A South African court this week seized a superyacht and two properties of Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. The property is expected to be auctioned to pay a South African businessman who sued him for wrongful arrest and torture after an airline deal went wrong. The vice president is also the son and presumed successor Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang, who rules the country with an iron fist. 

South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg says he welcomes the seizure of the yacht and properties.

He says the case has been going on in South Africa since 2016, adding that with every ruling, Vice President Obiang, also known as Teodorin, files an appeal.

It all began more than a decade ago, when Janse van Resnburg says he was asked by Gabriel Angabi, then mayor of Equatorial Guinea’s capital city, to set up a private airline for the central African nation. Janse van Rensburg says he worked on the deal for two years but in 2013 Angabi called it off and said he wanted his money back.

“And that is when he phoned Teodorin junior, he was at that time the minister of security and in charge of the jail. So, he got authorization from him to put me into Black Beach,” he said.

That is the name of the jail in Equatorial Guinea where the South African spent nearly two years. He explains why he sued Vice President Obiang and not Angabi.

“Because he was responsible for having me put into jail and keeping me there as well,” he said. “You know we have documentation from the South African embassy in Malabo to prove this, that they asked him a few times to speak to him, to ask him to look at this and to set me free and he always kept on refusing.”

Rensburg has published a book about life in prison called Black Beach. He says the prison was overcrowded, filthy and a breeding ground for diseases.

“He put women and children in there. There was a little boy of 11 years that was in there for stealing just a mango. It was just by the grace of God that I actually did survive. You know there’s some really horrific things that happen there: torture and abuse, sexual abuse,” he said.

Eventually, the lawyer of a fellow inmate got Rensburg out.

He came home to South Africa and opened the case in 2016. Although Obiang’s lawyers are trying to block the auction of the properties and the superyacht, Rensburg says he hopes this is the end.

Security Expert Willem Els explains that Obiang junior, 54, has been on the wrong side of the law in several countries like the United States, France, Britain and Switzerland.

Els says his lavish lifestyle catches the attention of financial intelligence units who look for signs of money laundering and proceeds from illegal activities.

“What we talking about is the looting of the resources of the country. You know if you go to Equatorial Guinea it’s one of the poorest countries in Africa even though they’ve got all these resources. So that means that the wealth of the oil, the revenue that is coming into the country is not channeled and used for the benefit of the country but rather for the political elite,” he said.

Equatorial Guinea’s government has not yet commented on the seizure of the vice president’s properties. When VOA called the country’s embassy in Pretoria Thursday, no one answered.
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Cameroon’s military has released about 30 youths it detained as suspected rebels after a protest by several hundred women, including mothers of those detained.  The women from the Southwestern town of Ekona also accused Cameroon’s military of committing abuses in the region, which it denies. 

In a video posted on social media, several hundred women celebrated on the streets of Buea Wednesday after Cameroon’s military released 30 young men, most of them students.

The military said the youths were detained during raids a week ago in the Southwest town of Ekona, where separatist fighters were hiding.  

The women protested after the military stopped family members from visiting the youths in detention and chased away those who brought them food.

Speaking to VOA from Buea via messaging app, 33-year-old Akah Judith said the women will protest on the streets again if abuses continue.

“Although they have released our children, who were arrested unjustly and unjustifiable, we will continue fighting for our rights to be respected,” she said. “We will be here again should the military continue intimidating us, harassing us, and beating us. We have suffered a lot from these crises and want peace.”

The one-day street protest saw officials, clerics, and traditional rulers plead with the women to return home.

But the women refused to stop until the youth were released, later that day.  

They also cited military abuses as rampant in Ekona, including intimidation, extortion, arbitrary detention, and torture.

Esther Njomo Omam, director of the Buea-based aid group Reach Out Cameroon, speaking via messaging app from Buea, said the women were also angry after a 20-year-old Ekona resident, Felix Obini, was reported killed Monday by the military.

“The women from Ekona came marching peacefully but angry that women have been bearing the brunt of this conflict,” she said. “They are the ones who have been burying their children, their husbands. They are the ones who are suffering all forms of ills as a result of the crisis.”

Local officials and Cameroon’s military refused to comment on the alleged killing of Obini and other alleged abuses, on Wednesday’s protest, or the release of the detained youth.   

Cameron’s military denies its troops fighting separatists commit atrocities but has on very rare occasions prosecuted troops for abuse.  

The government says the military will protect civilians and asks them to report suspected rebels hiding in their communities.  

Cameroon’s military has since 2017 been battling separatists fighting to carve out an independent, English-speaking state from Cameroon and its French-speaking majority.

Rights groups accuse both the military and rebels of abusing civilians in the conflict, including rapes, torture, abductions, and killings. 

The U.N. says at least 3,500 people have been killed and more than 750,000 displaced in the six-year conflict, most of them women and children.
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Dozens of journalists and rights activists protested in the Tunisian capital on Thursday, accusing the state of “repression” and attempts to intimidate the media.

The protest, organized by the SNJT journalists’ union, came three days after police arrested Noureddine Boutar, the director of popular private radio station Mosaique FM.

The station has often been critical of President Kais Saied, who in 2021 sacked the government, froze parliament and seized almost total power in moves that rivals have called a coup.

The demonstrators gathered outside government headquarters in Tunis, some wearing red tape across their mouths, while others shouted, “No to repression of journalists” and “We demand an independent free press.”

