IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • Burundi: Nkurunziza Stalls Talks, Eyes Term Limit Removal

    {Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza seems to be stalling the East African Community-led mediation process, while also pushing a political agenda to remove a key part of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (also known as the Arusha Accords) that limits presidential terms.}

    Facilitated by former Presidents Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela, the Arusha Accords helped end 12 years of civil war, massacre and genocide that occurred in Burundi between 1993 and 2005. The Arusha Accords, which require presidents to rule for just two terms, ushered President Nkurunziza into power.

    If President Nkurunziza succeeds, he will render the EAC mediation process useless and call into question Africa’s capacity to resolve its own conflicts. The EAC-sponsored mediation process started in July 2015, but has not delivered any solution so far.

    The talks got a boost in September from China’s $200,000 donation. But the take-off of the talks has been too slow, with former Tanzania president Benjamin Mkapa’s team telling The EastAfrican that the earliest the Burundi government and the opposition can start talks is November.

    “We still have a lot of ground work to do before the different parties can start talking,” said Macocha Tembele, Mr Mkapa’s personal assistant.

    The Burundi government has stalled the process by refusing to appear for talks, arguing that some stakeholders should be excluded.

    The process of removing term limits could infact start in December.

    {{Findings}}

    In a report titled The African Union and the Burundi Crisis: Ambition versus Reality the International Crisis Group (ICG) says that the government in Burundi is currently plotting to change the Constitution and abolish term limits.

    The process to remove term limits from the Constitution started in 2015, when a commission of inquiry was formed to conduct a national dialogue that would help chart the country’s political future.

    Justin Nzoyisaba, chairman of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue Commission, was quoted in August as saying the views so far collected across the country favoured the removal of term limits.

    Those familiar with the workings of the government say the commission will complete its work and present its findings to parliament in December, after which the debate to remove term limits will begin.

    President Nkurunziza’s decision to stand for a third term sparked civil unrest that has caused the death of hundreds and forced thousands to flee to neighbouring countries. And according to the ICG, allowing President Nkurunziza’s government to amend the Constitution will keep Burundi in a permanent state of low-intensity violence that could degenerate into another civil war.

    “Though the 2020 election cycle seems far off, international actors should press harder for a political settlement. Postponing firmer, more unified action would leave the country at best in a permanent state of low intensity violence,” says the report.

    {{Scrutiny}}

    ICG says the government has realised that keeping casualties to a minimum limits scrutiny.

    Without continued scrutiny, the ICG predicts that the government in Bujumbura will continue to rebuff the EAC-led peace negotiation and that the African Union should get involved in trying to restore peace to Bujumbura.

    Some of the engagements suggested include changing the financing mechanisms for the African Union in Somalia. The AU would pay Burundian soldiers directly, instead of through the government. The AU is also being asked to impose sanctions against Burundi to force it to engage in talks.

    The EAC’s hands are tied because Burundi is an equal member of the Community, with the same veto powers as the other partner states.

  • Donald Trump viewed from Russia: A potential friend

    {Russian state media make no secret of who Moscow wants to win the US presidential election.}

    “Trump Soars Over Clinton Week Before US Election Amid FBI Scandal” ran a headline on Sputnik’s website on Tuesday.

    I’d followed a tweeted link to the article, which also included a GIF of Trump pulling one of his most self-satisfied facial tics. It’s a face I imagine many in Moscow are wearing at the moment.

    The article encapsulated the surge of hope within Russia’s largely state-controlled media that maybe, perhaps, possibly the US election might work out after all.

    The reopening of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server could easily damage her support. At least one US poll quickly put Clinton trailing Trump for the first time in months.

    Ironically, Russia didn’t even have to do much. This saga had its origins in Washington DC, not Moscow.

    The 2016 US election has been a wild ride. And much US establishment thinking – particularly in intelligence circles – has detected Russia’s destabilising hand in everything from the hacking of the Clinton campaign’s emails to the potential Kremlin recruitment of Trump himself as some kind of inside agent.

