A Mali prosecutor says the 49 Ivory Coast soldiers held in Mali since July on accusations of being mercenaries have now been charged with undermining state security. 

Mali’s prosecutor in the counterterrorism unit gave the update on the soldiers’ situation. Ivory Coast has been demanding the release of the soldiers since their detention July 10. 

The soldiers are charged with “criminal association, attack and conspiracy against the government, undermining the external security of the state, possession, carrying and transportation of weapons of war and complicity in these crimes,” the specialized prosecutor Samba Sissoko said in a statement released Sunday. “Investigations will be carried out in order to establish the truth, identify all possible perpetrators, co-perpetrators and accomplices.” 

The Ivorian soldiers were detained upon their arrival in Mali at the airport in Bamako, the capital. They were sent to Mali to secure a building belonging to an airline company that was carrying out a contract with the German contingent of peacekeepers with the United Nations mission in Mali. However, Mali’s ruling junta considers the Ivorian soldiers to be “mercenaries” because they are not directly employed by the U.N. mission and therefore are not “national support elements.” 

Tensions between Mali and Ivory Coast have increased since the soldiers were arrested. 

 
…

A female journalist who was arrested in South Sudan’s capital earlier this month while covering a protest over high food prices has been released from detention. 

Diing Magot, a freelance correspondent for the Voice of America, was arrested Aug. 7 at Konyo-konyo market along with six protesters for working without an identification document. 

Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Juba demanded that Magot be released “immediately,” and stated that journalists have the right to do their work without interference or harm.

According to Magot’s lawyer, Seven Wani, Magot was released Monday on bail, pending further investigations into her case.

“The bail does not mean that this case has been dismissed,” her lawyer said. “Once the investigation is done, the matter will be transferred to court. This is to say that the case is still ongoing and all the accused … will be summoned to court if the matter is transferred to court.”

The release of the journalist brought much relief to her family.

“Ever since her arrest, as a family we have been trying to knock on doors, even doors of government officials, so that they are able to give an ear to her case and speedily remove her from detention,” said Diing Magot’s sister Ayen.

South Sudan is ranked 139th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index. The index says journalists in South Sudan have faced harassment, arbitrary detention, torture, and even death in instances where they did not practice self-censorship.

Ayen Magot discussed the repercussions of journalist arrests in South Sudan, which she believes will dissuade young people from pursuing careers as journalists.

“This is a noble profession and there are young people out there who have dreams to become journalists,” she said. “What happens to them in such situations? They are looking, they are watching, they will be told, no, don’t enter, don’t enter this profession because it is risky.”

Oyet Patrick Charles, president of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan, confirmed the release of Diing Magot. He noted that she was detained beyond the hours permitted by the constitution, on the grounds that the state attorney requested more time to consider her case.

VOA’s public relations office on Monday said it was “elated” at the release of Magot and thanked the South Sudan Union of Journalists, Magot’s colleagues and others in Juba who “worked tirelessly for her release.”
…

The United States imposed sanctions on three Liberian government officials, including President George Weah’s chief of staff, for what it says is their ongoing involvement in public corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday.

The sanctions target Weah’s Chief of Staff Nathaniel McGill, Liberia’s Chief Prosecutor Sayma Syrenius Cephus and Bill Twehway, the managing director of the National Port Authority.

“Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The designations “demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people,” he said.

McGill, Cephus and Twehway are being designated as foreign government officials who allegedly engaged in corruption including the misappropriation of state assets, taking private assets for personal gain, or bribery, according to the statement.

Under the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the three officials that are in the United States must be blocked and reported to Treasury, while people who engage in transactions with the officials may be subject to sanctions themselves, the statement said.
…

The last French armed forces in Mali have relocated to Niger, after a falling out with Mali’s military government and its alleged use of Russian mercenaries.

French forces have officially left Malian territory, according to a French armed forces ministry press release.

“The last military unit of the Barkhane Force present on Malian territory crossed the border between Mali and Niger,” at 11:00 A.M. local time Monday, the release says.

The French army initially intervened in Mali in 2013, in Operation Serval, after northern Mali was taken over by Islamist militant groups in 2012.

Operation Serval was replaced by the anti-insurgent Operation Barkhane in 2014. Operation Barkhane will now be based in Niger.

Though then-French President François Hollande received a warm welcome in newly-liberated Timbuktu on arrival in 2013, the Malian public has turned sour toward French forces in recent years, with several protests held in cities across Mali calling for the forces’ departure.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced in February that French forces would withdraw over a period of 4-6 months, amid increasing tensions between France and Mali’s military government and France’s accusations that Mali is working with mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary company with links to the Kremlin.

Human Rights Watch and several international media outlets have reported on alleged extrajudicial killings and abuses committed by Russian mercenaries in Mali.

Mali’s military government has continually denied the accusations and says it only works with official Russian instructors.

Meanwhile, 2022 has been one of the deadliest so far in Mali’s decade-long conflict, with both civilians and soldiers targeted by Islamists.

Forty-two Malian soldiers were killed this month during an attack in Tessit, and Mali’s main military base in Kati, just 15 kilometers from Bamako, was attacked in July.

In June, 132 civilians were murdered by suspected Islamists in an attack in central Mali.

Mali also experienced tensions with its West African neighbors this year, with regional bloc ECOWAS imposing sanctions after military rulers proposed a -year delay in elections. The sanctions were lifted in July after elections were scheduled for 2024.

Senegalese President Macky Sall met with Malian interim President Assimi Goita Monday morning in Bamako for the first time since the military government took power in a 2020 coup.
…

Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, says thieves and vandals cost the country up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day – that’s billions of dollars in lost revenue. To combat the problem, Nigerian oil authorities have launched a mobile app for reporting the incidents and rewarding those who do.

The launch of the crude oil theft monitoring app took place last Friday in Abuja, during the signing of renewed production contracts between the Nigeria National Petroleum Commission and its oil drilling partners.

Authorities said the mobile platform was created for members of host communities in oil-rich regions to enable early reporting of incidents and spur immediate action from relevant security and government authorities.

Whistleblowers will also be rewarded.

During the launch, the NNPC group head Mele Kyari admitted that pipeline vandalism has become difficult to control.

