Category: Politics

South Sudan deputy rebel leader arrives in Juba

{Alfred Ladu Gore back in Juba after two years of fighting in move that may herald return of rebel leader Machar.}

The deputy chief of a South Sudanese rebel group has returned to the capital Juba as part of a peace deal, raising hopes that the opposition leader will return next week.

Alfred Ladu Gore, a former general and minister, flew into the capital’s airport after more than two years fighting in the bush.

“I am very happy to be home … our advance team came here to proclaim peace and I have come to reaffirm that peace will not be reversed,” Gore said, after arriving with a delegation of around 60 people.

Gore, though, condemned the arrest of 16 of his supporters who had been mobilising people to welcome him.

“Peace means freedom to express your mind, to gather together even if it means you disagree,” he said.

He was welcomed by Akol Paul, a senior member of the ruling party. “His arrival today signifies that indeed the war has come to an end,” Paul said.

A 1,370-strong force of opposition soldiers and police completed also arrived in Juba over the weekend.

They are to supposed to ensure the security of rebel chief Riek Machar – named vice president in February – who is due to arrive in Juba next week.

Civil war erupted in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the country along ethnic lines.

Machar has said he will come to Juba on April 18 to form a unity government, which would be the first time he has returned to the capital since he fled two years ago.

The arrival of the rebels – especially Machar – would be a major symbolic step, though many warn that the practical implementation of the peace deal will be a long and tough task.

Tensions remain high, with the rebels accusing the army of boosting its presence in the capital.

Under the peace deal, Juba is supposed to be officially demilitarised to within a 25 kilometre radius, apart from a number of units given an exception. Other troops are meant to gather in special “cantonment” sites.

The United States on Monday condemned army attacks on rebel positions, “which destroyed a declared opposition cantonment site” near the town of Wau in the country’s northwest.

Washington said there were “credible reports” rebel troops had also attacked the army and civilians.

“There is no military solution to the conflicts in South Sudan,” the US said . “We call on all parties to fulfil their commitments to implement the provisions of the peace agreement in full.”

April 13, 2016
Trouble boils in Burundi after year of chaos

{Nairobi – A year after Burundi was plunged into chaos, peace efforts are deadlocked in the troubled central African country with the opposition divided and power in the hands of hardliners, analysts say.}

The government insists that a year of unrest is at an end with the capital Bujumbura relatively calm after a string of attacks, including a failed coup in May 2015 but tensions remain and many warn of the risk of a fresh explosion of violence.

Hundreds have been killed and quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial decision last April to run for a third term, a vote he won amid opposition boycotts in July.

“After the election fever and the violence that accompanied this process, the situation has returned to normal,” presidential press chief Willy Nyamitwe told AFP.

“Now the time is to work for development and the fight against poverty,” he added.

The lakeside capital Bujumbura is certainly calmer, after weeks of battles between the security forces and those opposed to Nkurunziza’s third term.

The once near-daily grenade blasts have also decreased.

‘System of repression’

“Burundi’s government can’t hide their satisfaction because they believe that the terrorist forces have been destroyed and order restored,” said Andre Guichaoua, from France’s Paris-Sorbonne University, a leading specialist in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

The government crackdown involved the brutal repression of street protests, but today security forces stem opposition more discreetly, after rights groups reported dead bodies being found on the city’s streets almost daily.

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said reports of torture have increased since the beginning of the year and many people there now “live in terror”.

Diplomats say the crushing of the opposition has further undermined respect for the law.

One described how “power is now in the hands of a small hard core”, mainly top generals close to Nkurunziza since they fought together in the bush in the 1993-2006 civil war between the mostly Tutsi army and predominantly Hutu rebel groups.

Those controlling power today are, like Nkurunziza, Hutus and have “set up a system of repression” based on core loyalist units within the varied security forces — police, army, intelligence and the notorious Imbonerakure, the ruling party’s youth wing militia.