    {{‘No banana republic’}}

    Sorting the signal from the noise in all this is no easy task. The Russian president has dismissed it as far-fetched hysteria.

    “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Vladimir Putin said at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi last week, “but America is a great nation – not some banana republic.”

    If the US is as mighty as it thinks it is, the president was saying, then there’s nothing that Russia could do to mess around with its democracy.

    It was a classic Putin line. An insult wrapped in a compliment, tied up with a bow that could easily be interpreted as a geopolitical challenge. He was also partly dissembling, as he often does.

    The hacking allegations seem credible enough. Cyber security investigators Crowdstrike say of the hackers (COZY BEAR and FANCY BEAR):

    “Both adversaries engage in extensive political and economic espionage for the benefit of the government of the Russian Federation and are believed to be closely linked to the Russian government’s powerful and highly capable intelligence services.”

    Watch Russian TV for any length of time, and it’s pretty obvious who Moscow wants to win.

    “Trump’s leading in the race. His ability to state things as they are, and his intention to end the recent extreme Russian-American tensions – all this puts him in a very risky situation,” said TV host Dmitry Kiselyov on his prime-time news show mid-September.

    “Now they may just kill him,” he concluded, ominously.

    Coverage of Clinton in the state-controlled Russian media is largely negative. She’s viewed as ideologically anti-Russian, and Trump as a pragmatist and potential friend.

    And even cosmopolitan, middle-class Russians you’d expect to think differently are wary of the Democrat, and find Trump’s candour and novelty refreshing.

    One friend of mine here told me recently that under Clinton, the US-Russia relationship would stay the same – ie, bad. A Trump presidency, by its very unpredictability, would at least offer options for change. Essentially, she was saying, better the devil you DON’T know.

    An opinion poll done in Russia recently found the following: 57 percent of Russians asked said the US election results would be important to Russia; 38 percent thought not. One in three said Trump’s victory would better match Russia’s national interests; 6 percent said they’d prefer Clinton; 22 percent replied that both were as bad as each other.

    For most Russians, politics in their own country seem remote enough. US politics are remoter still.

    What they want is largely what the president and the Kremlin-controlled TV channels want – a leader in the White House who will smooth balm on the gangrenous wound that is the current US-Russia relationship.

    They don’t think Clinton will do that.

    In a poll in Russia, one in three said Trump’s victory would better match Russia’s national interests

  • Uhuru unveils campaign team to spearhead his re-election bid

    {President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday unveiled a national campaign team to spearhead his re-election in next year’s General Election.}

    The President also took advantage of his new Jubilee Party’s first special National Governing Council meeting to highlight the progress made in the implementation of the promises he made to Kenyans during the last elections.

    Addressing hundreds of delegates at the NGC at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, the President also took time to respond to his opponents’ criticism of the government.

    He denied mega corruption scandals recorded under his administration, dismissing them as mere propaganda and cheap politics by the opposition.

    Both seasoned and new politicians were named to the President’s team of campaigners distributed across the country’s former eight provinces.

    “I am certain of victory in the next elections. We have fulfilled over 70 per cent of the promises we made to Kenyans. Everyone with eyes can see what we have done within the past four years under my administration,” President Kenyatta said.

    Leader of Majority Aden Duale, Mr Abbas Sheikh and Mr Mohammed Mohammud were picked to represent the northeastern region, while Ms Esther Murugi and Mr Nderitu Gachagua will represent central in the team.

    GRAND TEAM

    At the coast, Taveta MP Naomi Shaaban, Kwale County Woman Representative Zainab Chidzuga and Mr Danson Mungatana will join the President’s grand campaign team, while in the western region, Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and Teso South MP Mary Emase were named to the team.