In July, Nigeria changed its oil firm from a solely state-run entity to a commercial oil company.

Emmanuel Afimia, the founder of Abuja-based energy consulting firm, said addressing oil theft is an important issue the new company must deal with to improve its earnings. 

“At this point, NNPC would be able to at least find solutions to the issue of subsidies, to the issue of inefficiencies, to the issue of loss every year,” he said. “Because the effect would actually be felt by them, so I’m not sure they would want to continue with the way they’ve actually been operating the corporation. So this is definitely the right step in the right direction.”

According to the NNPC, with losses at 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day Nigeria loses about $4 billion in revenue every year.

Kyari said so far this year, the country has already lost $1.5 billion due to escalation of pipeline vandalism and oil theft at the Bonny Terminal in Rivers State.

But Toyin Akinosho, publisher of the Africa Oil+Gas Report, said beyond launching an app, political will is needed to address the problem.

“It’s very important that the state hydrocarbon company itself is announcing this [but] it’s not just a question about tracking, it’s actually how you deliver on ensuring that those incidents don’t happen again,” he said. “There has to be the will power to deliver. That’s what I’m interested in.” 

Nigeria has been seeking to cash in on rising energy prices as Europe tries to wean itself off Russia’s energy supply following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Authorities have revived decades-old “Trans Saharan” pipeline projects from Nigeria to Algeria and also from Nigeria to Morocco. Both projects are targeting European energy markets.

But Akinosho said the projects may not be completed until a few years from now.

“Whatever it is that we’re even building will take a bit of time,” he said. “You can’t construct these pipelines that the government is talking about, you can’t deliver them in less than three, four years.”

In January of this year authorities in Nigeria’s oil rich Rivers State began cracking down on illegal refineries locally known as “Kpo-fire.” Many operators were arrested.

Authorities say the government’s oil and gas revenue target this year is now threatened by a production shortfall of 28 million barrels caused by oil theft between January and July.
…

Official results from Kenya’s tightly contested presidential election are expected within hours following growing tensions between supporters of the two leading candidates.

The wait for the official announcement drags on as the electoral commission continues to certify the remaining votes.  

Throughout the verification process that began Wednesday, there have been accusations of vote rigging and of electoral officials tampering with results, especially from former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s camp against the main challenger, Deputy President William Ruto.

Preliminary results show Ruto leading by a small margin as the results continue to trickle in.

Speaking to journalists Sunday, Gladwell Otieno of the Angaza Movement, a consortium of civic and human rights organizations pushing for electoral integrity and accountability, urged the electoral commission to address the allegations of vote rigging.

“We demand a full accounting from the IEBC of the extent of involvement of officers in electoral offenses and the steps taken against offending staff,” Otieno said. “We demand the full audit and disclosure from the IEBC of the extent of alteration to the election tallying results. We demand the Kenya police arrest any person involved in electoral fraud and fast-track investigations and those found culpable are convicted. It’s time we have accountability for continual electoral malpractice in this country.”

Kenya’s Supreme Court invalidated presidential election results in 2017 due to irregularities and illegalities in the process.

Kenya’s disputed election results have led to protests, killings and inter-communal fighting.  

The commission reminded the competing sides that their work would be verifying presidential results and announcing the winner.

Tensions are rising across the country as officials close to Odinga and Ruto announce their own election results and claim victory.

At church services Sunday, Odinga and Ruto called for peace and urged Kenyans to wait for the IEBC call.

Kenya’s electoral commission has until Tuesday to announce the winner of last week’s election.
…

A measles outbreak has killed 80 children in Zimbabwe since April, the ministry of health said, blaming church sect gatherings for the surge.

In a statement seen by Reuters Sunday, the ministry said the outbreak had now spread nationwide, with a case fatality rate of 6.9%.

Health Secretary Jasper Chimedza said that as of Thursday, 1,036 suspected cases and 125 confirmed cases had been reported since the outbreak, with Manicaland in eastern Zimbabwe accounting for most of the infections.

“The ministry of health and childcare wishes to inform the public that the ongoing outbreak of measles which was first reported on 10th of April has since spread nationwide following church gatherings,” Chimedza said in a statement.

“These gathering which were attended by people from different provinces of the country with unknown vaccination status led to the spread of measles to previously unaffected areas.”

Manicaland, the second-most populous province, had 356 cases and 45 deaths, Chimedza said.

Most reported cases are among children aged between six months and 15 from religious sects who are not vaccinated against measles due to religious beliefs, he added.

Bishop Andby Makuru, leader of Johane Masowe apostolic sect, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Zimbabwe, some apostolic church sects forbid their followers from taking vaccinations or any medical treatment. The churches attract millions of followers with their promises to heal illnesses and deliver people from poverty.

With a low vaccination rate and in some cases, no record keeping, the government has resolved to start a mass vaccination campaign in areas where the outbreak was recorded.

The measles outbreak is expected to strain an ailing health sector already blighted by lack of medication and intermittent strikes by health workers. 
…

The Somali government received 40 containers of food aid from the United Arab Emirates Saturday, amid concern over famine in the Horn of African country. The drought has displaced a million people so far. 

In a handover ceremony that took place in Mogadishu’s seaport Saturday, Somalia received much-needed humanitarian assistance from the United Arab Emirates in the presence of senior Somali government officials.

UAE Ambassador to Somalia Mohamed al-Othmani, who spoke at the handover said the food supplies include more than 1,000 metric tons sent by the UAE Red Crescent, meant to help Somalia fight the drought that has devastated the country.

The drought has already displaced a million Somalis who joined nearly 2 million internally displaced people who fled from Somalia’s previous drought.

“I want to thank the minister and the office of the prime minister for attending the handover of humanitarian assistance sent by the government of the United Arab Emirates. We are handing over a thousand tons of aid to the Somali government. You know that earlier this year the UAE donated 35 million Dirham, $9.5 million, to the Somali government,” said al-Othmani.

Hirsi Jama Gani, Somalia’s state minister for the office of the prime minister, welcomed the assistance and thanked UAE for helping Somalia’s drought relief efforts.

