workers from the East African countries facing exploitation from people smugglers when trying to get home. As of September 2020, some 3,000 migrants were stranded within the East and Horn of Africa, in addition to tens of thousands of other migrants from the region stranded in Yemen.

By Henok Alemayehu

ICC rules past trauma not a defense against the war crime of forced pregnancy

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The international court concluded a case against a former child soldier whose defense included that he had been a victim himself when he was abducted and conscripted into Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army at the age of 10. The acts for which he was tried took place later on, when he was a high ranking commander of that force.

The ruling establishes for the ICC that “suffered victimization in the past is not a justification, nor an excuse to victimize others,” as was argued by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in her opening statements of the trial in 2016.

The ruling is considered to be somewhat of a landmark because it expands the ICC’s definition of war crimes and crimes against humanity to include forced pregnancy and forced marriage.

By Milan Sime Martinić

Nigeria remains Africa’s top economy as Egypt and South Africa shuffle places again

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In the 3-way see-saw to be at the top African economy, Egypt beat out South Africa again taking its place as the continent’s second-biggest economy, leaving Nigeria at the top, a position it has held since 2020 when it overtook South Africa.

The International Monetary Fund records show that for years the three counties have been in constant competition for the #1, #2 and #3 spots.

By Milan Sime Martinić

Angola has decriminalized homosexuality

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The Southern African country also passed a law criminalizing discrimination based on sexual orientation, which will come into play when a person tries to get a job or receive services.

Only a handful of African nations have laws to protect homosexuals, and many criminalize the lifestyle with potentially heavy punishments — sometimes even a death sentence.

Angola has been revising its 1975 penal code which was interpreted to ban homosexuality through its “vices against nature” provision.

By Milan Sime Martinić