    Also included are Mr Charles Nyachae, Mr Raphael Tuju and Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi (Nyanza), while Senator Kiraitu Murungi, Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki, Regina Ndambuki, Rachael Nyamai, Kalembe Ndile and Tiya Galgalo will be in charge of the eastern region.

    The former Rift Valley Province will be represented by Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso, Turkana Senator John Munyes, MP Katoo ole Metito (Loitokitok), Turkana Woman Representative Joyce Emanikor and Nakuru County Speaker Susan Kihika.

    Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, Nominated Senator Beatrice Elachi, Dagoretti South MP David Waweru and Nominated MP Johnson Sakaja will represent the city in the President’s team.

    Delegates who felt their regions had been left out loudly protested, drowning Deputy President William Ruto’s voice as he read out the list to the convention.

    “The team will be in charge of my campaign and will move around the country to mobilise Kenyans to vote for Jubilee Party,” President Kenyatta said.

    PENDING ELECTIONS

    The anticipated announcement of the new party’s national officials was shelved pending grassroots elections to be held 90 days after the General Election next August.

    Expressing confidence in winning re-election next year, the President enumerated his achievements amidst cheers by the delegates.

    He cited the construction of the standard gauge railway, whose second phase from Nairobi to Naivasha has been launched, as a major promise that has been achieved.

    He also spoke about the digitised education system supported by the distribution of tablets to Class One pupils and provision of electricity. He said that over 5.2 million Kenyans were now connected to the national grid compared to four million in 2013.

    “Under my government over Sh1 trillion has been transferred to the county governments and my government has also transferred all devolved functions as required by the law,” said President Kenyatta.

    Under his administration the Constituency Development Fund had increased from a minimum of Sh40 million to Sh100 million and that close to one million people lacking basic needs, including orphans and the disabled, could now get government assistance.

    “We have also distributed 3 million title deeds to Kenyans since we took over government. We hope our opponents have seen this.”

    PARTY PRIMARIES

    On fears that the nominations would be rigged, the President said that the party would ensure fairness and transparency in handling party primaries.

    “We will be the first party to conduct a free and fair nominations in Kenya,” he said.

    He announced that they would raise money and pay the electoral commission to run the nominations.

    The proposal to invite the IEBC to run the Jubilee Party nomination was endorsed by the NGC. The President announced that no one would be favoured.

    Deputy President Ruto said that the party was poised for a big victory, adding that he would be shocked if their win falls under 70 per cent in the coming poll.

    “In the last elections we won just by 50+1, but in the coming elections I can see 70+1,” he said.

    He said that the new party was formed to unite Kenyans, adding that all communities in the country had come together under it.

    He dismissed claims that the Kenyatta administration was corrupt and defended his big money fundraisings normally criticised by Cord principals.

    “They have been asking where we get money for harambees. I want to ask them where was this money before we came to power?” Mr Ruto said.

    He criticised Cord leaders for constant complaints about the Jubilee administration, saying they were in power for a longer period of time but had very little to show for it.