He said the country is witnessing a huge drought and called on Somalis and other international parties to join the humanitarian efforts in Somalia.

“We are here today to receive the humanitarian assistance from the United Arab Emirates represented by the ambassador sent to help our people, who are facing drought,” he said. “We thank UAE for this and previous assistance meant to help drought-affected people. We know the situation that our people are in who are in a middle of drought and calling other parties and Somalis to join the efforts to reach people in need.”

Abdullahi Ahmed Jama Ilkajir, Somalia’s Ports and Marine minister, said the food assistance will be delivered and distributed to all drought-hit areas in the country.

He said the aid will be uploaded unloaded in all parts of the country, including in Bosaso, Berbera and Kismayo, which host the biggest seaports in the country.

Somalia is witnessing its worst drought in more than 40 years, which has devastated 90% of the country.

The drought has affected more than 7 million people, and widespread malnutrition and drought-related illnesses have killed more than 500 children.

In the Gedo region, bordering Kenya and Ethiopia, authorities earlier told VOA by phone that more than 50 people, mainly children and elderly, have died due to the drought, which has caused a huge increase of displacement.

Authorities told VOA that more than 50,000 people displaced by the drought have fled to camps in the town of Dolow in the Gedo region in search of food, water, shelter and assistance.

Somalia last year declared the three-year drought a national emergency.

According to the prime minister’s office, the drought has also killed more than 2 million livestock and affected 28% of the country’s total livestock population.
…

NAIROBI, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Additional riot police were deployed inside Kenya’s national election tallying center overnight, after a crowd of men scuffled in the early hours of Sunday and a party official shouted accusations into the microphone.

The fracas underscored fraying tempers and high tensions within the national counting hall as the country waits for official results from last Tuesday’s election. There were wry digs online over the melee from citizens pointing out that the rest of the nation is waiting patiently.

In the presidential race, results so far show a tight race between left-leaning opposition leader Raila Odinga and self-made businessman Deputy President William Ruto.

But confusion over vote tallying by the media and a slow pace by the electoral commission have fed anxiety in Kenya, which is East Africa’s richest and most stable nation but which has a history of violence following disputed elections.

Reuters was unable to get access to the official running vote tally for the presidential race on Sunday. A live feed displaying the results at the national tallying center had disappeared hours ago.

When asked about the tally, a spokeswoman for the commission referred Reuters to the live feed. Other electoral officials said they were unable to provide the information.

Officially verified results on Saturday with just over 26% of votes counted put Odinga in the lead with 54% of the vote, while Ruto had 45%.

The winner must get 50% of votes plus one. The commission has seven days from the vote to declare the winners.

A Reuters tally of 255 out of 291 preliminary constituency-level results at 0900 GMT on Sunday showed Ruto in the lead with 52% and Odinga at just over 47%. Two minor candidates shared less than 1% between them.

Reuters did not include 19 forms in the count because they lacked signatures, totals, were illegible or had other problems.

The preliminary tally is based on forms that are subject to revision if any discrepancies are discovered during the official verification process.

The many checks and balances are designed to try to prevent the kind of allegations of rigging that provoked violence in 2007, when more than 1,200 people were killed, and in 2017, when more than 100 people were killed.

Chaos at the counting hall

Odinga and Ruto are vying to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has served his two-term limit. Kenyatta fell out with Ruto after the last election and has endorsed Odinga for president.

Kenyatta leaves power having laden Kenya with debt for expensive infrastructure projects and without having tackled the endemic corruption that has hollowed out all levels of government. The next president will also take on rapidly rising food and fuel costs.

Ruto’s strong showing reflects widespread discontent with Kenyatta’s legacy — even in parts of the country where the president has previously swept the vote.

Large numbers of Kenyans also did not vote, saying neither candidate inspired them.

On Sunday, Ruto’s party member Johnson Sakaja won the governorship of the capital Nairobi, the wealthiest and most populous of the 47 counties.

Tensions at tallying center

As the tight race continued, party agents have grown increasingly agitated at the tallying center, known as Bomas.

Late on Saturday, Raila Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao ole Kanchory grabbed a microphone and announced “Bomas of Kenya is a scene of crime,” before officials switched off his microphone.

Party agents scuffled with each other, with police and with election officials, at one point trying to drag one official outside.

The scenes, broadcast on national news, were met with bemusement by Kenyans, who urged their leaders to grow up.

“The reckless behavior at Bomas by so-called leaders, which can fast ignite the country, must be called out,” tweeted Alamin Kimathi, a human rights activist. “Let the drama end. Let the process continue.”
…

Mohamed gave up farming because of successive droughts that have hit his previously fertile but isolated village in Morocco and because he just couldn’t bear it any longer.

“To see villagers rush to public fountains in the morning or to a neighbor to get water makes you want to cry,” the man in his 60s said.

“The water shortage is making us suffer,” he told AFP in Ouled Essi Masseoud village, around 140 kilometers from the country’s economic capital Casablanca.

But it is not just his village that is suffering — all of the North African country has been hit.

No longer having access to potable running water, the villagers of Ouled Essi Masseoud rely solely on sporadic supplies in public fountains and from private wells.

“The fountains work just one or two days a week, the wells are starting to dry up and the river next to it is drying up more and more,” said Mohamed Sbai as he went to fetch water from neighbors.

The situation is critical, given the village’s position in the agricultural province of Settat, near the Oum Er-Rbia River and the Al Massira Dam, Morocco’s second largest.

Its reservoir supplies drinking water to several cities, including the 3 million people who live in Casablanca. But the latest official figures show it is now filling at a rate of just 5%.

Al Massira reservoir has been reduced to little more than a pond bordered by kilometers of cracked earth.

Nationally, dams are filling at a rate of only 27%, precipitated by the country’s worst drought in at least four decades.

Water rationing

At 600 cubic meters of water annually per capita, Morocco is already well below the water scarcity threshold of 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year, according to the World Health Organization.

In the 1960s, water availability was four times higher — at 2,600 cubic meters.

A July World Bank report on the Moroccan economy said the decrease in the availability of renewable water resources put the country in a situation of “structural water stress.”

The authorities have now introduced water rationing.