“The authorities want to bring both private and public media into line, and [Boutar’s] arrest is an attempt to intimidate the whole sector,” SNJT director Mahdi Jlassi said at Thursday’s protest, which had been organized prior to Boutar’s arrest.

Police deployed heavily to prevent the demonstrators from gathering directly in front of the prime minister’s office.

Boutar is one of 10 public figures arrested since Saturday — mainly critics of Saied, including members of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.

Since Saied’s power grab, several high-profile critics of the Tunisian leader have faced trial in military courts. The latest wave of detentions has sparked fears, though, the president is escalating against his opponents in the crisis-hit birthplace of the 2011 Arab uprisings.

Boutar’s lawyers said he had appeared before a judge whose questioning focused Mosaique FM’s editorial line and criteria for choosing commentators.

Journalists’ union chief Jlassi said authorities were “irked by the content of Mosaique FM’s programs, but this repression will not affect the will of journalists to defend their freedom.”

The demonstration came a day after Tunisia’s main opposition coalition said the arrests were “violent and legally baseless.”

The powerful UGTT trade union federation said Saied’s government was trying to “snuff out every independent or opposition voice” by targeting the media.

It called on unions to “mobilize and prepare to defend the rights of Tunisians”.

The United States on Wednesday said it was “deeply concerned” by the spate of arrests.

“We respect the aspirations of the Tunisian people for an independent and transparent judiciary that is able to protect fundamental freedoms for all,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
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Kenyan security forces have launched an operation to clear bandits from its northern Rift Valley Region and recover illegal firearms. Critics have voiced concern that the operation, led by army-backed police, could lead to abuses.

Kenyan police, backed up by the military, are conducting an operation in the Rift Valley Region to root out bandits who are attacking communities and security forces and stealing people’s livestock.

President William Ruto issued the order after three police officers were killed and eight others injured in an ambush in Kainuk, Turkana County.

Bandits have attacked communities in the country’s northern region for decades, with stolen livestock blamed for most of the conflict.

Kenya’s police chief, Japhet Koome, urged communities to stop attacking each other after visiting Turkana County Tuesday.

“People of this region have no option. They must learn to coexist. This habit of one community attacking another one will not be allowed to continue,” Koome said. “We have the capacity and the will.”

Ahmed Mohamed, the head of the Center for Security and Strategic Studies, says the bandits are interested in stealing animals.

“They cannot face any formidable force whether it’s the police or military,” Mohamed said. “Right now, they are gone, gone where? They are in towns and they will not stress you. You will be alone there for a while, you will be around, you will look for weapons, you will force people but they are not there. They are in town, back to their normal activities.”

The government has given the bandits three days to surrender their weapons.

Last week, suspected bandits sprayed bullets into a vehicle carrying passengers, killing three people, including a student, in Turkana County.

Drought, according to Pokot South MP David Pkosing, is to blame for the current tensions and conflict between his community and the Turkana tribe.

“There is no order of grazing or drinking water and therefore the Pokot can push themselves to the river and maybe this river is on the side in terms of the administration of Turkana and Turkanas feel they are intimidated, or they think they are coming to their own land and vice-versa. And that’s why there are a lot of conflicts. The competition for grass is now very high along that area,” said Pkosing.

The conflict over pastures and water for the animals has heightened tensions in the area and halted other civilian and government activities.

Kenya is one of the countries in the region that is currently affected by the drought. Drought has affected 23 counties, including Baringo, Laikipia, Samburu, West Pokot, and Turkana.

Mohammed says the government will need to provide more resources and development in the affected region to stop animal theft.

“Those communities have lost a lot of animals. They have gone down in terms of numbers,” Mohamed said. “Therefore, when they see others who are doing well, they will definitely go for them. Drought and climate change has had an impact. That is why we are saying as part of future plans, the government must think about development, think of life beyond livestock and all that other means will be used to help people sustain their lives.”

Pkosing fears the security operation may bring more problems for his people than good.

“Out of 16 divisions in West Pokot, three are in distress, so sometimes when you unleash an operation, then they can make everybody a criminal… The past is that it criminalizes society,” said Pkosing. “That’s my fear. There have been incidences of rape in the past, and there are incidences of hunger, and roadblocks. A few months ago, there were roadblocks in Tiaty and 16 schools were closed and people almost died.”

The operation will also include the recovery of stolen livestock and patrolling major roads to ensure the free movement of people and goods.
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Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has warned politicians not to publish false or harmful information in the run-up to next week’s presidential election. The warning came after the ruling All Progressives Congress party’s campaign director accused the military and an opposition candidate of plotting a coup. Fact checkers are working overtime to debunk false news ahead of the February 25 elections.

The notice to politicians was contained in a statement Tuesday.

The Department of State Services said political parties and their media managers must restrain from spreading misleading information during campaigns and when issuing communiques.

The DSS said such misinformation could lead to violent reactions and disrupt peace and order.

The warning comes in the wake of the agency’s investigation of the campaign director for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Femi Fani-Kayode alleged on Twitter that the opposition People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was planning a coup d’etat.

The DSS interrogated Fani-Kayode Wednesday. VOA could not immediately get comments from the service on the investigation.

Paul James, an elections program officer at YIAGA Africa, a nonprofit organization promoting democracy, says slander among political parties is not new.

“The DSS is investigating that and has called the person in for questioning, we hope to see how that would end,” said James. “From the Ondo elections in 2020, we saw things like this. The military has come out to outrightly deny that. But not just that, you need to begin to do things, the kind of communications that will inspire confidence.”

