KENYABRITAIN Diplomatic diversions 10th May 2013 KENYA: Uhuru Kenyatta speaks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally for the 2013 general elections. Sven Torfin / Panos Image courtesy of Panos Pictures After President Kenyatta’s brief encounter with British Premier Cameron, both are preparing for more trouble over the International Criminal Court cases President Uhuru Kenyatta’s three-day visit to London and meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron this week mark a considerable diplomatic victory for his new government. Previously, Whitehall had insisted that official relations with Kenyatta and Vice-President William Ruto would be limited to ‘essential contacts’: both face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. British officials say the invitation to Kenyatta to attend the Somalia Conference in London on 7 May and meet Cameron and other officials to discuss regional security are in the ‘essential’ category. Kenyan and international human rights groups disagree.
KENYABRITAIN Essential contact, the Cameron way 10th May 2013 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site President Uhuru Kenyatta met British Prime Minister David Cameron briefly the morning before the London Conference on Somalia opened on 7 May. To Kenyatta’s Press Office, the encou...
MOZAMBIQUE Limits to corruption campaign 10th May 2013 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site A new conflict of interest law forces some politicians to resign but Frelimo still dominates the economy A series of high-profile resignations has followed the introduction of laws governing conflicts of interest and corruption but there is considerable uncertainty about how much furt...
After celebrating the finalisation of Glencore’s US$65 billion takeover of Xstrata on 2 May, the new company’s executives had to concentrate their minds on matters Congolese. Earlier that week, Ivan Glasenberg, head of Glenstrata, had railed against African governments which change their investment rules. He seemed to be referring to Congo-Kinshasa, which has announced plans to require mining companies to p... After celebrating the finalisation of Glencore’s US$65 billion takeover of Xstrata on 2 May, the new company’s executives had to concentrate their minds on matters Congolese. Earlier that week, Ivan Glasenberg, head of Glenstrata, had railed against African governments which change their investment rules. He seemed to be referring to Congo-Kinshasa, which has announced plans to require mining companies to process at least 50% of their ore in the country before export. Share prices in Glencore and the Eurasian National Resources Corporation (ENRC) tumbled shortly after the announcement. The second Congo problem for Glenstrata is a detailed report this week on its operations by the respected Africa Progress Panel. The APP calculates that Congo lost some $1.36 billion through the underpricing of state mining assets sold in 2010-12. It spotlights five secretive deals which should be independently audited: Glencore’s stake in the Kansuki and Mutanda mines (two of Congo’s richest deposits of copper and cobalt) and ENRC’s stakes in Kabolela, Kipese and Kolwezi. All involve Israeli tycoon Dan Gertler, a close advisor to President Joseph Kabila. Yet some in Kinshasa say that relationship is changing, as evidenced by the proposed mining laws. As the APP was finalising its report, London’s Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation into ENRC’s Congo operations and its links to Gertler. That will put all deals linked to Gertler under the legal spotlight again – in London and Kinshasa. Read more
MOZAMBIQUE Spoils for all, please 10th May 2013 The main opposition party, the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, wants its share of the riches currently benefiting the ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique and its senior mem...
SIERRA LEONE Impunity in Freetown 10th May 2013 An arms and gem dealer for the civil war militias lives openly in the capital with apparent government approval and in defiance of UN sanctions Africa Confidential has discovered the whereabouts of one of the key financiers and middlemen who worked for the Liberian ex-President and convicted war criminal, Charles Taylor, d...
BURKINA FASO Keeping up with the Compaorés 10th May 2013 The President’s control of national politics may be sure and his international backing stronger than ever but his succession strategy is risky President Blaise Compaoré must leave office by the end of 2015, when his constitutional term of office ends. Yet he and his brother François, his sister Antoinette and the clan of ...
GUINEA BISSAU All at sea over drugs 10th May 2013 Panic envelops the political and military elites amid US anti-drug operations and ECOWAS feels exposed by its support for the government Top politicians and military officers are nervously looking over their shoulders after the detention of former navy chief José Américo Bubo Na Tchuto and the indictment of Army Chi...
MALI The rush to the vote 10th May 2013 Political and logistical obstacles mean that elections scheduled for July could cause more problems than they solve Partisan politics is back as the Bamako establishment focuses on the presidential election promised for 7 July. The transitional government of President Dioncounda Traoré, encourag...
SIERRA LEONE Testimony on Bah 10th May 2013 Transcripts from the Special Court on Sierra Leone’s trial of Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor contain copious evidence about the central role of Ibrahima Bah in diamond trading and...
BURKINA FASO Pillars of the regime 10th May 2013 President Blaise Compaoré is married to Chantal Terrasson de Fougères, a protégée of the late Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. She runs several businesses and charities.
SOMALIABRITAIN Hassan Sheikh at the wheel 10th May 2013 This year’s conference was more about pledging funds for reconstruction than summoning the world to applaud a stunning success London’s Somalia Conference arrived with a little less fanfare this year. The press conference was held in a smaller room, the United States Secretary of State and most African hea...
MALI EU brings budget support 10th May 2013 A meeting with financial institutions, regional neighbours and external partners in Brussels, Belgium, on 15 May is the next main focus for the accelerating international drive to ...
SIERRA LEONE Not an honorary consul 10th May 2013 The Italian businessman who claims to have been cheated by Ibrahima Bah over gold deals, Vittorio Narciso Ruello, made other interesting connections through Bah in the region. In 2...
BURKINA FASO The economic underpinnings 10th May 2013 Burkina Faso is enjoying a mining boom which provides the ruling clan with wiggle room. Gold is now the leading source of export earnings, followed by the traditional main export, ...
ANGOLA UNITA’s warning 10th May 2013 ’Angola is sitting on a powder keg’, says Isaías Samakuva, leader of the main opposition party, the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola. He was talking in Brussels ...
ZIMBABWE A June meddling 10th May 2013 President Robert Mugabe is insisting on general elections by 29 June, when the present Parliament ends, despite the objections of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
CAMEROON Upper house of cards 10th May 2013 President Paul Biya has now appointed 30 Senators, bringing the new parliamentary upper house to its full complement of 100. Elections on 14 April – by an electoral college of loca...
CÔTE D'IVOIRE Com-Zone, come all 10th May 2013 The Forces Nouvelles plundered the area they controlled when they were confined to the north of the country, says the latest report by the United Nations Panel of Experts (PoE) on ...