The interior ministry ordered local authorities to restrict supplies when necessary and prohibits using drinking water to irrigate green spaces and golf courses.

Illegal withdrawals from wells, springs or waterways have also been prohibited.

In the longer-term, the government plans to build 20 seawater desalination plants by 2030, which should cover a large part of the country’s needs.

“We are in crisis management rather than in anticipated risk management,” water resources expert Mohamed Jalil told AFP.

He added that it was “difficult to monitor effectively the measures taken by the authorities.”

Agronomist Mohamed Srairi said Morocco’s Achilles’ heel was its agricultural policy “which favors water-consuming fruit trees and industrial agriculture.”

Key sector

He said such agriculture relies on drip irrigation which, although it can save water, paradoxically results in increased consumption as previously arid areas become cultivable.

The World Bank report noted that cultivated areas under drip irrigation in Morocco have more than tripled.

It said that “modern irrigation technologies may have altered cropping decisions in ways that increased rather than decreased the total quantity of water consumed by the agricultural sector.”

More than 80% of Morocco’s water supply is allocated to agriculture, a key economic sector that accounts for 14% of gross domestic product.

Mohamed, in his nineties, stood on an area of parched earth not far from the Al Massira Dam.

“We don’t plough the land anymore because there is no water,” he said, but added that he had to “accept adversity anyway because we have no choice.”

Younger generations in the village appear gloomier.

Soufiane, a 14-year-old shepherd boy, told AFP, “We are living in a precarious state with this drought. I think it will get even worse in the future.”
…

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, is to resume contingent rotations starting Monday under fresh approval procedures, the Malian foreign minister and a U.N. spokeswoman have said.

“MINUSMA agreed to the new procedures and communicated them to all countries contributing troops. There will be no exception,” Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said Saturday, after the Sahel state suspended the rotations last month for “national security” reasons.

The peacekeeping force’s spokeswoman Myriam Dessables confirmed the news and said: “Rotations are to resume from Monday.”

The announcement came after Germany said Friday it had stopped reconnaissance operations and helicopter transport flights in Mali until further notice after Bamako denied flyover rights to MINUSMA.

Those rights were refused despite assurances to the contrary from the Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara in a call with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht Thursday, the German defense ministry spokesman said.

Diop said the various contingents previously had to seek approval directly from the Malian authorities.

But now “all requests must go via MINUSMA, who will then pass them on to the foreign ministry,” the minister said.

The July 14 suspension of rotations came four days after Mali arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers it later described as mercenaries intent on toppling the country’s military-led government.

Ivory Coast said the troops had been sent to provide backup to MINUSMA.

The peacekeeping mission acknowledged there had been what it called dysfunctions in deploying the Ivorian troops.

Former MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado was expelled from the country for publishing what the authorities deemed unacceptable information on Twitter following the arrest.

MINUSMA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, was launched in 2013 to help one of the world’s poorest countries cope with a bloody jihadi campaign.

It is one of the U.N.’s biggest peacekeeping operations, with 17,609 troops, police, civilians and volunteers deployed as of April, according to the mission’s website.

Mali has been ruled by a military junta since 2020.

The junta has turned away from France and toward Russia in its fight against the jihadi insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

France is pulling out the last of its military equipment from the country.

On Saturday, residents in the southeastern Menaka region said Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) jihadis had attacked the Assaylal district, “killing seven civilians and taking with off their cattle.”

It comes after a suspected jihadi attack in the town of Tessit, near the borders with Niger and Burkina Faso, killed 42 Malian soldiers on Sunday last week. The army blamed ISGS.
…

Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga led Kenya’s presidential race, official election results showed Saturday, pushing Deputy President William Ruto into second place.

With just over 26% of votes counted, Odinga had 54% and Ruto had 45%, according to results provided by the Kenyan election commission and displayed on a large screen at a national tallying center in the capital, Nairobi.

East Africa’s wealthiest nation and most vibrant democracy held presidential, parliamentary and local elections Tuesday.

Ruto and Odinga are in a tight race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has reached his two-term limit. Kenyatta fell out with Ruto after the last election and has endorsed Odinga.

Official vote tallying has been proceeding slowly, fueling public anxiety.

Election commission chairman Wafula Chebukati blamed party agents, who are allowed to scrutinize results forms before they are added to the final tally.

“Agents in this exercise cannot proceed … as if we are doing a forensic audit,” he told a news briefing Friday.

“We are not moving as fast as we should. This exercise needs to be concluded as soon as possible.”

Representatives from Odinga’s and Ruto’s coalitions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reuters news agency and other media outlets have been tallying results forms from 291 constituencies posted on the election commission website. These have not yet been verified, and this tally is running well ahead of the official one.

As of 1200 GMT, Reuters had tallied 237 forms, which showed Ruto in the lead with nearly 53% of the vote, compared to just over 46% for Odinga. Two other candidates had less than 1% between them.

Nineteen other forms could not be included in the count because they were unreadable or were missing information.

The forms Reuters is tallying are preliminary and the results subject to change. After the forms are uploaded to the commission’s website, Kenyan election law requires that they are physically brought to the national tallying center, where party representatives can examine them for any discrepancies.

The process was designed as a safeguard against the kind of rigging allegations that have triggered violence after previous polls. More than 1,200 people were killed after a disputed 2007 election and more than 100 killed after a disputed 2017 election.

The winning candidate must receive 50% of the national vote plus one, and at least 25% of the vote from 24 of 47 counties.

The commission has until Tuesday to declare a winner.
…

The first U.N.-chartered vessel set to transport grain from Ukraine to Africa docked Friday in Ukraine.

The vessel will carry the first shipment of humanitarian food to Africa under a U.N.-backed plan to move grain trapped by Russia’s war on Ukraine and to help relieve a global food crisis. 

Previous ships with wheat that were allowed to leave Ukraine under the deal were not humanitarian, and their cargoes had been purchased by other nations or vendors. 

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, wrote in a tweet that the newly docked vessel would be loaded with 23,000 metric tons of grain bound for Ethiopia. The African nation, along with Somalia and Kenya, is facing the region’s worst drought in four decades.