Fani-Kayode will report to the DSS every week until the investigation is over.

On Monday, he spoke to journalists in Abuja after being interrogated for five hours and said he regretted posting the tweet without confirmation from authorities.

Nigeria is seeing a heightened spread of fake news and disinformation in a push for votes ahead of the elections.

The country goes to the polls on February 25 to elect a new president, with three candidates as front runners.

A Nigerian Fact Checkers Coalition, made up of 14 newsrooms, is working to curb the spread of falsehoods.

But the coalition’s Kemi Busari says it is more challenging to keep up with the trend of misinformation these days.

“What we noticed currently is a proliferation of false information especially about the election,” said Busari. “We also see a lot of false information about the electoral process. We get a lot more false information these days. Before, I could say the average copies that come to my desk each day was about two to five, but now we’re having nothing less than 10-15 copies in a day and it’s not possible for us to fact check everything.”

Busari says the fact checkers coalition is setting up centers in Lagos and Abuja to monitor the elections and information about the voting in real time.
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Cameroon’s health ministry has dismissed a report of two suspected cases of Marburg virus in the country after a first deadly outbreak in neighboring Equatorial Guinea. Health officials along the border said Tuesday there were two suspected cases of the severe hemorrhagic fever in Cameroon after Malabo confirmed nine deaths and sixteen possible infections. Despite dismissing the reported cases, Cameroon’s health ministry says it is increasing surveillance and travel restrictions along the border.

Health Minister Manaouda Malachie says Cameroon does not yet have any suspected cases of the Marburg virus, despite reports of two possible infections.

Health officials in Cameroon’s South region on Tuesday said a teenage boy and girl suffering from high fever were rushed to a hospital Monday in Olamze, on the border with Equatorial Guinea.

The health officials said the children were suspected of being infected with the Marburg virus, are in isolation, and are responding to treatment.

But Malachie seemed to contradict those reports when he spoke Wednesday to state broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television.

Malachie says the decision by Cameroon to stop Marburg virus, an illness like Ebola, by restricting movement along the border with Equatorial Guinea is so far yielding fruit. He says as of Wednesday at midday central African time, Cameroon had not reported any deaths or suspected cases of Marburg virus.

Malachie says civilians should avoid contact with animals and people who have travelled to Equatorial Guinea and make sure people with fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit and diarrhea are isolated.

But Malachie warned its porous border with Equatorial Guinea, which confirmed Monday its first outbreak of the deadly virus, puts it at risk.

Cameroon last week said it restricted movement along the border after Equatorial Guinea quarantined hundreds of people in Kie-Ntem Province, where the hemorrhagic fever was first reported.

The World Health Organization says Equatorial Guinea sent samples to the Pasteur Institute in Senegal, after an alert by a health official on February 7, and one of them tested positive.

The WHO says Marburg was transmitted to people from fruit bats, spreads between people via bodily fluids, and has a fatality rate of up to 88%.

Marburg is in the same family as the Ebola virus but, unlike Ebola, there are no vaccines for Marburg — just treatments for the symptoms such as dehydration and fever.

Health officials from Cameroon and Gabon, which also shares borders with Equatorial Guinea, met Tuesday in Yaoundé and agreed to work together to prevent the virus from spreading.

University of Yaoundé sociology lecturer Francois Bingono Bingono was in the meeting.

He says the frequent movement of people across the borders will make stopping the virus a challenge.

Bingono says in 2020 Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea restricted movement along their border to protect their populations from COVID-19, but civilians on both sides did not respect the order. He says people living on both sides of the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea border belong to the same ethnic groups, speak the same language, and celebrate happy events or mourn sad events together.

Bingono says health workers not known in border communities are struggling to educate locals that a deadly virus threatens their lives.

He says they will need traditional rulers to help convince their people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus was first identified in 1967 in simultaneous outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade.

Marburg is not new to Africa but is relatively new to West Africa.

An outbreak in Ghana in September last year killed two people, while Guinea recorded one death from the virus in 2021 — the first known case in West Africa.

The WHO reported previous outbreaks in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.
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A group of Ukrainian protesters have sailed a yacht close to a Russian warship docked in Cape Town ahead of South Africa-hosted wargames with the Russian and Chinese navies. Critics say South Africa’s hosting of Russian warships for drills at the one-year anniversary of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine pokes holes in its claim to neutrality.

Military men in uniform stood on the deck of Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate Tuesday and watched protesters aboard a yacht, which bore the Ukrainian flag.  

Fearless, the group of eight, mostly women, shouted and held signs reading Stop the War.  

The Russian news agency Tass quoted an unnamed official saying the hypersonic Zircon missiles carried by the Admiral Gorshkov will be test-fired during the drills.  

Because of their speed, the missiles cannot be detected by existing missile defense systems.

The South African National Defense Force did not reply to requests to confirm the test firing.  

Protester Dzvinka Kuchar of the Ukrainian Association of South Africa says human rights activists and environmentalists are begging the South African government to stop the war games.

“Russian state media which is fully controlled by Russian government has already said that they are planning to fire Zircon missiles during those trainings (sic),” said Kuchar. “We understand that this is pure propaganda to take attention away from what Russia is doing in Ukraine. And what Russia is doing they’re killing civilians, they’re destroying hospitals, they’re destroying the lives of millions of people.”

