AFRICAN UNION No one writes to the Colonel 5th February 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site After blocking Gadaffi’s bid for a second term as AU Chairman, the summiteers toughened their anti-coup rules and called for peacekeepers in Somalia The reign of Libya’s Moammar el Gadaffi as Chairman of the African Union has ended in a petulant whimper rather than in a big bang for African unity as the Colonel had promised. He flounced out of the AU summit in Addis Ababa on 1 February after failing to cajole his fellow leaders into giving him a second, unconstitutional term as Chairman. Offers of oil largesse to his usual supporters and then attempts to split the votes of a rival candidate all ran into the ground. Libyan diplomats candidly admitted that the AU was no nearer to his promised union government than it was when Gadaffi took over a year ago.
ZIMBABWE Economic clouds, platinum lining 5th February 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Foreign mining companies benefit more from the halting recovery as local political problems mount Hefty political obstacles block further economic progress in Zimbabwe after last year’s impressive turnaround. Mining operations, such as those involving gold and platinum, will gr...
ZIMBABWE The President ends his holiday 5th February 2010 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site As the plotting and squabbles in the ZANU-PF break into the open, the military launches a new round of farm seizures The first anniversary of the power-sharing agreement was inauspicious, as all three parties in government argue over the pace of political reform and blame each other for holding u...
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for cla... The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’. Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent state.The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’. Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent state. Read more
MOZAMBIQUE The country gets richer, the party gets stronger 5th February 2010 The new Prime Minister backs the President’s push for a state-run economy and a tougher line against the opposition President Armando Emílio Guebuza never fails to seize an opportunity. After his controversial landslide election victory in October, he plans to reinforce his dominance of the gov...
UNITED STATESAFRICA More money for the military 5th February 2010 The Pentagon is expanding the reach and role of its new Africa command after a shaky start The United States’ military strategy in Africa, much criticised under President George W. Bush, looks much the same over a year after the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Th...
KENYA An American agreement 5th February 2010 After a decade of arguments over sharing power at the centre, the politicians now agree they want a US-style presidential system Kenyans are puzzled by the sudden agreement on the role of the presidency and devolution of power by 26 members of the Parliamentary Select Committee. The PSC was on a retreat in N...
SUDANANALYSIS Southern leaders compete for a new state 5th February 2010 There are fears that the thrice-delayed national elections, now due on 8 April, could trigger an escalation of fighting in Darfur and the South, given the probability that few will accept the results as free and fair. The Khartoum regime has failed to implement most of the key democratic reforms agreed under the 2005 peace deal. The 2008 census and the constituency boundaries lacked credibility and the Islamist government has done nothing to promote an independent judiciary or independent electoral administration. referendumA new wave of violence and fraudulent elections could block any chance of progress on Darfur and undermine the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) led by Salva Kiir...
UNITED STATESAFRICA Who’s who in Africom 5th February 2010 Theresa Whelan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs, General William ‘Kip’ Ward, Commander, Africom, Anthony Holmes, Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Militar...
SUDAN Three leaders who count in the South 5th February 2010 Salva Kiir Mayardit, President, Government of South Sudan, Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, GOSS Vice-President, and Paulino Matip Nhial, Lieutenant General, SPLA-SSDF.
UNITED STATESAFRICA Warriors and diplomats 5th February 2010 The United States Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, represents a remarkable shift in policy over little more than a decade. In 1995, a Defense Department memorandum concluded t...
SOUTH AFRICAOBITUARY David Coetzee 5th February 2010 Over a hundred of us gathered at the Friends Meeting House in Washington DC on 29 January to pay tribute to David Coetzee, a pioneering spirit in African journalism, who had died t...
SOMALIAUGANDAEUROPEAN UNION Training the trainers 5th February 2010 Uganda and the European Union are combining to train security forces for Somalia’s shaky Transitional Federal Government.
SOUTH AFRICA It's all mine 5th February 2010 When Mines Minister Susan Shabangu assured South African mining companies that nationalisation would not happen in her lifetime, the reaction at this year’s mining indaba in Cape T...
SOMALILAND Third time lucky 5th February 2010 In the run-up to the presidential election, due but not confirmed in April, political squabbles are increasing. President Dahir Riyale Kahin accused his rival, Ahmed Mohamed Silany...