“The wheat grain will go to the World Food Program’s operations in Ethiopia, supporting WFP’s Horn of Africa drought response as the threat of famine stalks the drought-hit region,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

“It is one of many areas around the world where the near complete halt of Ukrainian grain and food on the global market has made life even harder for families already struggling with rising hunger,” he said.

The ship MV Brave Commander arrived Friday in Yuzhne, Ukraine, east of Odesa on the Black Sea coast.  After being loaded with wheat it will travel to Djibouti, where the grain will be unloaded and sent to Ethiopia, according to the United Nations.

Around 20 million metric tons of grain has been unable to leave Ukraine since Russia’s February invasion of the country.

On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow signed a landmark agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries.

Turkey has opened a special facility in Istanbul at the mouth of the Black Sea to oversee the exports. It is staffed by civilian and military officials from the warring sides and delegates from Turkey and the U.N.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement that because Malian leaders of the U.N. mission to Mali, MINUSMA, denied overflight rights, the German mission must stop all reconnaissance and transport operations until further notice.

The comments from Lambrecht were posted Friday to the defense ministry’s Twitter account.

In them, Lambrecht said she had spoken with Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara, “to describe to him the irritations” about problems with denial of flight permissions.

Lambrecht also said that “Germany can only stay involved with MINUSMA in Mali if this doesn’t happen again and we are welcome in the country.”

Germany provides more than 1,000 soldiers to the U.N. mission to Mali.

There was no immediate comment from Malian and MINUSMA officials.

The episode is another sign of tension between Mali’s military rulers and foreign military forces stationed in Mali to help stabilize the country.

In July, Mali arrested 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast who came to Mali to support a U.N. contingent, calling them “mercenaries.” After MINUSMA spokesperson Olivier Salgado said on Twitter that Mali had been notified of the soldiers’ arrival, he was expelled from the country.

French forces are in the final stages of withdrawing from Mali, following increasing tensions with the government and concerns over Mali working with mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company with ties to the Kremlin. The government has said it works only with official Russian instructors.

Earlier this week, Mali received a shipment of military aircraft from Russia, the latest of multiple shipments of aircraft and weapons from the country’s new ally in the decade-long fight against Islamist insurgents.
…

Authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland say the death toll from clashes between police and opposition supporters this week has risen to five, with nearly 100 others injured. Despite the violence, opposition leader Abdirahman Irro said the protests will continue, raising activist fears of more casualties.

The president of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, said Thursday night that until further notice, anyone trying to hold violent protests and organize violence will be stopped and confronted. He said Thursday’s protest was the first in 30 years that the government authorized, and that protesters were told where to go when demonstrating but they didn’t recognize that, and it is a national treason to protest.  

The president accused Irro, the leader of the main opposition Wadani party, of wanting to create a Sri Lanka-like protest to overthrow Abdi’s government.

Thursday’s protests in the region’s main cities were called by opposition party leaders, demanding that elections be held as scheduled in November of this year.  

At a news conference shared on Twitter, Irro vowed the protests will continue and said that security forces used “brutal” force and torture.

He said protesters were holding only signs, placards, and whistles while marching to express their feelings peacefully, but the government used all its power, including live bullets, poison, torture, imprisonment, intimidation, and obstruction of rights. 

The leader of another opposition party, Faysal Ali Warabe, said after the clashes that the opposition will form a parallel interim government. 

Warabe told VOA earlier on the phone that lawmakers’ constitutional terms have already expired and the people need to see the election held before November this year.

Human rights activists in Somaliland expressed concerns about the clashes and the election dispute, calling on the international community to intervene in the dispute between the two sides.

Ahmed Yusuf Hussien, a Somaliland-based human rights activist, told VOA that the situation has worsened since negotiations ended in failure.

“I want to send a call to the international community to intervene in the dialogue between the government and the opposition because previous negotiations that involved religious scholars, traditional elders and intellectuals were unfruitful,” he said. “So, to avoid further failure, I call upon the international community to intervene.

The U.S. Embassy in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, urged the ruling party and opposition leaders in Somaliland to avoid violence during the demonstrations and return quickly to political dialogue.

In a short statement, the U.S. Embassy said failure to reach agreement on elections threatens Somaliland’s achievements in democratic governance.

Somaliland is a self-ruling region of northern Somalia that declared independence in 1991 but has not received recognition from the international community.
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Human Rights Watch (HTW) says Cameroon’s military executed at least 10 people while fighting rebels this year in the country’s troubled western regions. The rights group says troops committed other abuses, including forced disappearances, burning homes and destroying health facilities.

In its report, Human Rights Watch said between April 24 and June 12 of this year, Cameroonian soldiers burned 12 homes, arbitrarily detained at least 26 people, and are presumed to have forcibly disappeared up to 17 others.

Cameroon’s military has yet to comment on the report, but last month the country’s defense minister acknowledged such abuses for the first time and ordered troops to stop.

The report, released Thursday, said the abuses were carried out in and around Belo, Chomba and Missong, towns in Cameroon’s Northwest region, during operations against armed separatist groups.

In one incident on April 24, Cameroon government troops stopped, severely beat, and detained over 30 motorbike riders who were part of a funeral convoy, allegedly because the soldiers suspected them of being separatist fighters. HRW said about 17 riders are presumed forcibly disappeared, as their whereabouts are unknown, but they were last seen in military custody.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, HRW’s central Africa researcher, said the abuses are causing untold suffering among civilians.

“We are facing a situation where the army, [which] is supposed to be protecting the civilian population from the threats posed by the separatist fighters is committing serious human rights violations against civilians causing frustrations and also more sufferings and leading to displacements,” Allegrozzi said.

HRW also said serious abuses by separatist fighters, including killing and kidnapping of civilians, and attacks on students, teachers, and schools were also documented during the same period.

Ngong Cyprain, a 27-year-old sports teacher, said he fled from Belo after government troops torched his house in June. He spoke to VOA by a messaging app from the town of Douala, where he has relocated.

“I, just like many other people would want to go back to Belo, but how can we when both the military and the separatists torture us,” he said. “My house was burnt by the military, I saw them burn my house. Before then, my wife who is a teacher was abducted by the fighters.”