Kuchar says South Africa, which has chosen to take a neutral stance in Russia’s war on Ukraine and abstained on several United Nations resolutions condemning the onslaught, is simply being used by Vladimir Putin.

“I know South Africa says we are a sovereign country, and we can be friends with any country that we want. And this is true,” said Kuchar. “But if you choose to be friends with a country that is running a war, it also sends a message about yourself. You can be friends but at least say to your friend that is causing gender-based violence “Stop beating your wife.”  

The mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who belongs to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, replied to a tweet by the Russian Consulate in Cape Town and told the ship to “Voetsek.” That is an impolite Afrikaans word that means go away.  

He said the ship is not welcome and that the city would not be complicit in Russia’s evil war.  

Political analyst Daniel Silke, Director of the Political Futures consultancy, says if South Africa keeps making decisions to side with Russia, there could be consequences in terms of its global standing.

“I think South Africa is entering a mine field of attempting to find a balancing act here,” said Silke. “But I do think that when it comes to assistance and aid from the United States perhaps from even some Western countries, I think there may well be a reluctance, there may well be a frowning on South Africa’s stance on this particular issue.”  

The Admiral Gorshkov left Cape Town harbor Wednesday and is making its way to the site of the military drills off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province.

The exercise is scheduled to take place from February 17 to 27.

This is the second naval exercise South Africa is carrying out with Russia and China – which are two of its four partners in the BRICS alliance. The first took place in 2019.

Several anti-war protests against the drills are planned.
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At least 73 migrants were reported missing and presumed dead following a shipwreck off the Libyan coast on Tuesday, the official Twitter account of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya said on Wednesday.

Seven survivors made it to shore from the boat, which was carrying around 80 people, who had reportedly departed from Qasr Alkayar, east of Tripoli, to head to Europe, the IOM added.

So far, 11 bodies have been retrieved by the Libyan red Crescent and the local police, while the seven survivors are in hospital, the IOM said.

Libya has become a major launching point for migrants seeking to reach Europe via a dangerous route across the desert and over the Mediterranean.

 
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Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, is threatening to walk away from a diamond mining deal with industry giant De Beers unless the firm offers better terms. Under the current deal, which expires in June, Botswana – Africa’s largest diamond producer – is entitled to purchase up to 25% of the stones mined in a joint venture. Analysts say Botswana is in a strong position to push for a 50-50 arrangement.

Addressing ruling party supporters in his home village of Moshupa, just outside Gaborone, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said his country is well positioned to push for a better deal with De Beers.

“We now know how the diamond industry operates. We used to receive 10% of the stake, but now, under my leadership, we are receiving 25%,” he said.

Botswana currently earns about $4.5 billion per year in sales, taxes and royalties from its contract with De Beers.

Masisi says if negotiations with the South African diamond company break down, then Botswana is prepared to pull out of the long-standing arrangement.

“We are dealing with a giant. It is the first time it has been shaken like this. We want what is ours. This is our company, we want a majority stake, and we are doing so through negotiations. If the talks become difficult, we will say, no, let everyone pack and go separate ways,” he said.

It is unclear what other options Botswana might have, but a Belgian-based researcher on diamond mining, Hans Merket, says there could be an alternative.

Merket notes President Masisi’s praise for another supply arrangement between private diamond miner Lucara, which operates a mine in Botswana, and Belgian-based buyer, HB Antwerp.

The two entered into an agreement, which sees HB Antwerp purchase all of Lucara’s large high value diamonds.

“Botswana’s President Masisi has regularly praised the business arrangement between HB Antwerp and Lucara. In the current arrangement with De Beers, Botswana fears it is missing out on the profits from its diamonds, because it has no idea of or control over how much value the country’s rough production generates further down the supply chain after it is cut and polished,” he said.

Merket therefore suggests Botswana could be looking for a much more beneficial arrangement similar to Lucara and HB Antwerp’s.

“The business model between HB Antwerp and Lucara closes this gap through a vertically integrated supply chain that generates that allows all parties, including the government, to share in the profit from the final polished products,” he said.

The leader of Botswana’s main opposition party, Dithapelo Keorapetse, recently told parliament that the government needs to be more transparent with its mining deals.

“Mining agreements are not even available to the auditor general as they’re considered to be confidential, especially for Debswana or companies with partnership with the Botswana Government. Who then guards the guardians? Who scrutinizes these agreements? What is the role of parliament?”asked Keorapetse.

A 10-year sales agreement between Botswana and De Beers expired in 2021 but was extended to June 2023, pending negotiations.
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As Ethiopians emerge from two years of conflict, a new Gallup survey paints a bleak picture of people suffering economically and emotionally. 

The survey conducted in the fall of 2022, found that a record-high 65% of Ethiopians are struggling to afford food, with food prices rising 43% in 2022 compared to 2021, and certain staple items soaring by more than 80%.

Opinion researchers had not been able to enter the country in 2021 and saw a significant change when they returned the following year.  Zach Bikus, regional director-Africa at Gallup said the team interviewed about 1,000 people but were not able to travel to the conflict areas.

“This year we were really excited to get back and really hear what the people are thinking,” he said. “And so, the main takeaway from this data that we just collected really is that the past couple of years have been difficult years.”

In addition to the conflict, the country is facing its worst drought in 40 years, putting additional pressure on the food supply, the report said. At the same time, income is also under pressure, with 45% of Ethiopians finding it “very difficult” to get by on their present household income, compared to 28% in 2019.