    ***

    National campaign team

    Coast

    1. Salim Mvurya

    2. Gideon Mungaro

    3. Zainabu Chidzuga

    4. Danson Mungatana

    5. Suleiman Shaabal

    6. Naomi Shaban

    Western

    1. Daniel Baraza

    2. Ken Lusaka

    3. Ben Washiali

    4. Mary emase

    5. Justus Kizito

    6. Charles Gimose

    Nyanza

    1. Charles Nyachae

    2. Albert Nyaundi

    3. Raphael Tuju

    4. Joash Maangi

    5. Joash Nyamoko

    6. Joseph Kiangoi

    7. Walter Nyambati

    8. Jimmy Angwenyi

    9. Mathias Robi

    Eastern

    1. Kiraitu Murungi

    2. Rachael Nyamai

    3. Regina Ndambuki

    4. Petkey Miriti

    5. Victor Munyaka

    6. Kithure Kindiki

    7. Kalembe Ndile

    8. Tiya Galgalo

    9. Dido Ali Raso

    10. Francis Chachu

    11. Rehema Galgalo

    12. Joe Mutambo

    13. John Muchiri

    Northeastern

    1. Aden Duale

    2. Mohamed Mohamud

    3. Abbas Sheikh

    4. Hassan Yussuf

    Central

    1. Esther Murugi

    2. Nderitu Gachagua

    3. Alice Ng’ang’a

    4. Sabina Chege

    5. Kembi Gitura

    6. Njogu barua

    7. David Kiaraho

    Rift Valley

    1. Joyce Laboso

    2. John Munyes

    3. Soipan Tuya

    4. Joyce Emanikor

    5. Susan Kihika

    6. Katoo Ole Metito

    7. Simon Kachapin

    8. Janet Nangapo

    9. Davis Sankok

    Nairobi

    1. Rachel Shebesh

    2. Maina Kamanda

    3. Beatrice Elachi

    4. Mike Sonko

    5. Johnson Sakaja

    6. Bishop Margaret Wanjiru

    7. Dennis Waweru

    President Uhuru Kenyatta (left), Aden Duale (second from left), the majority leader in the National Assembly, Deputy President William Ruto (right) and other leaders at Jubilee Party's national governing council meeting at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on November 4, 2016.

  • UK’s Brexit cannot pass without parliament approval

    {High Court says government cannot implement country’s exit from European Union without parliament’s approval.}

    The UK’s High Court has ruled that Theresa May’s administration is not allowed to trigger the country’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, without approval from parliament.

    Three senior judges ruled on Thursday that “the government does not have the power under the Crown’s prerogative” to start EU exit talks.

    The case is considered the most important constitutional matter in a generation.

    The government plans to appeal against the ruling before the Supreme Court.

    Plans for Brexit are being challenged in a case with major constitutional implications, hinging on the balance of power between parliament and the government.

    May has said that she will launch exit negotiations with the EU by March 31.

    She is relying on a power called the royal prerogative that lets the government withdraw from international treaties.

    Claimants argue that leaving the EU will remove rights, including free movement within the bloc, and say that cannot be done without Parliament’s approval.

    Underscoring the importance of the case, May put Attorney General Jeremy Wright in charge of the legal team fighting the claim. Wright argued that the lawsuit is an attempt to put a legal obstacle in the way of enacting the result of the June 23 referendum to leave the EU.

    May wants to use royal prerogative, historic powers officially held by the Queen, to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s treaty, which starts two years of talks before Britain’s departure from the EU.

    The powers, which have in reality passed to politicians, enable decisions to be made without a vote of Parliament and cover matters as grave as declaring war or as basic as issuing passports.

    Historically, royal prerogative has also applied to foreign affairs and the negotiation of treaties.

    Claimants argue that leaving he EU will remove rights, including free movement within the bloc

  • Nigeria’s Soyinka to ‘cut up’ US green card if Trump wins

    {Nigeria’s Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka says he will cut up his green card if Donald Trump emerges as winner of the US presidential election.}

    The green card is a permanent residence permit for the US – prized by many African immigrants to the US.

    His comments emerged in the video of a conversation with students at Oxford University in the UK.

    The famous author appears to be taking a swipe at Mr Trump over his radical stance on immigration.

    Soyinka is one of Africa’s most celebrated literary figures. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986 – becoming the first African to be honoured in that category.
    American voters go to the polls next Tuesday and latest polls show Mr Trump and his rival Hillary Clinton are neck and neck.

    Mr Trump is famous for his promise to build a wall to keep Mexican immigrants out of the US if he makes it to the White House.

    Under his hard-line proposals, every illegal immigrant currently in the US would be subject to deportation if he wins the election.

    He says there will be no pathway to citizenship or even legal status for them unless they leave the country and get in line with everyone else who wants to enter the US, subject to the normal immigration procedures.