The Imbonerakure, whose name means “The Watchmen” or, literally, “Those Who See Far”, have been accused of carrying out the regime’s dirty work using barbaric methods.

The UN says more than 400 people have been killed since the beginning of the crisis, thousands arrested and more than 250 000 have fled abroad, while rights groups say that torture and extrajudicial killings have become commonplace.

Things may appear more calm, but “the situation is not under control”, warned Thierry Vircoulon of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

He said the appearance of a lull in violence was “deceptive”, and had been driven by “international pressure on the government” and the opposition’s change of tactics in launching attacks against the security forces.

Government exploits international divisions

With the opposition split, despite efforts to bring them together under the main umbrella opposition group CNARED, whose leaders are in exile there seems little chance of a solution in the near future.

Rebel forces and armed opposition are divided and they “discredit themselves with a war of communiques”, added Vircoulon.

The international community is little better however, with analysts criticising the inability to find a “real” solution to the crisis, and the government is exploiting those divisions.

It is acutely aware of a “red line” the international community would not allow them to cross, genocide or regional destabilisation said Christian Thibon an expert on Central Africa from Franc’s University of Pau.

As long as the trouble in Burundi remains “a low-intensity conflict” and the international community is not forced to act to avert disaster, those divisions are “here to stay”, Thibon added.

Despite repeated calls from the international community for “inclusive dialogue”, the government has remained defiant and has refused to sit with the opposition in exile, which it accuses of being behind the violence.

“In light of the divisions within the international community, nothing is pressuring the government to act swiftly,” the diplomat said, suggesting it will “take several months at a minimum before real negotiations start.”

Without solutions, the pressure mounts.

One Burundi-based analyst warned of a “potentially explosive situation” amid the continued violence with fears the conflict is increasingly based along ethnic lines.

April 13, 2016
Top committee backs Brazil leader impeachment

{Latest survey of 513 lower house MPs shows 298 in favour short of 342 needed.}

A Brazilian congressional committee Tuesday recommended impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, setting the stage for a crucial vote in the lower house to decide whether she should face trial.

The committee voted 38 to 27 in favour of Rousseff’s ouster.

Both sides yelled slogans and waved placards as the vote was completed after hours of bad-tempered debate that often descended into shouting matches, reflecting Brazil’s increasingly bitter divisions.

Ms Rousseff is accused of fiddling accounts to mask the dire state of the government budget during her 2014 re-election.

The committee’s decision is non-binding but symbolically important as a preview of the decisive battle in the full lower chamber expected Sunday or the following Monday.

“It was a victory for the Brazilian people,” said opposition deputy Jovair Arantes, predicting the result would carry with “strong” pro-impeachment momentum into the full chamber’s vote.

In the Chamber of Deputies, a two-thirds majority would send Rousseff’s case to the Senate, which would then have the power to put her on trial and ultimately drive her from office. Anything less would torpedo the procedure.

DESPERATE FIGHT

Rousseff is fighting desperately to secure enough anti-impeachment votes or persuade deputies to abstain.

The latest survey of the 513 lower house deputies by the Estadao daily on Monday showed 298 in favour — still short of the 342 needed to carry the motion — with 119 opposed and 96 undecided. Pro-government deputy Silvio Costa said he was confident.

“The opposition is very arrogant” after the committee victory, he said.

With Latin America’s biggest country gripped by recession, political paralysis and a vast corruption scandal, passions on both sides are intense.

A barricade was erected along the Esplanade of Ministries in the capital Brasilia to separate opposing protesters that police expect could number as many as 300,000 during the lower house vote.

STEPPING DOWN

If the case is taken up by the Senate after being confirmed by the lower house, Ms Rousseff would have to step down for up to 180 days while a trial is held.

Her vice president, Michel Temer, who has gone over to the opposition, would take the reins.

Mr Temer would also remain president if a two-thirds majority in the Senate votes to depose Ms Rousseff.

Some in the opposition have declared Rousseff politically dead ever since Mr Temer’s PMDB party, the largest in Brazil, quit her ruling coalition and joined the pro-impeachment ranks last month.