Bikus said he is seeing similar results across the region. “Really, East Africa, in general, is facing this drought, but also the fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict,” he said. “Many of the countries in these regions are big importers of wheat, Ethiopia included, and fertilizer. So, really the global pressures on food supply and prices I think are happening in a major impact.”

The situation has had a profound effect on Ethiopians’ mental and emotional well-being. When asked to rate their quality of life from 1 to 10, the average rating dropped from 4.5 in 2020 to just 3.6 in 2022, the lowest since 2012. The survey also found significant increases in people reporting they feel “worry,” “physical pain,” “anger,” and “stress.”

“We asked about physical issues, food and infrastructure, but really there’s kind of an emotional component too and how people are feeling themselves in terms of happiness or negative emotions,” Bikus said. “I think that’s another important thing to keep an eye on.”

The country faces a monumental task in maintaining peace, restarting the economy and reconciliation in the wake of the conflict, but there has been some positive news, the report noted.

Researchers still haven’t been able to access the Tigray region and some of the surrounding areas, Bikus said. “I believe it was about 7% of the population we were unable to talk to,” he said, adding that although the team followed protocols, they are “kind of at the mercy of circumstances sometimes.”  

 
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Ethiopia has long struggled with problems of communal friction turning into violent, ethnic conflict. Members of the two largest ethnic groups, the Oromos and Amharas, have come together to showcase traditional conflict resolution through musical drama. Maya Misikir reports from Adama, Ethiopia. Camera: Vinicius Assis.
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The African Union Commission announced Tuesday that it will be sending a 90-strong observer mission to Nigeria for this month’s elections.

Africa’s most populous country goes to the polls on February 25, but has been plunged into crisis in the runup to the vote with dire shortages of cash and fuel.

The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) is being headed by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who helped broker a deal to end two years of war in northern Ethiopia and is mediating in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The AU said the objectives of the mission were to provide an “accurate and impartial assessment” of the electoral process, offer recommendations for any improvement in future polls and to demonstrate AU support “towards consolidation of democracy, peace, stability and development in Nigeria.”

Nearly 100 million people will vote to chose the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who steps down after two terms as Nigeria struggles with widespread insecurity and economic malaise.

 
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A Somali journalist said he had been freed from jail Monday just hours after a court handed down a two-month sentence on security charges, a case widely criticized by rights campaigners and media advocacy groups.  

Abdalle Ahmed Mumin was arrested in October last year after the government announced a crackdown on media outlets that publish what it deems propaganda for the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. 

The court sentenced Mumin to two months in prison but in a surprise move he was released shortly after the ruling, having already spent around five months in jail. 

“When I was taken to Mogadishu central prison, officers refused to jail me granting my immediate freedom,” he said on Twitter. 

“I went straight to my office to conduct my daily routine. I will continue to be on the forefront of defending press freedom and human rights in Somalia,” he added. 

Mumin is the secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), which had vowed to appeal the ruling, calling it “a pure travesty of justice.” 

In a text message sent to AFP, SJS president Mohamed Ibrahim said: “This afternoon Abdalle has been released by the prison chief, saying that he has already served this sentence despite the verdict.” 

Ahead of the sentencing, rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Press Institute had called for the charges to be dropped, saying Mumin faced ongoing threats and persecution by Somali authorities for advocating the right to freedom of expression. 

“Continuing his prosecution not only casts a chilling effect on media freedom and journalism, but it also significantly contributes to the closing civic space in the country,” they said in a joint letter to Somalia’s attorney general in December.  

The SJS and four other media advocacy groups had protested the government’s security directive, warning it clamped down on free speech. 

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, ranks Somalia 140th out of 180 countries on its global list of press freedom, with more than 50 journalists killed in the country since 2010. 

The nation of 17 million people is the most dangerous country for journalists in Africa, according to RSF. 

The main threat is from al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab fighters who are trying to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu, though Somali authorities are also accused of numerous violations. 
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Valentine’s Day is the busiest time of year for the flower industry in Kenya, the fourth largest exporter of cut flowers in the world. Kenya’s rose and carnation producers are also showing love to Mother Earth, by shifting to solar power to fight climate change. Juma Majanga reports from Nakuru, Kenya.
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African women and girls are discussing the harassment and discrimination challenges they face trying to conduct cross-border business under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The meeting in Addis Ababa, called “Gender is My Agenda,” is taking place ahead of the African Union heads of state summit, which is set to begin Saturday and is expected to address progress of the African trade agreement.

Elizabeth Ajok, a South Sudanese national, said women often face problems at border crossings that men don’t have to experience.

“They are facing a lot of challenges like violence at the border, they are being intimidated, and sometimes some of their items are being confiscated or their goods are taken because of clearance,” Ajok said. “And they will also overcharge you because you are a woman. You will be taxed. Sometimes they just look at us. They see that you are just a woman, so you don’t deserve to do business.”

Zaithwa Milzanzi said she encounters similar treatment when she crosses the border from her native Malawi.

“You find yourself with required fees, the papers are in order, everything is in order and yet you find some officers at the border asking you for sexual things and you are thinking, ‘Why?'” Milzanzi said. “It really hinders your progress and your ability to trade as a young woman. So, this needs to be addressed if young women are to be considered and fully protected under this regime.”

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement went into effect in May 2019 with the goal of lowering tariffs between African countries and boosting economies.