    Mr Soyinka said he feared the Republic candidate would ask all green-card holders to reapply to come back into the US.

    “Well, I’m not waiting for that,” the Nigerian author told his student audience.

    “The moment they announce his [Trump’s] victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up,” he added.

    Nigeria's Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka

  • DRC: Kabila critics want probe into ties between Family-Run Bank, Electoral Commission

    {KINSHASA, DRC — New allegations about ties between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission and a bank linked to the president’s family have sparked calls for an investigation. The allegations come amid heightened tensions about delayed elections in the country.}

    A Belgian newspaper published a report last week saying the Congolese electoral commission paid at least $2.4 million in fees to a bank with links to DRC President Joseph Kabila.

    The paper also said the commission withdrew $7.5 million in cash from the bank, BGFI, for reasons that are unclear. The claims relate to a $25 million credit facility the bank extended to the electoral commission, known as the CENI.

    DRC elections were supposed to be held this month, but have been postponed until at least April 2018. The government has claimed that CENI’s lack of financial resources is one of the main reasons behind the delay.

    Georges Kapiamba, president of the Congolese Association for Access to Justice, told VOA the revelations are even more serious because they concern the resources put at the disposal of the CENI and because the electoral commission pretended it was unable to organize elections in the constitutional timeframe on the grounds that it did not have the money.

    Kapiamba has written to Congo’s attorney general, asking him investigate. But he does not expect his request will be acted on.

    Based on our past experience, Kapiamba said, we are not convinced the attorney general can do it with the independence we would like. Kapiamba claims those with the resources or who belong to the ruling political family can obtain protection whatever the gravity or degree of the acts they commit.

    The government of Belgium has also called for a full investigation.

    Both CENI and BGFI have denied wrongdoing.

    According to the bank, the fees are in no way unusual for a line of credit of this size, while the CENI’s president has claimed that the cash withdrawals were made to pay salaries, rent vehicles and buy fuel in remote parts of the country which are unserved by banks.

    The disclosures have attracted extra attention because an adoptive brother of Kabila is BGFI’s CEO and one of the president’s sisters was listed as the owner of 40 percent of the bank as of October 2014.

    The allegations, the source of which is documents handed to the media by a former BGFI employee, also target Albert Yuma, president of Gecamines, the state mining company, and a close ally of Kabila.

    The Belgian newspaper article says in 2013 the central bank deposited $43 million in a BGFI account held by a food processing company chaired by Yuma that was never repaid.

    The same bank reportedly extended a loan of $30 million to Gecamines in September 2015 and deducted interested payments worth several million dollars on two separate occasions.

    Yuma and the bank have denied any wrongdoing. They say the accusation about the central bank diverting public funds to Yuma’s company is “false and without foundation,” and that the second interest payment was taken from Gecamines due to a mistake that was rectified.

    Kapiamba told VOA he is unconvinced by the explanations, but unfortunately, he added, the Congolese justice system does not allow the population to confirm or quash the allegations.

    Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila arrives for an African leaders' meeting to discuss the political crisis his country, in Luanda, Angola, Oct. 26, 2016. Tensions in the DRC are running high after a controversial deal extended Kabila's term in office by nearly a year and a half.

  • ‘Vote Trump’ sprayed on fire-damaged black US church

    {FBI investigating whether “any civil rights crimes were committed” after sanctuary was vandalised in Mississippi.}

    A black church in Mississippi has been burned and spray-painted with “Vote Trump” on an outside wall, according to US authorities.

    The fire in the city of Greenville comes less than a week before a presidential election that pits Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

    Fire Chief Ruben Brown told the Associated Press news agency that firefighters found flames and smoke pouring from the sanctuary of the Hopewell MB Church just after 9pm on Tuesday.

    Brown said the sanctuary sustained heavy damage, including in the kitchen and pastor’s office. He said investigators do not know yet if it is a case of arson.