However, Rousseff, who was tortured under Brazil’s military dictatorship, has fought back, helped by ally and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is overseeing frantic negotiations to build an impeachment-proof coalition.

Lula, addressing thousands of supporters Monday evening in Rio, said “putschists” were trying to oust a freely elected president.

“I would never have thought that my generation would see putschists trying to overthrow a democratically elected president,” said Lula, who ruled from 2003 to 2011. He specfically named Temer and the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha.

TEMER IMPEACHMENT

Rousseff has rock-bottom popularity ratings but as the moment of truth approaches, it has emerged that Brazilians are not much keener on her would-be replacement Temer.

A poll by the respected Datafolha institute on Saturday showed that 61 percent support impeachment, down from 68 percent in mid-March.

However, 58 percent also said they would like to see Temer impeached.

Controversy erupted Monday with the release — said by Temer’s office to have been accidental — of a recording in which he practices the speech he would give if he took over from Rousseff.

Temer adopts a presidential tone, calling for “unification of the country.”

Rousseff’s Workers’ Party called the premature speech evidence of “a brazen coup plot.”

Several factors could still turn events on their head in the countdown to the lower house vote.

One is the “Operation Car Wash” probe that has revealed a giant corruption network based around state oil company Petrobras.

A Who’s Who of Brazilian executives and high-ranking politicians, including many linked closely to Rousseff and Lula, have been prosecuted or investigated. Lula himself has been charged with money laundering.

The government says that the probe has become a political tool to boost the impeachment drive and Rousseff loyalists fear explosive new revelations before the vote.

Another wild card is Lula. An attempt to name him to the government was blocked in the Supreme Court after accusations that he and Rousseff were conspiring to win him ministerial immunity from the Car Wash prosecutors.

The Supreme Court is due to rule in the near future on whether he can formally enter government and the decision would be sure to make waves — as would new charges or legal action.

April 13, 2016
Dar, Juba to sign protocol on South Sudan

{President John Magufuli, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the East African Community’s Heads of State Summit, will lead the delegation from South Sudan in signing the protocol which will see the world’s newest country join the regional bloc.}

His Excellencies Presidents Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan and Dr John Magufuli of Tanzania are therefore scheduled to sign the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of South Sudan into the East African Community (EAC) on Friday, April 15, 2016 in Dar es Salaam City, according to Mr Richard Owora Othieno, the Head of Corporate Communications at the Arusha- based EAC Secretariat.

During their 17th Ordinary Summit held on March 2 here in Arusha, the EAC Heads of State received the report of the Council of Ministers on the negotiations for the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community and decided to admit the Republic of South Sudan as a new member.

The Summit then designated the Chairperson, His Excellency President Dr John Magufuli of The United Republic of Tanzania, to sign the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of South Sudan, which becomes the 6th member of the regional bloc which was revived in 1999 after the collapse of the original community in 1977.

Other members of the EAC include the founding three — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — as well as Rwanda and Burundi that joined later in 2007.

The admission of South-Sudan to the Arusha pivoted EAC now paves way to its neighbour, further north at Khartoum, to also be considered to become the seventh member of the regional grouping which was revived back in 1999. It was actually North Sudan, headquartered at Khartoum, which was first to apply to be allowed to join the East African Community.

However, its request was placed on hold because in order for a country to be a member of the EAC it must share a common border with any of the initial five partner states.

South Sudan which borders the two EAC member states; Kenya and Uganda in the South, apparently stood in-between Khartoum, but now having become member, it is possible for North Sudan to reapply and be considered to join East African Community.

South Sudan now brings into the East African community an addition 620,000 square kilometres of real estate, boosting the region’s population with a total of 12.3 million more people.

Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi, that formed the original East African Community (EAC) had over 150 million people between them, with the land measuring over 1.8 million square kilometres, 50 percent of which falling into Tanzania.