African countries trading among themselves, the World Bank says, could boost Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035.

Memory Kachambwa, head of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network, an organization that promotes women’s development in the continent, talked of the questions that need to be addressed.

“When we talk of AfCFTA, we are looking at [a] Pan-African instrument and within the vision of it is to ensure that even the trade that we do is dignified,” Kachambwa said. “We talk a lot about women cross-border traders, but are they doing it in a dignified way? Are we really ensuring that they have the service, the harassment with the customs union? Are we having those conversations?”

Even within their own countries, female entrepreneurs in Africa often face funding barriers, gender bias, and a lack of training.

Mercy Chukwuma, who advocates and supports women farmers in Nigeria, said some cultural norms have prevented women from owning land, making them unable to produce food.

“Lack of training and retraining of rural women farmers to enable them to stand up in the competitive market. We talk about land as a factor. You will agree with me that women have limited access to land. We do not have access and control over the land, which is a major factor of production,” she said. “If we, who occupy over 70% of the agricultural workforce, do not have access and control over the land, how then do we produce and produce well?”

Women own 20% of Africa’s land but produce more than two-thirds of the continent’s food.

The pre-summit meeting concludes on Tuesday. Participants hope their leaders will address the challenges of doing business in Africa and ending unfriendly business practices along African borders.
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Nigeria’s National Peace Committee says election-related violence is spiking as the country’s February 25 national polls draw near. During weekend campaign rallies, gunmen attacked a security team of a vice-presidential candidate, killing three police. At another rally, supporters were attacked with machetes, injuring several, and damaging campaign vehicles. 

Idayat Hassan is the spokesperson for the National Peace Committee, a government-sponsored body of former heads of state and officials attempting to promote calm and stability in the country.

Speaking to Lagos-based Channels Television, Hassan raised concerns about the increased attacks at campaign events and said Sunday that authorities must prohibit anyone, apart from security agents, from bringing weapons to campaign rallies.

“The casualties are higher, and the numbers of incidents are rising,” he said. “There have been more than 134 attacks on INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission] facilities and personnel. It is quite disturbing that this is actually happening at this point in time. If this continues, how can we have elections?”

On Friday, unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed three members of the security team for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On Sunday, Okowa visited the families of the slain security officers and condemned the killings.

In another incident, one person was killed and five arrested after a violent clash between supporters of the PDP and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) party during a campaign rally in northern Jigawa state.

Hours later, many supporters of the Labour Party were attacked and injured by thugs on their way to a rally in Lagos, a stronghold of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Paul James is a program officer at Yiaga Africa, a nonprofit that promotes democratic elections.

“For elections to be concluded in Nigeria, a candidate has to score a quarter of the votes in at least 24 states,” he said. “Politicians are using violence in different forms as a means of voter suppression. So, what we’re seeing is the build-up of terror, the build-up of fear so that it perhaps impacts on citizens’ participation for the politician especially the ones that are having the sense that they may not be able to pull the national spread that is required for the election.”

Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director at the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project, says authorities have been hesitant to address the problem.

The rights group petitioned the International Criminal Court, to investigate election-related violence and hold the Nigerian perpetrators accountable.

“Poverty, rising rates of unemployment… can be remote causes but the impunity of [the] government is a key driver of these incidents which is why you’ll see that lack of political will to either take action to prevent these attacks,” said Oluwadare.

On Monday Nigeria’s electoral commission said voting will not take place in 240 polling units across 28 states mainly due to a lack of registered voters in those areas. The voters didn’t choose those polling units due to insecurity. Imo state had the highest number of cancelled polling units, 38.

The election comes amid growing frustrations among citizens, caused in part by shortages of fuel and the newly designed currency.

In Abuja Monday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled new police vehicles, tasers, stun guns and anti-riot equipment, including cannons, designed to improve the operational capabilities of the Nigeria Police Force.

Whether this will make voters feel more secure— it is too soon to tell.
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Militiamen killed 22 people in two separate attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri province on Sunday and Monday, a local official and a human rights group said, in ongoing violence in the region.

The DRC’s government declared martial law in Ituri and neighboring North Kivu province in 2021 to quell the bloodshed, but deadly raids have continued.

The first attack on Sunday took place in the town of Mongbwalu, in Djugu territory, where 10 people were killed.

Mongbwalu Mayor Jean-Pierre Bikilisende blamed the attack on CODECO, one of many militias operating in the DRC’s conflict-ridden east. The group could not be reached for comment.

Bikilisende told Reuters the rebels opened fire on a phone credit seller and then on other civilians standing on the same street before escaping in a car when police arrived.

The second attack occurred around 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, in Irumu territory, during the night between Sunday and Monday.

Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local group Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH), said 12 villagers were killed.

He said the attackers were from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group that has operated in east Congo for decades. It has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and stages frequent deadly raids on villages.

Munyanderu also confirmed the 10 deaths in Mongbwalu.

The ADF could not be reached for comment and the DRC’s army did not respond to calls.

There was no indication as to the motive of either attack, but militia violence has racked the vast mineral-rich east for two decades despite local and regional military interventions and U.N. peacekeeping efforts.
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Cameroon is celebrating the 90th birthday of President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of government. Supporters say they hope he will extend his four decades in power when the next election comes in 2025. Opponents say Biya has become authoritarian and cite concerns about his health. Young people, especially students, have been forced to take part in Biya’s birthday activities.