Separatist groups said on social media they will investigate and punish fighters who abuse human rights, but blame Cameroon government troops for what they call a majority of the abuses.

Contacted by VOA after the report was published, Cameroon’s military spokesman, Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo, promised to get back to reporters, but has not done so.

But on June 19, during the installation of military officials fighting separatists in Bamenda, capital of the Northwest region, Cameroon’s defense minister acknowledged that troops commited grave rights abuses against civilians and ordered such violations to stop.

In June, Cameroon’s military said it arrested four of its troops for killing nine civilians, including four women and a baby in the northwest village of Missong, describing the act as reckless.

HRW said the media and international community have been very quiet about the crisis wrecking Cameroon’s western regions, making the armed conflict one of the most neglected crises in the world.

The crisis degenerated into an armed conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions in 2016 after teachers and lawyers protested the dominance of French-speakers in the officially bilingual country.

The military responded with a crackdown and rebels took up arms, saying they had to defend the minority English speakers.

The U.N. says that clashes between the two sides have left at least 3,300 people dead and more than 750,000 internally displaced.
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Twenty suspects were due in a South African court Friday to face charges of instigating riots and civil unrest that left hundreds dead and brought the country to a near-standstill last year.

Riots in July 2021 left more than 300 dead and shut down many of the country’s roads and ports.

More than a year later, police say they’re bringing the instigators of the unrest to justice. Twenty people were detained Thursday, South African police said in a statement.

They are due in court Friday afternoon in the eastern port city of Durban, which was the epicenter of the unrest.

The protests started when former president Jacob Zuma was arrested for refusing to appear before an inquiry panel into state graft under his tenure.

The marches quickly spiraled into violence and looting over several days, spreading from Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal to the financial center of Johannesburg.

Destruction of infrastructure and the looting of stores and malls cost the country’s economy an estimated $3.3 billion.

Last month, Defense Minister Thandi Modise told a news conference that only 50 people had been convicted in relation to the violence.

The perceived lack of justice has been a cause of frustration for victims and many across the country, fearing lawlessness without consequence.

More than 8,000 incidents were reported, leading to 5,500 arrests, the defense minister has said, with 2,435 cases still to reach court.

The 20 arrested on Thursday face charges that include conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence and incitement to commit arson.

Police say more arrests are “imminent.”
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The head of Kenya’s government-created media council says local media outlets haven’t been asked to stop their counting of presidential election results after observers noticed a dramatic slowdown in reporting on the close contest.

Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo told The Associated Press on Friday that “no one has asked anyone to stop,” but added that “we want to align the numbers with each other” and “I think let’s peer review our numbers.”

He said he was going into a meeting with media leaders as he spoke.

Observers and journalists with local media houses have expressed concern after Kenya Television Network, NTV Kenya and Citizen TV tallies of presidential results forms posted online by the electoral commission stopped or slowed on Thursday evening.

The differing results as media raced to do their tallies led to anxiety among some Kenyans as longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga, backed by former rival and outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta in his fifth attempt at the presidency, faces Deputy President William Ruto, who fell out with the president years ago.

Kenya could see a runoff presidential election for the first time.

The public posting of results forms was meant to be a groundbreaking exercise in transparency for the electoral commission, which has been under pressure after the high court cited irregularities and overturned the results of the previous presidential election in 2017, a first in Africa. Kenyatta won the new vote after Odinga boycotted it.

The electoral commission chair, Wafula Chebukati, even appeared to tease local media houses a day after Tuesday’s election, saying they were “behind” in tallying the more than 46,000 results forms being posted from around the country. On Thursday, however, he stressed that only the electoral commission can declare a winner.

On Wednesday, the media council in a statement noted “growing concerns” about the varying tallies and said it was consulting with media owners and editors “to find an urgent solution to this to ensure Kenyans receive synchronized results.”

To win outright, a candidate needs more than half of all votes and at least 25% of the votes in more than half of Kenya’s 47 counties. No outright winner means a runoff election within 30 days.

Official results will be announced within a week of the vote, but impatience among some Kenyans is growing. Some have turned to counting a far smaller set of results forms for 291 constituencies also being posted online by the electoral commission. More than 65% of them had been posted Friday morning.

Human rights groups have warned about “rising levels of false or misleading information being shared on social media” as the country awaits the official results.

Turnout dipped sharply in this election, to 65%, as some Kenyans expressed weariness with seeing long-familiar political leaders on the ballot and frustration with economic issues including widespread corruption and rising prices.
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Nigeria’s air force said airstrikes this week killed 55 members of criminal gangs who were involved in abduction-for-ransom operations. An air force spokesman said after the airstrikes, the militants released people they were holding hostage.

Nigeria’s government has come under heavy criticism for failing to stop mass abductions and Islamist militant attacks.

The Nigerian Air Force said airstrikes in north central Kaduna state on Tuesday killed 28 members of a kidnapping-for-ransom gang, including a gang leader. It said many others were injured.

Air Force Public Relations Director Gabriel Gabkwet told reporters that authorities had received intelligence that the bandits were gathering in the area. He said the success of the raid led to the release of captives they held.

Gabkwet said other airstrikes in northwestern Katsina state this week killed 27 bandits.

He did not take calls from VOA for further comment.

The airstrikes come a week after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari presided over a national security meeting and said he had given security forces the full freedom to deal with terrorists.

Darlington Abdullahi, president of the alumni association of Nigeria’s National Defense College, said Buhari’s words were a morale booster for troops.

“This kind of thing should not come as a surprise, all you need is political will to guide the action of the forces,” Abdullahi said. “I think they’re getting probably that support that is required to deal with the situation from the utterances of Mr. President.”

But Gabkwet said the military has also been conducting air operations targeting insurgents in northeastern Borno state. He said that included an August 6 raid in the village of Gazuwa that followed intelligence that terrorists from Boko Haram and splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were fighting each other.

Nigeria has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the northeast for more than 12 years.

Authorities have been heavily criticized for failing to address general insecurity that stems from the insurgency and rampant kidnapping.

Abduallahi said the military must stay on the offensive.

“As long as this continues, I think the military still has the upper hand to take on them before they organize themselves properly,” he said. “I think the security agencies really have to continue with the efforts to deal with the situation decisively.”