Driving in the right, South Sudan traffic regulations will conflict with those in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but complements the ones applicable in Rwanda and Burundi.

Its South Sudanese Pound as medium of exchange may also find a tough time operating alongside the dominating ‘Shilling,’ as applicable in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

April 13, 2016
African Union happy with Chad polls, despite anomalies

{But while broadly satisfied, the AU report noted certain shortcomings.}

Chad’s presidential election allowed voters to “freely choose their leaders” without fraud, despite certain anomalies, African Union observers said Tuesday, after polls expected to see President Idriss Deby extend his 26-year rule.

The report by the African Union (AU) — whose rotating presidency is currently held by Deby — noted that most polling station staff “did not show a great mastery of electoral operations.”

“Overall, presidential election gave citizens the opportunity to freely choose their leaders … in a peaceful atmosphere,” said the report presented by the head of the AU observer mission in N’Djamena, Dioncounda Traoré of Mali.

Thirteen candidates ran for the top job in Sunday’s polls including Deby, who is bidding for a fifth term with the support of state institutions and a strong presence on the ground of his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS).

But while broadly satisfied, the AU report noted certain shortcomings.

For example, in “81 per cent of polling stations visited the head of the polling station had not checked that ballot boxes were empty” at the start of the day, according to the report by 35 observers present in 15 out of 21 geographical departments.

In addition, the observers “noted with regret that in 10 per cent of polling stations visited, voting in secrecy was not guaranteed,” while “in the majority of cases … election staff did not show a great mastery of electoral operations,” notably “in how they emptied ballot boxes,” at nightfall, half of the time without sufficient lighting.

Nonetheless, despite opposition claims of ballot stuffing and buying-up of voter cards in the impoverished country, the head of the AU mission concluded that the election was carried out “without fraud.”

Provisional results are expected to be published in two weeks by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which was boycotted by rights groups and the country’s labour movement after five leading activists were detained during the last three weeks.

Under Deby’s leadership, once unstable Chad has become both an oil producer and key player in the fight against the jihadist groups on the rampage in west Africa.

But despite a wealth of new oil resources since 2003, half of the population of 13 million lives below the poverty line and seven out of 10 people cannot read or write.

April 13, 2016
Uganda:Besigye responds to Museveni remarks on election loss

{Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has responded to President Museveni’s attribution of the election loss by the Opposition to being weak and in a slumber.}

President Museveni told his supporters last Saturday at Kololo Airstrip during celebrations for his election victory that he was amazed by his opponents who say the presidential elections were rigged but wondered why they also lost parliamentary and local government elections.

“If you are saying you were rigged at the presidential level, how come you lost parliamentary, LC5 and sub- county elections? How can they cheat you three million votes? Did you have agents? Did you have a political party? That means you are in a slumber,” Mr Museveni said.

But while appearing on the NTV Fourth Estate show on Sunday, Dr Besigye said the rigging was widespread across all levels. “This was not an election. I have said it over and over but some people don’t get it. NRM is not a party. It’s the State. We are contesting against the DISOs, GISOs, RDCs. If you want to understand how pervasive the situation is, many of our candidates were arrested. Many people had their results changed at the tally centre, especially in the local government elections,” he said.
Dr Besigye, who has contested and lost four times to President Museveni, dismissed Museveni’s argument, saying there is no correlation between attaining majority seats in Parliament and winning presidential election.

“That’s an argument of people evading the truth because Dr Kiggundu gave me 35 per cent; but in Parliament we [FDC] have 10 per cent. Why? If you think that the votes of President must have some relevance to other elections, why doesn’t FDC have 30 per cent of MPs?” he asked.

When asked why the Opposition failed to field candidates in some districts and constituencies and yet NRM had candidates at all levels, Dr Besigye blamed the ruling party for using state resources to field and fund its candidates. “Many candidates, who stood on NRM ticket don’t believe in NRM. They would have preferred to stand in other parties where they know they would not be molested. They go to NRM because they know they have someone to use in elections,” he said.