This song, Rigor, by Cameroon’s legendary artist, Jojo Ngalle, blasts through speakers at the 5,000-seat Multipurpose Sports Complex in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

Ngalle says in the song that Biya should be credited for bringing rigor and moralization to Cameroon.

Among the senior state functionaries celebrating the anniversary is Philemon Yang, Cameroon’s immediate past prime minister and Biya’s close collaborator.

Yang says he is celebrating an exceptionally good leader who has brought peace and development to Cameroon.

“We are celebrating longevity, achievements, political achievements, economic achievements, you can imagine democratization, that is a big achievement. So we are celebrating many things,” he said. “Rigor is with us, moralization is with us and, most of all, living together. These are psychological achievements which can never be reduced to nothing. We don’t see them, they are invisible but extremely important to us.”

The government says public places in towns and villages across Cameroon hosted activities Monday marking Biya’s 90th birthday.

Biya has been Cameroon’s president since 1982. He took over from Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahijo. Biya served as prime minister for seven years before becoming president.

He has won all multiparty elections since 1992, although opposition parties have always complained the elections were heavily rigged.

In 2008, he removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely. His current mandate ends in 2025.

During the birthday celebrations Monday, Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party called on the nonagenarian to seek another term.

If Biya were to win the 2025 election, he would be 95 when the mandate ends in 2030.

The government says young people came out voluntarily to celebrate because they love Biya.

However, geography teacher Henry Mbiydzenyuy says the government instructed secondary school and university students to attend the celebrations.

“I was born in the mid-eighties, Biya was already the president of Cameroon. I am almost 40 years [old] and the man is still the president of Cameroon. It’s hurting. Cameroonians need a change. If people are celebrating Biya, throwing parties and calling students to come join them, it’s hypocrisy at its highest level,” he said.

Biya was not physically present at his Yaoundé birthday celebration. Local media often raise concerns about his age and health. But the government says Biya is in excellent shape.

Biya was last seen in public on February 10, while delivering a message for Cameroon Youth Day, celebrated the following day.

In the message, Biya asked young people to count on him and his government for more development projects, schools, universities, roads, hospitals, electricity and water.

However, opposition political parties blame Biya for what they call an economic disaster in Cameroon despite the central African state’s rich natural resources.

Violet Fokum is the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy. She says Biya has not been able to solve rampant corruption and the separatist crisis that have killed more than 3,500 people since 2017.

“Look at the number of children who have dropped out of school. Ten percent of girls marry before the ages of 15, and then 31[%] by the age of 18. Schools have been shut down. When these kids are on the streets, they are recruited as child soldiers or they become bush wives to nonstate armed groups,” she said.

The 90-year-old Biya is the world’s oldest serving leader and Africa’s second-longest serving president after his neighbor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power since 1979.
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Algerian authorities have arrested the mother and sister of wanted activist Amira Bouraoui days after she left for France, a rights group and a radio reported on Sunday.   

Bouraoui, a French-Algerian doctor by training, had been arrested in Tunisia last week and risked being deported to Algeria, but she was finally able to board a flight to France on Monday evening.   

The 46-year-old was sentenced in Algeria in May 2021 to two years in jail for “offending Islam” and for insulting the president.   

Her departure, following French intervention, created a diplomatic incident between Algiers and Paris, with Algeria recalling its ambassador from France for consultations.   

On Saturday, officers in Algiers arrested her mother, Khadidja Bouaroui, 71, and her sister Wafa and searched their home, the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD) and Radio M reported.   

Early Sunday, Wafa was released but Bouraoui’s mother was kept in detention and transferred to Annaba near the border with Tunisia, the CNLD said.   

A cousin who lives in Annaba was also arrested, the reports said.   

Algeria, in an official statement released by the president’s office Wednesday, “firmly protested against the clandestine and illegal exfiltration” of Amira Bouraoui via Tunisia to France.   

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune also ordered ambassador Said Moussi to be recalled “with immediate effect.”    

Ties between France and Algeria had been frosty since autumn 2021 but warmed when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Algiers last August. 
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The United States military reported Sunday that 12 al-Shabab militants were killed in a new airstrike in central Somalia.   

The U.S. Africa Command known as AFRICOM said in a statement that the “collective self-defense” strike occurred February 10 “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia.”   

The strike occurred in a remote area approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of the Indian Ocean port town of Hobyo, about 472 kilometers (293 miles) northeast of Mogadishu, according to the statement.    

AFRICOM did not specify the location, but Somali government media reported it took place in Donlaye, near Amara town in Galmudug state. The Somali government claimed 117 militants were killed in Friday’s operation.

Brigadier General Mohamed Tahlil Bihi, infantry commander of the Somali national army, told state media that the militants were in trenches fighting against Somali government forces. He also confirmed an airstrike targeted the militants during the firefight with Somali forces.   

AFRICOM said the strike took place in a remote location and assessed that no civilians were injured or killed.   

“U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate,” the statement read. “Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.”   

It’s the third “collective self-defense” strike by the U.S. military in Somalia this year.   

The previous two strikes occurred January 20 near Galcad town, killing approximately 30 al-Shabab fighters, and January 23 near Harardhere town, killing two militants.   

In addition, the U.S. conducted a counterterrorism operation January 26 that killed Bilal al-Sudani, a key Islamic State Somalia branch commander in the Cal-Miskaad mountains in the Puntland semi-autonomous region.   