Earlier this week, police said they had arrested four suspects connected to a church attack in the southwest state of Ondo that killed 40 worshippers.

But security analyst Senator Iroegbu said authorities have shown a lack of political will to address the problem.

“The challenge we’re having is that the political will is not there, especially from the presidency,” Iroegbu said. “There’s no clear-cut directive on what to do. Any time you hear … he’s sounding frustrated. They keep on pushing the blame to others not taking responsibility.”

In July, Islamic State West Africa Province claimed responsibility for a jailbreak in Buja that freed over 400 inmates, including high-profile terrorism detainees. Only a few of the prisoners have since been recaptured.
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Guinea’s military-appointed government this week announced the dissolution of the main opposition group, the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, or FNDC.

The decree Monday cited alleged violence and threats to national unity and peace. Critics and rights groups said the move threatened Guinea’s return to democratic rule.

The decision to dissolve the FNDC came just hours after it had called for nationwide peaceful demonstrations to demand dialogue among the military, opposing parties and civil society groups.

A report by Human Rights Watch called the government’s allegations vague and said the FNDC was not given the opportunity to defend itself before an independent judicial body.

Dissolution of the FNDC comes 11 months after it led demonstrations against then-President Alpha Conde, who was ultimately ousted in a military coup last September.

Democratic values ‘jeapordized’

Ilaria Allegrozzi, a senior Africa researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the coup was already a major blow to democracy and human rights in Guinea.

“And this recent decision to dissolve the main opposition coalition is yet another indication that democratic values in Guinea are being jeopardized,” Allegrozzi said. “Human rights defenders, political activists and political opponents are at risk.” 

The FNDC was composed of civil society groups and opposition parties that accused Guinea’s transitional government of authoritarian behavior.

Guinea is one of several West African countries that have experienced coups over the last two years. The unrest has been driven by the growth of a jihadist insurgency and an increase in unconstitutional third-term bids.

Allegrozzi said Guinea’s actions send a negative message to other countries in the region that are struggling to transition to democracy.

“Regional political volatility is becoming entrenched in West Africa and Central Africa, and that should be countered,” Allegrozzi said.

Allegrozzi called on the African Union and the West African economic bloc ECOWAS to increase pressure on Guinea to reestablish democratic rule.

In 2010, Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president, but accusations of corruption and authoritarian behavior mounted throughout his time in office. Last September, after winning what critics said was an illegal third term, he was overthrown.

Pledge of civilian rule again

Guinea’s interim president, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former special forces commander, pledged to return the country to civilian rule within three years. However, ECOWAS and the FNDC argue three years is far too long.

Amadou Barry, a Guinean Canadian professor of philosophy specializing in international relations at the Cegep de Saint-Hyacinthe in Quebec, Canada, told VOA from Conakry that since Conde’s ouster, Guineans have clung to the hope that they would see peace. Instead, they have witnessed the same conflict repeating itself.

“This hope is falling down,” he said, “because now we are seeing that we are not able to organize society around democratic principles and the rule of law. It is important to ask, ‘Why aren’t we able to have a political regime that is democratic?’ ”

Barry said constructive dialogue around the issue of collective power is the only way forward.
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Forty-two Malian soldiers died in a sophisticated weekend attack by suspected jihadis using drones and artillery, authorities said Wednesday, the latest violent incident to rock the troubled Sahel country. 

The toll is one of the bloodiest in Mali’s decadelong insurgency, which has spread from the north of the country to the center and south and into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. 

A document naming the dead was authenticated to AFP by several senior military officials, while the government later confirmed the toll in a statement that said 22 soldiers were injured and 37 “terrorists” were neutralized. 

The attack occurred Sunday in the town of Tessit, in the troubled three-border region where the frontiers of the three nations converge. 

On Monday, the army had said 17 soldiers and four civilians died. Relatives of the victims, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some of the civilians were elected officials. 

Monday’s statement blamed the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), saying its members had deployed “drone and artillery support and [used] explosives and an explosives-laden vehicle.” 

Previous attacks

The last time Mali’s armed forces sustained such losses was in a string of attacks in the same region in late 2019 and early 2020. Hundreds of soldiers were killed in assaults on nearly a dozen bases, typically carried out by highly mobile fighters on motorbikes. 

The raids prompted the Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe forces to fall back from forward bases and hunker down in better-defended locations. 

In January 2020, France and its Sahel allies agreed on a push against the ISGS at a summit in Pau, southwestern France. 

Several of its leaders were targeted and killed, including its founder, Abu Walid Al-Sahraoui, but local people say the group has continued to recruit and carry out its operations. 

Tessit is one of the hot spots in the three-border area. 

The ISGS is fighting for control of the strategic, gold-rich area against an al-Qaida-linked alliance, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM). 

In March 2021, 33 soldiers were killed in an ISGS-claimed ambush as units were being rotated, and in February this year, around 40 civilians, suspected by the ISGS of being in league with al-Qaida, were massacred. 

Mobile phone connections to the area have been frequently cut over the last few years and physical access is hard, especially during the midyear rainy season. 

Thousands have fled Tessit to the nearest large town, Gao, which is about 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north.  

Across the Sahel, the jihadi campaign has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than 2 million to flee their homes. 

Sporadic cross-border attacks have also occurred in Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin to the south, amplifying fears of a jihadist push toward the Gulf of Guinea. 
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At least two police officers and one civilian died after a day of anti-government protests in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, staff at the city’s main mortuary said Wednesday.

Sierra Leone’s government previously said there had been deaths, but did not say how many, as protesters threw rocks and burned tires in the streets out of frustration at worsening economic hardship and other issues.

The West African country, which has been struggling with rising inflation and a fuel crisis, imposed a nationwide curfew from 3 p.m. local time in a bid to stem the violence.

“As a government, we have the responsibility to protect every citizen of Sierra Leone. What happened today was unfortunate and will be fully investigated,” President Julius Maada Bio said on Twitter.

In addition to the three bodies at the mortuary, a Reuters reporter saw another civilian body on a street in eastern Freetown.