Democratic Party president Norbert Mao admits the Opposition was “fragmented” but said Mr Museveni should not use it as an excuse for “rigging” elections. “We are going to outlive him. We shall have the last laugh. Let him attend to issues affecting the country, not undermining the Opposition,” Mr Mao said.

{{Results }}

Mr Museveni scored 60 per cent and Dr Besigye got 35 per cent. The NRM got 294 Members of Parliament while FDC has 34. Out of 112 local council 5 chairpersons, NRM has 84.

April 12, 2016
Arrests in US as hundreds protest big money in politics

{Police arrest dozens as about 500 people held sit-in outside US Congress to highlight corporate influence in politics.}

Police in Washington DC have arrested dozens of protesters who were staging a sit-in outside the US Congress meant to raise awareness about corporate influence in American politics.

The day began with a rally of about 500 people in US capital as part of a series of actions around “Democracy Spring”, a reference to the Arab Spring protests of 2011 that upended the Egyptian government and saw similar anti-government protests across North Africa and the Middle East.

“Right now, we have a campaign finance system that is dominated by money,” Kaja Rebane, 38, a Wisconsin graduate student, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, told Al Jazeera.

“It makes it very hard for regular Americans to be heard.”

Many, like Rebane, cited the 2010 US Supreme Court decision on campaign financing, popularly referred to as “Citizens United”.

That decision recognised that corporations and unions could spend unlimited cash indirectly on campaigns and has since led to an unprecedented amount of money in US elections. Some analysts believe upwards of $5bn could be spent during the 2016 US election.

Ray Lewis, a retired Philadelphia police captain, who was arrested in New York City during the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, agreed with many people in attendance that the US Congress is largely to blame for what he believes is a corrupt political system.

“I am trying to bring this message of democracy to mainstream, white America,” said Lewis, a white man, wearing his police uniform.

“Minorities know the truth. White America does not. They’re living in this dream world.”

Police lined the steps of the main US Capitol building as protesters approached. Officers warned of arrests, asking those who did not want to be to step outside a security perimetre.

About 200 people refused to leave. At press time, US Capitol police did not have an official number of arrests.

April 12, 2016
President Obama says Libya aftermath ‘worst mistake’ of reign

{President says his biggest credit was ‘saving the economy from depression’ and health scheme.}

President Barack Obama says the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, with the country spiralling into chaos and grappling with violent extremists.

Asked in a Fox News interview aired on Sunday to name the “worst mistake” of his presidency, the US leader said it was “probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya.”

Mr Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States and its allies could have done more to prevent Libya’s descent into chaos following the Nato-backed uprising that led to Gaddafi’s ouster and killing in November 2011.

He expressed regret over the handling of the aftermath in a lengthy interview with The Atlantic magazine last month, calling the situation in Libya “a mess.”

Mr Obama also sharply criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy for their roles in the Libya campaign, saying in particular that Mr Cameron became “distracted.”

Since Gaddafi’s death, Libya has descended into near-anarchy, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the Islamic State group has gained influence in the country.

The head of a UN-backed unity government arrived earlier this month in Tripoli to begin garnering support for his administration.

Asked by Fox News to name the worst moment of his White House tenure, the president said it was the day he travelled to Newtown, Connecticut, after a gunman shot 20 young children and six adult staff members at an elementary school in December 2012.

His biggest accomplishment? “Saving the economy from a great depression.”

And his best day in the White House?

“The day that we passed health care reform,” Mr Obama said.

“We sat out on the Truman Balcony with all the staff that had worked so hard on it and I knew what it would mean for the families that I’d met who didn’t have health care.”

When asked what he most looked forward to upon leaving office next year, Obama replied: “Being able to take a walk outside.”

April 12, 2016
Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment

{The commission was due to vote later Monday.}

An impeachment commission was due to vote Monday on the fate of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff ahead of a vote by the lower house of Congress to decide whether she should go to trial.

Bad-tempered debate, interrupted by heckling and chanting, kicked off in the commission in Brasilia while security forces mounted a huge operation outside to separate rival demonstrators expected in the capital later this week.

The commission was due to vote later Monday.

The room overflowed with journalists and politicians, most of whom displayed placards reading alternately “Time for impeachment” or “Impeachment without a crime is a coup.”

Paulo Pimenta, a deputy with Rousseff’s Workers’ Party, told AFP that the president would lose the commission vote by a margin of about 35-29.

However, the commission vote is non-binding, so focus is concentrated on the crucial lower house vote expected either April 17 or 18.

A two-thirds majority in the lower house would send Rousseff’s case to the Senate, which would then have the power to put her on trial and ultimately drive her from office.

Rousseff, accused of fiddling accounts to mask the dire state of the government budget during her 2014 re-election, is fighting desperately to ensure enough support among deputies to stop the process.

The latest survey of the 513 deputies in the lower house by Estadao daily on Monday showed 292 in favor, still short of the 342 needed to carry the motion.

The count showed 115 opposing impeachment, with 172 required to impose a defeat.

That left the result in the hands of the 106 deputies still undecided or not stating a position.

April 12, 2016
US cites ‘strong partnership’ with Djibouti following disputed election

{Djibouti holds considerable strategic significance for the US.}

The United States on Monday affirmed its “strong partnership” with Djibouti following President Omar Guelleh’s April 8 landslide victory in his bid for a fourth term in office.

A statement by a State Department spokesman did not include an offer of congratulations to President Guelleh. But it did commend Djiboutians for “peacefully exercising their right to vote.”

The US added, “While elections are an integral component of all democratic societies, democracy is also built on the foundation of rule of law, civil liberties and open political discourse between all stakeholders.

“We encourage the government of Djibouti to support the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression for all of Djibouti’s citizens.”

Election officials reported that Mr Guelleh had won 87 per cent of the vote in a six-way race.

Three opposition parties boycotted Friday’s balloting on the grounds that the government would not allow them to campaign freely.

The electoral process was not fairly conducted, opponents of President Guelleh charged after the outcome was announced. They said some voters were not permitted to cast ballots.

Djibouti holds considerable strategic significance for the US. It is the site of a large US military installation from which a 4000-strong joint task force conducts surveillance of the Horn and carries out air strikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia and Islamist militants in Yemen.

The US leases the Djibouti base, Camp Lemonnier, at a cost of $70 million a year. That outlay contributes substantially to the economy of the strategically situated country with fewer than one million inhabitants.

Djibouti’s importance to US aims in Africa is enhanced by the 3,000 troops the tiny Horn nation supplies to the 22,000-strong African Union military force battling al-Shabaab.

These factors cause the US and other powers to mute their criticisms of President Guelleh’s 17-year rule, opposition figures say.

“Every day Paris and Washington criticise Burundi, but when it comes to Djibouti, silence reigns,” opposition spokesman Daher Ahmed Farah recently told French radio.
The US said nothing when President Guelleh amended the constitution in 2010 to permit himself to seek a third and fourth term in office.

The Obama administration subsequently criticised similar moves by Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame while urging DRC President Joseph Kabila not to seek to extend his 15-year rule.

The State Department did call in December for release of opposition leaders detained in the aftermath of violence that resulted in a reported 19 deaths.

Washington also called on Djiboutian authorities to “exercise restraint” and respect freedom of expression.

But in the run-up to last week’s voting the government appeared not to have fully heeded that advice.

Djiboutian authorities detained and expelled a three-member team of BBC reporters earlier this month. Two local journalists were arrested in January and held for more than a week without being charged with any offence.

“The United States has a strong partnership with Djibouti,” the State Department spokesman said on Monday.

“We look forward to advancing our shared interests and helping Djiboutians build a more prosperous, secure and democratic future.”

The State Department added that it has taken note of African Union recommendations for improving electoral processes in Djibouti.

“We hope to work with the government of Djibouti to advance those recommendations,” the US said.

April 12, 2016