The Somali government has been engaged in military operations aimed at recovering territories from al-Shabab. The U.S. and Turkish governments have been providing air support to the Somali army.   

Both governments are also training elite Somali forces who have been at the forefront of the recent military operations. 
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Activists in Uganda are crying foul in light of the government’s decision to close the United Nations human rights office in the country. Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, Uganda.
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Malawi has dropped criminal charges against Anti-Corruption Bureau Director-General Martha Chizuma in connection with leaked audio in which she apparently complained that some officials were frustrating her fight against corruption.

Director of Public Prosecutions Masauko Chamkakala said in a statement that he has discontinued the criminal case against Chizuma in line with the Malawi Constitution and to ensure that the functions of the Anti-Corruption Bureau are not impeded.

Chizuma was facing two counts of criminal defamation after two top officials she mentioned in a leaked audio as among those hindering her investigations sued her.

The lawsuits led the government to suspend Chizuma until the court case is concluded.

The withdrawal of charges comes a few days after the United States and other international donors accused Malawi of fighting anti-corruption champions instead of corruption.

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe condemned what it called harassment of Chizuma.

It also said the Malawi government was waging a campaign of intimidation against the country’s anti-corruption chief.

But the Malawi government denied those accusations.

Chizuma’s lawyer, Martha Kaukonde, told VOA that she has taken the news of withdrawal of charges with a pinch of salt, as similar past announcements never materialized.

“As you recall, the same pronouncements were made by the minister of justice a month ago and then nothing changed. We wrote to the minister but there was no formal withdrawal. So we are just waiting for a formal withdrawal,” she said.

However, Chamkakala said he has advised the secretary to the president and cabinet, Colleen Zamba, to reconsider her decision to suspend Chizuma.

In the meantime, lawyers the government hired this week to challenge an injunction against the suspension of Chizuma say they have withdrawn their appeal, which had been expected to be heard Monday.
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Tunisian police Saturday arrested powerful businessman Kamel Eltaief, a former confidant of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as well as two key political activists, lawyers said.

Eltaief, 68, was arrested at his home in the capital Tunis, lawyer Nizar Ayed said without providing further details.

Police also arrested Abdelhamid Jelassi, a former senior leader of the Islamist-inspired movement Ennahdha — fierce rivals of President Kais Saied — as well as the political activist Khayam Turki.

Tunisia has seen a spike in the arrest and prosecution of politicians, journalists and others since Saied seized wide-ranging powers in a dramatic move against parliament in July 2021.

Since then, Saied’s opponents have accused him of authoritarianism in the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

For many Tunisians —- especially supporters of Ennahdha — Eltaief was seen as a symbol of past corruption in the North African nation.

The influential powerbroker was involved in the 1987 coup that forced former President Habib Bourguiba from power on medical grounds and was long considered a crony of Bourguiba’s successor Ben Ali.

Eltaief later fell out of grace with Ben Ali in 1992 in a feud with the former dictator’s wife Leila Trabelsi.

After the fall of Ben Ali in 2011, the businessman moved closer to the opposition.

In 2012 he was investigated for “conspiracy against state security,” but no charges were brought against him and the case was closed in 2014.

Repressive

In the case of former Ennahdha movement leader Abdelhamid Jelassi, seven police officers searched his home Saturday evening and confiscated his mobile phone before arresting him, the party said without providing further details.

According to Tunisian media, Jelassi was arrested on “suspicion of a plot against state security.”

Political activist Turki, 58, had once been considered as a potential candidate to head the government after the resignation of premier Elyes Fakhfakh in 2020, and belongs to the social democratic Ettakatol party.

Turki’s lawyer Abdelaziz Essid, who said his client was not known to be wanted by the authorities, said he was arrested in an early morning police raid.

“He was taken to an unknown destination,” said Essid, adding Turki had not been “facing any legal proceedings” to justify his arrest. No further details were immediately available.

Ettakatol was allied with the Ennahdha party within the government between 2011 and 2014, before the latter became part of the opposition.

Ennahdha condemned Turki’s arrest and called for his “immediate” release, calls echoed by the opposition National Salvation Front (FSN), which condemned a “repressive policy.” 
…

At least 10 soldiers died in an ambush in southwestern Niger — close to the Mali border — by a group of what the defense ministry Saturday called armed terrorists.

The toll from Friday’s attack could rise because 16 people are still missing and 13 soldiers were wounded, a ministry statement said.

The troops were on patrol in the northern part of the Banibangou department when they “came under a complex ambush by a group of armed terrorists” the ministry said, referring to jihadi groups.

The statement also said several attackers were killed during the fighting but did not specify how many.

The attack took place in Niger’s vast western region of Tillaberi, which straddles Burkina Faso and Mali — two countries hit by jihadi insurgency — and has faced repeated attack since 2017 by armed groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

The region neighbors the Tahoua area, where heavily armed attackers stormed a camp housing refugees from neighboring Mali last week.

Nine people were killed in that assault, which a local official said was carried out by “heavily armed terrorists” on motorcycles who fled back into Mali.

More than 61,000 Malian refugees shelter in Tahoua and Tillaberi, according to the United Nations.

After the departure of French soldiers from Mali last year and a scheduled pullout shortly from Burkina Faso, France will field only 3,000 troops in the restive Sahel region, in Niger and Chad, where jihadi groups roam.

All of the countries involved are former French colonies.
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