    In a statement, the FBI’s office in Jackson, the state capital, said it was working “with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to determine if any civil rights crimes were committed”.

    There were no reports of injuries.

    ‘Hateful and cowardly act’

    The mayor of Greenville, Errick Simmons, described the incident as a “hateful and cowardly act”.

    He said local officials consider the fire a hate crime because of the political message he believes was intended to interfere with worship and intimidate voters.

    “The act that happened left our hearts broken,” Pastor Carolyn Hudson told a news conference, noting that the church has a 111-year history.

    A donation drive on a crowdfunding website raised more than $41,000 for repairs of the church within six hours on Wednesday.

    “The animus of this election cycle combined with the potent racial history of burning black churches as a political symbol makes this event something we must not ignore,” the fundraiser said.

    Last year, there were several fires at predominantly black churches in southern states following the shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June. Nine people were killed.

    The trial for the suspect in that case, Dylann Roof, is scheduled to begin on Monday.

    Authorities said the church had been heavily damaged by the fire

  • Gambia President Yahya Jammeh ‘silencing critics’

    {President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia is using violence to silence critics in the lead-up to presidential election in December and pressure is needed to stop it, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.}

    Mr Jammeh has denied similar allegations in the past.

    He will be seeking re-election for a fifth term and for the first time he will be facing a single major opposition candidate.

    HRW urges external pressure on The Gambia to prevent further violence.

    In a report published on Wednesday, the group says two Gambian activists have died in custody, with dozens of critics of President Jammeh in jail.

    They are being denied medical or legal help, the report says.

    The Gambia, a popular tourist destination because of its beaches, has never experienced a democratic transition of power since independence.

    Mr Jammeh took over in a 1994 coup. His critics accuse him of running a repressive state, an allegation he denies.

    Most of the major Gambian opposition parties last week picked a single candidate – businessman Adama Barrow of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

    Mr Barrow’s nomination is the result of the biggest opposition alliance in Gambia since independence, the AFP news agency reported.

    HRW says the prospect of political change in December has prompted Mr Jammeh’s government to step up oppression against critics.

    It claims a torture squad, linked to the presidential guard, is terrorising opponents ahead of the election.

    The group wants freedom benchmarks to be imposed now – by the United States, the European Union and The Gambia’s West African neighbours – to prevent more bloodshed.

    Last week, The Gambia said it would pull of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after accusing the tribunal of persecuting and humiliating Africans.

    The small West African nation joined South Africa and Burundi in saying it will withdraw from the court.

    President Yahya Jammeh has governed The Gambia since 1994

  • South Africa: Jacob Zuma report points to possible corruption

    {An investigation into South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has found evidence of possible corruption at the top level of his government.}

    In the report, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela recommends Mr Zuma establish a judicial commission of inquiry within 30 days.

    Mr Zuma is accused of an improper relationship with wealthy businessmen.

    He had tried to block the release of the report, but dropped his court bid on Wednesday.

    The president and leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) has been dogged by corruption allegations for more than a decade, but has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

    Police fired water cannon to disperse protesters who marched on Mr Zuma’s main office in Pretoria to demand his resignation.

    The 355-page report by former anti-corruption chief Thuli Madonsela is entitled “State of Capture” and is illustrated on its front page with a hand strung with puppet wires.

    Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas is quoted in the report as saying that businessman Ajay Gupta offered him 600m rand ($44.6m; £36.2m) last year, “to be deposited in an account of his choice”, if he accepted the post of finance minister.

    Mr Gupta also asked him if he had “a bag which he could use to receive and carry 600,000 rand in cash immediately”, Mr Jonas alleged, adding that Mr Zuma’s son, Duduzane, was present at the meeting.

    He was expected to remove key Treasury officials from their posts and advance the Gupta family’s “business ambitions”, Mr Jonas is quoted as saying.

    The businessman has not yet commented on the report, but has previously denied any wrongdoing.