The police chief and spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Videos on social media verified by Reuters showed large crowds of protesters and piles of burning tires in parts of the capital. Other footage showed a group of young men throwing rocks on a street filled with whitish smoke.

“People are upset about the country’s justice system, which is sickening, daily price rises and economic hardship,” said Daniel Alpha Kamara, a university student.

The violence started around 10:30 a.m. local time, he said, when he saw clouds of tear gas rising up outside his dormitory room.

“These unscrupulous individuals have embarked on a violent and unauthorized protest which has led to the loss of lives of innocent Sierra Leoneans, including security personnel,” Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh said in a video address.

“The government hereby declares a nationwide curfew,” he said. “The security sector has been authorized to fully enforce this directive.”

Regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS said it condemned the violence and called in a Twitter post for “all to obey law and order and for the perpetrators of the violence to be identified and brought before the law.”

Discontent has been boiling over for a number of reasons, including a perceived lack of government support for ordinary people who are struggling, said Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, a constitutional lawyer and governance activist.

“There has been little empathy from the central government to encourage folks that they see them suffering, and that they understand these are tough economic times,” he told Reuters.

Long-standing frustration has also been exacerbated by rising prices for basic goods in Sierra Leone, where more than half the population of around 8 million lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Earlier on Wednesday, internet observatory NetBlocks said Sierra Leone faced a near-total internet shutdown during the protests, with national connectivity at 5% of ordinary levels.

On Tuesday, the national security coordinator asked the armed forces to be prepared to back up the police through Friday, warning of a “potentially volatile security situation,” according to an internal letter shared widely online.
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Nigerian security forces say they have arrested four suspects in the attack on a Catholic church in June that killed 40 people. Authorities blamed the massacre on the militant group Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP.

Nigeria’s Defense Staff Chief Gen. Lucky Irabor disclosed the arrests August 9 in Abuja during a media briefing. 

He said joint security agents on August 1 arrested four terrorists who allegedly took part in the June church shooting in the town of Owo, in southwest Nigeria. The suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the attack, were arrested in Kogi State, which is close to Nigeria’s capital.  

Men heavily armed with guns and explosives invaded the St. Francis Catholic Church on June 5, killing 40 worshippers and wounding 80. 

Irabor also said officials have arrested a high-profile militant who escaped from an Abuja prison last month during a jail break, for which ISWAP claimed responsibility.  

Irabor said the suspects could not be brought in front of reporters because of ongoing investigations. 

“We’ve done quite a lot, and it’s my pleasure to let you know that starting with the Owo church attack, we have arrested those behind that dastardly act,” Irabor said.

The local governor in Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, said authorities are continuing to search for the remaining perpetrators. 

He responded to the announcement and said, “We have known for a while, but we needed not to come out with it because more work is still ongoing.” 

Abuja resident Jethro Titus hailed police for catching the suspects. 

“Kudos to our security agency for being able to capture those people who killed innocent souls,” Titus said. “I think what should be done to them is … they should face the law.” 

But Anthony Olajide, whose 74-year-old mother was killed in the church shooting, remained skeptical about the announcement and wants to see the suspects first.  

“I’m not going to follow what Irabor said. I know the country we’re in,” Olajide said. “Why were they not paraded? The fact that he’s chief of defense doesn’t mean whatever he says is the gospel truth.” 

Nigeria is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency in the northeast and a wave of criminal activity, especially kidnappings for ransom, mostly in the northwest. 

The church attack was the first large-scale killing blamed on a terror group in southwest Nigeria. 

 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed for Rwanda Wednesday after meeting with Democratic Republic of Congo leaders to discuss tensions and human rights challenges in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

Blinken arrived in Kigali on Wednesday evening for what the State Department said are continuing efforts to engage with African leaders on U.S. strategy for sub-Saharan Africa, with the aim of strengthening U.S.-Rwandan relations.

Key issues to be addressed during Blinken’s visit are the tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other conflicts in the region.

Human Rights Watch’s Central African Director Lewis Mudge said there is blatant disregard for human rights in the region and conflict continues to disrupt the lives of innocent civilians. He said Blinken must use this opportunity to reiterate the United States’ commitment to protecting the rights of people in the region.

“He really should use this as an opportunity to reinforce to [presidents] Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame in DRC Congo and in Rwanda, respectively, that the United States wants to continue to be a partner to Rwanda and Congo,” Mudge said, “but only in so much that steps are taken to respect human rights and principles.”

Blinken and Rwanda officials will likely discuss fighting in Congo that involves rebel group M23. In 2013, the U.S. blocked military aid to Rwanda due to its alleged support for the group, which is believed to use child soldiers, according to the State Department.

Another issue on the table is Rwanda’s imprisonment of U.S. permanent resident Paul Rusesabagina.

According to Trial Watch, a legal organization monitoring trials globally, Rusesabagina’s trial in 2020 did not conform to international and regional standards. Rusesabagina’s actions arguably saved hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide and inspired the movie “Hotel Rwanda.”

Rwanda’s government has repeatedly refuted these claims, but officials said they are open to exchange views on human rights and governance during Blinken’s visit.

Gatete Nyiringabo Ruhumuliza, a human rights lawyer in Rwanda, argues that the country has a commitment to human rights and is seeing benefits because of it.

“For Rwandans, human rights is not a concept. For Rwandans, human right is an action,” Ruhumuliza said. “Human rights mean last week they [the government] increased salaries of teachers. This is what we consider human rights. Human rights is not two people, three people quarreling on television. Human rights for Rwandans after what happened to us, human rights is action, it is seeing our livelihoods change, it is security.”

Ishmael Buchanan is a lecturer of foreign relations and diplomacy at the University of Rwanda. He said a new Cold War-like environment will influence the outcome of these discussions as the U.S. is vying with Russia and China for relations in Africa.

“We have so many investors from the United States of America. So, obviously it is going to affect them too,” he said. “So, both countries are going to look at their national interests.”

Buchanan said that included the Rusesabagina case.

“What is going to happen is just a matter of dialogue and the understanding they will come to,” he said.

The government of Rwanda said addressing security challenges in the Great Lakes region is a key priority, and that Rwanda remains committed to the various regional mechanisms in place to find durable solutions.
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