Museveni embarks on a six-day trek | Zambia send back Foote |.
This Week In Africa | Issue 01 | 1st Jan — 4th Jan
In our first edition of the year, we look at the growing reports of hunger in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The election victory of The Lady in Burkina Faso, and several terrorist attacks across Africa, among them Al-Shabab.
Happy New Year and enjoy reading this weeks monitor!
Politics:
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni begun a six-day trek in the jungle to re-navigate the route he used by his guerilla forces in 1986 to overthrow the government of President Milton Obote. However, politician Robert Kyagulanyi popularly known as Bobi Wine called the trek as a wasteful venture by the government.
In Tunisia, the designate Prime Minister Habib Jemli announced that he has drafted a new cabinet and submitted the names to President Kais Sed, however, the names have not yet been made public. This is three months after the outcome of the election that saw no party winning a majority enough to form government and led to a circle of negotiations to form a coalition government.
Elections:
Guinea-Bissau’s former Prime Minister, Umaro Cissoko Embalo was declared the winner of the second-round presidential race. He defeated Domingos Simoes Pereira, from the majority African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAICG). Domingos rejected the results and filed a petition in the Supreme Court. He said that the number of ballot papers cast in the two rounds of voting exceeded registered voters by tens of thousands
In preparation for Ethiopia’s general elections in May 2020, three major national political parties, The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo National Party (ONP) have agreed to form a regional coalition called “Coalition for Democratic Federalism.” These parties will jointly field candidates to contest in the Oromia regional state council and national elections.
Foreign Policy:
The United States of America government recalled its Zambia Ambassador Daniel Foote, and he left the country in the first week of January. Foote was recalled after the Zambian government filled a complaint to their USA counterparts over his remarks on LGBTQ rights and corruption in Zambia in December last year. A replacement has not yet been announced.
The ongoing internal conflict in Libya has attracted international attention, and the Turkish government is trying to intervene to assist in ending the civil war. However, the Arab League urged warring sides in Libya not to enable deployment of foreign fighters in the North African country and worsen its conflict. A statement issued by the Arab League’s council after an emergency meeting in Cairo warned of “the gravity of taking any unilateral steps in a manner that allows foreign military interventions and contributes to the escalation and prolongation of the conflict”.
Business:
A recent report by the BBC claims that over 2 million people in Zambia need food aid. This is due to two years of poor rains and harvest. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, the government is seeking to import corn to circumvent crop loss from 2019.
Sports:
The Football Association of Ghana fired the coaching staff of all the National teams. There was no reason given for this sudden decision. Kurt Okraru’s appointment as president in October last year claims to “build a new association”.
Social Media Trends:
The death of Iranian Army General Qassem Soleimani by a US Airstrike created a social buzz purporting a third world war. The hashtag #WW3 was all over the internet and black twitter had its share of fun in sharing of memes.
Entertainment:
USA rapper, Christopher Brian Bridges AKA Ludacris kicked off the new year with dual citizenship. He was granted citizenship in his wife home country Gabon. “Ladies and gentlemen, I just became an official citizen of Gabon,” Ludacris said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
Zambian rapper J-rox launched a clothing with a debut footwear called THE ROX EDITION. He has partnered with the new online e-commerce platform Afrishop to market and sell the sneaker.
Obituary:
- At least 30 people were killed and over 30 injured in an attack at a Military academy in Libya. Al Jazeera reported that Forces allied with the GNA described Saturday’s attack on the military camp at Al-Hadhba as “an aerial bombing” launched by their eastern rivals. An LNA spokesman denied involvement.
- An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up a bus in north-western Burkina Faso. 14 people and 4 were injured due to the attack. The victims were mainly students who were returning to school after the new break.
- A US military service member and two US contractors were killed in an al-Shabab attack on a military base in Kenya used by US and Kenyan military personnel.
That’s it for the week. Did we miss anything?