    The Gupta family is close to President Zuma, and the two have been nicknamed by the opposition as the “Zuptas”.

    After Mr Jonas rejected the alleged offer, little-known ANC MP Des van Rooyen was appointed finance minister.

    Ms Madonsela said she had obtained evidence, including telephone records, placing Mr Van Rooyen at the Gupta’s family home on seven occasions, including the day before the appointment.

    Mr Zuma was forced to sack him four days later after South Africa’s currency went into a tailspin.

    The report also contains allegations that:

    Ajay Gupta boasted that as a family they had “made a lot of money from the state”, putting the figure at 6bn rand, according to Mr Jonas

    Mr Zuma told former government media chief Themba Maseko that the “Gupta brothers need your help, please help them”

    Mr Gupta asked Mr Maseko to channel advertising to a newspaper the family was setting up

    The board of power utility Eskom appeared to have been improperly constituted
    It made payment of nearly one billion rand to a firm linked to the Guptas and the president’s son

    The payments may amount to “wasteful expenditure”

    Eskom boss Brian Molefe and Mr Gupta made 58 telephone calls to one another between August 2015 and March 2016.

    Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Musi Maimane said state coffers were being “plundered” by “crooks”, but the “good guys” were winning in the battle to safeguard the democracy which emerged in South Africa at the end of minority rule in 1994.

    There has not been any immediate reaction from Mr Zuma, who did not co-operate with the investigation, saying he had not been given enough time.

    This report is bad for President Zuma but certainly not as damning as opposition parties and many others had hoped when they went to court.

    The findings and subsequent remedial action seem to kick the can down the road. It says that the president should appoint a judicial commission of inquiry. This means that Mr Zuma would still occupy the highest office in the land for many months to come, as he slowly approaches the end of his second and last term.

    There is no doubt that should the inquiry recommend that Mr Zuma be censured, there would be grounds for impeachment.

    But that would present a political problem in the house of assembly because Mr Zuma’s own party, the ANC, holds an overwhelming majority.

    The loyal MPs have overcome many attempts by the opposition to have a vote of no confidence in the president.

    Mr Zuma lives to fight another day but he must surely be nearing the last of his nine lives.

    An earlier statement from the president’s office said the decision to abandon a court bid to block the report’s release was made “in the interest of justice and speedy resolution of the matter”.

    “The president will give consideration to the contents of the report in order to ascertain whether it should be a subject of a court challenge,” it said.

    Mr Zuma survived an impeachment vote earlier this year after South Africa’s highest court upheld another finding of Ms Madonsela – that he had “unduly benefited” from government money used to upgrade his private home in the rural area of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province.

    Ms Madonsela stepped down as Public Protector at the end of her seven-year term last month.

    Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta moved to South Africa from India in 1993

    Set up businesses in air travel, mining, energy, technology and media

    Opposition nicknamed them and the president as “Zuptas” because of their close relationship

    Deny influencing ministerial appointments to advance their business interests

    Accused of being involved in “suspicious” transactions worth about $490m (£400m)
    Say they are withdrawing from their South African businesses because of political backlash

    Big banks have refused to do business with them

    Mr Zuma is under intense pressure to resign

  • Burundi talks: Museveni optimistic

    {Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, the mediator of the Burundi peace process has briefed President Yoweri Museveni on the progress of the talks. }

    “H.E. Benjamin Mkapa today briefed me on progress of the Burundi peace process. I am optimistic a breakthrough will be achieved soon,” Museveni said.

    The talks have been suspended at least five times since the effort was initiated last year as the Burundi government insists it will not sit at the table with those opposition leaders it accuses of organising protests and plotting the failed coup last year.

    The government of President Pierre Nkurunziza has been steadfast in its refusal to talk with opponents implicated in a coup attempt last year aimed at stopping his bid for a third-term in office.

    President Yoweri Museveni shakes hand with former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa.