Trouble with Nigeria-2: Weapons are readily available in northwest, flowing in from gunsmiths in the Sahel
Regardless of government intentions, the problem with Nigeria failure to hammer out permanent peace agreements with insurgents is that the accords negotiated so far are badly flawed and amateurishly executed. The running theme in all conflicts in Nigeria – as is the case elsewhere in Africa – equitable access to...
Trouble with Nigeria-1: Peace deals negotiated are so flawed they can’t rein in rampant banditry
They are known simply as “bandits” – heavily armed criminal gangs that have terrorised Nigeria’s rural northwest, killing, kidnapping, forcing people from their homes, and taunting the authorities with their brazenness. The violence typically involves scores of gunmen on motorbikes sweeping into villages, shooting all the young men they can...
Former Mozambique finance minister faces trial in the US for $2 billion graft scandal
A South African court has ordered the extradition of former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang to the United States to face charges related to a $2 billion debt scandal, overturning a decision by South Africa’s justice minister to send him to his home country. Chang has been in custody in...
Sudan’s pro-democracy protests expected to intensify as new military leader tightens grip on power
Sudan’s top general reappointed himself as head of the army-run interim governing body on Thursday, a sign that he’s tightening his grip on the country two weeks after he led a coup against civilian leaders. The move by Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan, along with other appointments he announced for the Sovereign...
Touring UK Royal Marines train with Kenyan Special Boat Unit counterparts in Indian Ocean
Sailors aboard the Royal Navy’s warship HMS Kent f the United Kingdom have trained alongside Kenyan Armed Forces during a visit to eastern Africa in first week of November. The frigate had a busy period transiting the Indian Ocean, working with the multi-national task group Combined Task Force 150 on...
US foreign secretary on three-country tour in Africa as spectre of coups threatens civilian rule
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal next week, where he will discuss ending the Covid-19 pandemic and battling climate change, his spokesman said Thursday. Blinken will meet with the president of each country to “advance US-Africa collaboration on shared global priorities,” state department spokesman...
Excluded from political and illicit economy, Mozambique insurgents were spurred on by the ‘privileges of the gun’
Political and economic exclusion, poverty and radicalisation came together to create the insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, and although military intervention has driven the insurgents back, it will not solve the root causes that led to young men taking up arms. This is according to a number of experts,...
AI: The goal should not be to make Google more money or help governments kill people more efficiently
Artificial intelligence researchers are facing a problem of accountability: How do you try to ensure decisions are responsible when the decision maker is not a responsible person, but rather an algorithm? Right now, only a handful of people and organisations have the power – and resources – to automate decision-making....
Political militarisation takes root in Africa as constitutional democracy is trampled on by party militia
In preparation for the 2000 parliamentary elections, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s (ZANU-PF) militias were created and trained by the National Youth Service (NYS) to “transform and empower youths for nation-building through skills development and leadership training.” A report published by African Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) says...
Kenya and Horn of Africa on high alert after investigators expose how illicit arms from Iran, Yemen enter Somalia
Guns supplied by Iran to its Houthi allies in Yemen are being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia, according to a Geneva-based think tank, where al Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents are battling a weak and divided government. The revelations are likely to put neighbouring countries – Kenya, Ethiopia...
