AFRICOM Related-Newsclips 2 Feb 12

United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 2 February 2012
Please find attached news clips for February 2, 2012, along with upcoming events of interest and UN News Service briefs. Of interest in todays clips: -Reuters offers a special report on Boko Haram, using forensics to track these terrorists and explaining the group's origin. - Al Jazeera offers a profile of Abdoulaye Wade, the man some say is responsible for ongoing violent protests in Senegal. - Recent kidnappings in Sudan and Egypt are forcing the Chinese government to contend with worker safety issues. China currently has 5.5 million overseas workers, many in inhospitable locations. - Several legal issues from Qadhafi's daughter appealing to the ICC over her jailed brother. - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS faces funding challenges that will affect the African continent. In football news: - Gabon defeats Tunisia, 1-0, making them the top of the Africa Cup of Nations Group C. This message is best viewed in HTML format.
U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) -------------------------------------------Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa Special Report - Boko Haram: between rebellion and jihad (Reuters) http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/uk-nigeria-bokoharamidUKTRE80U0KB20120131 January 31, 2012 By Joe Brock
U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 AFRICOM-PAO@africom.mil
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At about 10.40 one morning last August, Mohammed Abul Barra rammed his ash-coloured station wagon into a security gate outside the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, knocking it off its hinges. Barra's 1996 Honda Accord then crashed through the main building's glass doors and slammed against the reception desk. Protests in Senegal turn violent (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/201213118362459859.html February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author Senegal riot police have fired tear gas and sprayed protesters with water to break up a thousands-strong rally in Dakar demanding that President Abdoulaye Wade drop plans to seek a third term. Profile: Abdoulaye Wade (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012127162041955479.html January 28, 2012 By an unattributed author Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's president, has ruled over the West African nation since 2000. Residents clash with police near Algerian capital (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE81000K20120201 February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author CHERAGA, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian security forces used water cannon and tear gas on Tuesday to disperse rioting residents in a suburb of the capital who accused the authorities of failing to investigate properly the fatal stabbing of a local man. Kidnappings of Workers Put Pressure on China (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/world/africa/china-says-29-workers-still-missingin-sudan.html?_r=1&ref=africa January 31, 2012 By Andrew Jacobs and Jeffrey Gettleman BEIJING Chinas government, grappling with the kidnapping of a construction crew in Sudan, is facing heightened pressure over the safety of the countrys citizens abroad after a group of cement plant employees in Egypt was briefly abducted by Bedouin tribesmen on Tuesday. Zimbabwes president slams African leaders over Libya, calls some fronts for the West (AP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/zimbabwes-president-slams-africanleaders-over-libya-calls-some-fronts-for-the-west/2012/02/01/gIQAzFFDhQ_story.html February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author
HARARE, Zimbabwe Zimbabwes president has condemned the continentwide Africa Union for recognizing Libyas National Transitional Council at a recent summit, state radio reported Wednesday. Wave of arrests in Sudan targets nonviolent student activists (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2012/0131/Wave-of-arrests-inSudan-targets-nonviolent-student-activists January 31, 2012 By Tracy Fehr, Guest blogger Sudans ruling National Congress Partys grip on power seems to be tightening to the point of suffocation. In the past week, Sudans National Intelligence and Security Services, or NISS, has targeted non-violent, pro-democratic student activists in a wave of arrests and harassment. Gaddafi daughter applies to ICC over jailed brother (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE81000G20120201 February 1, 2012 By Christian Lowe ALGIERS (Reuters) - The daughter of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi asked on Tuesday to make representations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to help her brother Saif al-Islam, who is in a Libyan jail awaiting trial on rape and murder charges. Rwanda genocide: ICTR seeks refuge for acquitted (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16816668 January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author The court trying Rwandan genocide suspects is appealing for countries to give refuge for those acquitted, the UN tribunal's spokesman has told the BBC. Rwanda: HIV Positive Women Denied Inheritance Rights - Report (The New Times <Rwanda newspaper>) http://allafrica.com/stories/201201301759.html January 30, 2012 By James Tasamba Women living with HIV/Aids in Gasabo and Nyanza districts are being denied their rights to inherit family property by their spouses and other relatives, a research conducted by the Women's Network for Rural Development, commonly known by its French moniker Reseaux Des Femmes, has shown. Kenya doctor fights mental health stigma in 'traumatized continent' (CNN Health) http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/health/frank-njenga-mentalhealth/index.html?hpt=wo_t4 January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author
(CNN) -- As Kenya's leading psychiatrist, Frank Njenga has been championing the cause of better mental health care on the east African country and the continent for more than three decades. Nigerian Sani Abacha aide Mustapha appeals over hanging (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16810996 January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author An aide to former Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha has appealed against his hanging sentence for killing the wife of politician Moshood Abiola. Africa: Global Fund - Challenges Ahead (allAfrica) http://allafrica.com/stories/201202010094.html January 31, 2012 By Sue Valentine Cape Town In its short 10-year history, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria has saved millions of lives, but as it marks its anniversary it finds itself the subject of questions and concern, rather than celebration. Hershey to invest $10 million in Ivory Coast to reduce child labor, improve cocoa farming (AP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/hershey-to-invest-10-million-in-ivorycoast-to-reduce-child-labor-improve-cocoafarming/2012/02/01/gIQATGcThQ_story.html February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast The Hershey Company says it will invest $10 million in Ivory Coast to reduce child labor and improve the cocoa supply in the West African nation. African Union summit: disunity on display (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0131/African-Union-summit-disunity-ondisplay January 31, 2012 By Scott Baldauf For sheer murkiness, the African Union is in a world of its own. Established back in 2002 to replace the older, less-organized Organization of African Unity, the African Union has ambitions of creating a common policy front so that 54 different African countries can confront what they see as an exploitative and richer world with one voice Perfect group stage for co-hosts Gabon (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/2012/01/2012131192931494970.html January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author Co-hosts Gabon defeated Tunisia 1-0 on Tuesday to finish top of Africa Cup of Nations Group C with a perfect nine points from three matches.
### UN News Service Africa Briefs http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA (Full Articles on UN Website) Refugee children in Tanzania learn art basics in UN-sponsored workshop 1 February In a novel way to impart new skills to children while improving their social interaction, the United Nations refugee agency has sponsored an arts workshop for refugee pupils from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Tanzania, where they were introduced to the basics of painting with water colours, pastels and acrylics and making collages. Kenyan court jails men who killed UN aid worker 1 February The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Josette Sheeran welcomed today the decision by the Kenyan High Court to sentence five men to 56 years in prison each for the murder of a WFP staff member in 2008. Somalia: UN envoy deplores murder of radio station director 1 February The United Nations envoy for Somalia has strongly condemned the recent murder of radio station director Hassan Osman Abdi and called on the authorities to carry out an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. Power of books celebrated by UN chief as new library opens in Ethiopian capital 31 January Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon celebrated the benefits that books can bring to young people as he opened a library at an Ethiopian primary school that has been established under an innovative United Nations scheme. Security Council calls for multilateral action to address challenges in the Sahel 31 January The Security Council today called for a coordinated and inclusive approach to ensure a solution to the problems facing the Sahel region, which include an ongoing humanitarian crisis, lack of socio-economic development, insecurity and the threat of terrorism. ### Upcoming Events of Interest: FEBRUARY 02 Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) U.S. Policy Toward Post-Election Democratic Republic of the Congo
You are respectfully requested to attend the following open hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Date Thursday, February 02, 2012 Time 2:00 PM Location Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building Witnesses: Mr. Donald Y. Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau of African Affairs U.S. Department of State Daniel B. Baer, Ph.D. Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor U.S. Department of State Sarah E. Mendelson, Ph.D. Deputy Assistant Administrator Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance U.S. Agency for International Development WHEN: 12:15 - 2:00 p.m. WHAT: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) Discussion on " Transition in Libya: The Next Steps." Speakers: Azza Kamel Maghur, Fadel Lamen, and Marina Ottaway. WHERE: CEIP, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW CONTACT: 202-483-7600; web site: www.carnegieendowment.org SOURCE: CEIP - event announcement at: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2012/02/02/balancing-political-powers-in-libya-stransition/968b WHEN: 2:00 p.m. WHAT: House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on U.S. Policy Toward PostElection Democratic Republic of the Congo. Witnesses: Mr. Donald Y. Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Daniel B. Baer, Ph.D. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State; and Sarah E. Mendelson, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development WHERE: Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building CONTACT: 202-225-5021; web site: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov SOURCE: Committee event announcement at: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1397 FEBRUARY 03 WHEN: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. WHAT: New America Foundation (NAF) Discussion on "550 Challenge: World Borderless by February 3, 2018" - promotes the expansion of Internet access to include everyone on earth by the 550th anniversary of Johannes Guttenberg's death. Gutenberg, who invented modern book printing, died on February 3, 1468 before the printing press got credit for ending the Dark Age and setting in motion 200 years of accelerated progress in art, literature, and learning known as the Renaissance. Speakers: Shalini Venturelli, Professor, American University; Rebecca MacKinnon (@rmack); Bernard L.
Schwartz Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; John Perry Barlow (@jpbarlow), Cofounder, EFF; Moderator: Daniel Berninger, Founder, 550 Challenge WHERE: NAF, 1899 L Street, NW, Suite 400 CONTACT: 202-986-2700; web site: www.newamerica.net SOURCE: NAF - event announcement at: http://newamerica.net/events/2012/550_challenge ### -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULLTEXT Special Report - Boko Haram: between rebellion and jihad (Reuters) http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/uk-nigeria-bokoharamidUKTRE80U0KB20120131 January 31, 2012 By Joe Brock MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At about 10.40 one morning last August, Mohammed Abul Barra rammed his ash-coloured station wagon into a security gate outside the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, knocking it off its hinges. Barra's 1996 Honda Accord then crashed through the main building's glass doors and slammed against the reception desk. On security tapes of the incident seen by Reuters, a guard peers into the car, evidently unaware that it is packed with explosives. The grainy footage shows a dozen or so people in the reception edge towards the vehicle. Over 10 seconds pass in confusion before one man seemingly realises what is about to happen. He grabs the person next to him and darts towards the lift. But it's too late. Barra steadies himself, leans forward and the security screens blur into white fuzz. The suicide strike left 25 people dead and the U.N. headquarters in tatters. It also drew global attention to Boko Haram, the militant group from northern Nigeria which has claimed responsibility for the attack and a string of bombings since then that has killed hundreds. As the bombings have grown in frequency in recent months, the Nigerian government and Western security officials have begun to grapple with the exact nature of the threat. Is Boko Haram just the latest in a long list of violent spasms in Nigeria, or is it the next battalion of global jihadists, capable of thrusting Africa's most populous nation into civil war? The answer to that is not simple. There is evidence - some of it detailed in this story for the first time - that elements of Boko Haram have received training from foreign militant
groups, including North Africa-based al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM). The August attack was far more sophisticated than anything linked to Boko Haram before. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan calls the group a terrorist organisation with global ambitions. In an interview in his presidential villa last week, Jonathan said there was "no doubt" Boko Haram has links with jihadist groups outside Nigeria. General Carter Ham, the head of the U.S. military's Africa Command, said last year Boko Haram posed a threat to U.S. and Western interests. At the same time, Boko Haram remains firmly focused on domestic Nigerian issues. When its secretive spokesman claims responsibility for attacks, he almost always lists local grievances that have little to do with the core ideologies of al Qaeda. The group's name means "Western education is sinful" in Hausa, the language spoken in northern Nigeria, the country's Muslim heartland. But its anger is directed not at America or Europe but at Nigeria's elites: at their perceived arrogance, their failure to deliver services, and the brutality of their security forces. Many Boko Haram members say their focus is on targeting officials who have locked up its members or misused state funds. Even Nigeria's national security adviser, General Owoye Azazi, who sees a link between Boko Haram and AQIM, urges caution in defining the group. "We need to tackle Boko Haram from several perspectives," Azazi said in an interview. "If you go back to history, there are religious concerns, there are concerns about governance, and of course, political implications. It's a combination of so many things." FORENSIC TRAIL U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived in Abuja within days of last August's attack to help with forensic analysis of the bomb site. A report authored by those agents, Nigerian authorities and independent security teams, paints a portrait of a sophisticated operation. Barra was chosen because he was "low profile (and) well trained" and his attack was "well planned," says the confidential report, seen by Reuters. The car was packed with 125 kg (276 pounds) of manufactured explosives, including the plastic explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) - both highly powerful and volatile, and more potent than easier-to-build fertiliser-based explosives. The explosives were used in a "shaped charge," which increases damage from a blast. Investigators believe the bomb probably consisted of both stolen factory-made explosives and home-made materials. "The only form of PETN that is commonly available is the core explosive in detonating cord," said Sidney Alford, a British explosives expert. "You can get detonating cord from the manufacturers, the army, or from blasting contractors in the demolition or quarrying industries."
The failed 'underpants' bomber Faroup Abdulmutallan, a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 in an al Qaeda-style attack, used TATP. Another would-be plane bomber, Richard Reid, had PETN in his shoe in his unsuccessful effort to blow up a flight between France and the United States in 2001. President Jonathan said Nigeria has evidence that Boko Haram members have held meetings in North Africa. Azazi, the national security adviser, said the advancement in Boko Haram's weaponry and tactics points to help and training from outside groups. "We have evidence of meetings between Boko Haram leadership and outside groups," Azazi said, declining to give details. "We have evidence that some Boko Haram leaders are trained outside of Nigeria. Their methods, their bomb-making technologies - who taught them?" MILITANT BEGINNINGS Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, survived a brutal civil war in the late 1960s in which more than 1 million people died. Repeated rounds of violence since then, often between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south, have killed thousands more.
The violent spasms are often fuelled by politics, and so it is with Boko Haram. The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad." It earned its nickname from the teachings of its founder Mohammed Yusuf in the early 2000s, in the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Yusuf argued that Western education, or "boko," had brought nothing but poverty and suffering to the region and was therefore forbidden, or "haram," in Islam. He began peacefully - mostly preaching - and quickly gained a following among disaffected young men in the northeast. But his anti-establishment rhetoric and hints that Boko Haram was building an arsenal of weapons also caught the attention of the authorities. In 2009, the police clamped down on sect members who were ignoring a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. That sparked a furious backlash. Police stations and government offices in Borno were burned to the ground, and hundreds of criminals released in a prison break, as the violence spread across northern Nigeria. The government and army reacted with force; Yusuf was captured and shot dead in police custody. Five days of fighting left some 800 people dead. Boko Haram leaders still cite Yusuf's death as one of the main factors driving the insurgency. The group remains fiercely anti-government and anti-authority, and resentful of the decades of corrupt, poor governance that have impoverished its home region.
"You would never have believed the Boko Haram phenomenon came from these beginnings," said Shettima Dikwa, a doctor at the University of Maiduguri. Dikwa is one of a number of professionals in the city frustrated at the way Nigeria's government and military have allowed the insurgency to escalate. Like others, he says local politicians sponsored armed thugs to help disrupt the 2007 election and then abandoned them, creating a fertile recruitment field. The governor of Borno state has denied these allegations. Boko Haram's attacks have intensified since President Jonathan took power last April, in the country's cleanest election since the end of military rule in 1999. Jonathan pledged to fight graft and attract investment. But he is a Christian southerner, and in the eyes of many Muslim northerners it was a northerner's turn to rule. CATCH-ALL LABEL, LOCAL STRUGGLES That backdrop doesn't explain how the group went from drive-by shootings and crude petrol bombs to shaping explosives for suicide missions against the United Nations. A video posted on YouTube on January 11 suggests the group's leadership would like to be seen as part of a global jihad. Abubakar Shekau, who has run the group since Yusuf was killed, appears in the 15-minute tape wearing a camouflage bullet-proof jacket, sitting in front of two Kalashnikov rifles. His beard, headscarf and hand gestures recall the style of video pronouncements made by the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But Shekau's message hits local notes. "The reason why I am giving this broadcast is the recent comments of Goodluck Jonathan about us and that of the leader of the Christians and other statements by others, describing us as a cancer to Nigeria. We are neither a cancer nor a disease. If people don't know us, God knows us," Shekau says. He then goes on to cite common complaints about Nigerian politics. Most of the public evidence about what Boko Haram wants and how it operates comes from its avowed spokesman, Abu Qaqa, a mysterious figure who often pops up after an attack to claim responsibility and explain the motives. Speaking by phone to a handful of reporters in Maiduguri in November, Abu Qaqa spoke of the links between al Qaeda and Boko Haram. "We are together with al Qaeda," he said. "They are promoting the cause of Islam, just as we are doing. Therefore they help us in our struggle and we help them, too." But Qaqa offered no concrete details of those ties; the rest of the conversation focused on local issues. He said the group isn't affiliated with Nigerian political parties and described the sect's anger at the governor of Borno state. In claiming the recent Kano attacks, which killed at least 186 people, he cited the killing and arbitrary arrest and detention of Boko Haram members.
GLOBAL OR LOCAL? Nigerian and Western security experts believe a small, increasingly ambitious and sophisticated group of extremists controls the very top of the group. A handful of those members have received training outside Nigeria, including from AQIM. Nigeria-based security sources who track Boko Haram told Reuters that members of the group have been going to training camps with brigades of Algerian AQIM for the past six years. Small units of five or six members train at a time; no more than a few dozen have been trained in total, the sources said. The foreign minister of neighbouring Niger told Reuters last week that members of Boko Haram received explosives training at AQIM camps in the Sahel region, which runs along the southern edge of the Sahara desert. The U.N. Security Council said this month that it had been told that Boko Haram members had received training in AQIM camps in Mali. Experts say the group has become a convenient cover for opportunists. Criminals, political thugs and gangs hide beneath the umbrella of Boko Haram, making it hard to judge its size and scope. Most of its foot-soldiers are disillusioned young men who have only loose ties to religious ideology, and are easily drawn in because there are little or no opportunities elsewhere. Jonathan has begun to acknowledge this, telling Reuters last week that the government would "revitalise" northern agriculture to provide jobs for youths who might otherwise be "recruited" by Boko Haram. Aisha Alkali, a human rights campaigner in Maiduguri, says young men in northern Nigeria feel forced to adopt violence to defend themselves. "If you push people to the wall, if you leave them with nothing and take everything, where will they go?" asks Alkali, shrouded in a traditional black abaya and burka with only her eyes and impeccably manicured hands showing. "You make people something they were not." GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN Soldiers patrol the streets of Maiduguri in large numbers these days. By day, they hunch in roadside bunkers; at night, they regularly fight with Boko Haram units. Bomb blasts and gunshots punctuate the dark. Amnesty International says the joint military task force (JTF) in the city has been behind dozens of unlawful killings there, further stirring the unrest. A report by the human rights watchdog says houses have been raided and burned by the JTF. One of the JTF commanders in Maiduguri told Reuters there had been "excesses," but said mostly the military were doing a good job under difficult conditions.
Yirami Bwala, a 42-year-old shop owner, lost his 18-year-old son Markus in a Boko Haram bomb attack in Maiduguri in January. "Most Boko Haram members are just a bunch of illiterates who have been misled about their religion and what tolerance is all about," he said a day after the attack. "The military only make things worse by robbing people and attacking innocent, peaceful people." More than a quarter of Nigeria's 2012 budget has been allocated to security spending. But with the number of attacks up - at least 250 people have been killed in the first three weeks of 2012 alone, according to Human Rights Watch - criticism of the way Jonathan has handled the violence is growing. FACELESS ENEMY President Jonathan told Reuters that Boko Haram militants have infiltrated the military, police and his own government. He sacked the chief of police and his six deputies last week, after the key suspect in the Christmas Day bombings escaped less than 24 hours after being arrested, in what Nigerian security sources said were "unusual and suspicious" circumstances. The leader of the nation of 160 million people has also said that tackling Boko Haram could be worse than Nigeria's civil war, if only because the enemy is faceless and unknown. Some analysts believe Boko Haram may be targeting Christians to trigger a religious conflict. Nigeria has been here before. In 2009 it ended a militant insurgency in the southeastern Niger Delta by offering an amnesty. The government hints that a new broad political settlement may be on the cards. But dealing with a splintered and secretive group like Boko Haram will be difficult. Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president and a southern Christian, visited the family of Boko Haram founder Yusuf last September for peace talks. Days later, gunmen killed Yusuf's brother-in-law. Boko Haram denied involvement in the killing. But someone wanted the dialogue to end. ### Protests in Senegal turn violent (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/201213118362459859.html February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author Senegal riot police have fired tear gas and sprayed protesters with water to break up a thousands-strong rally in Dakar demanding that President Abdoulaye Wade drop plans to seek a third term.
Private radio station RFM said a man was run over by the police's armoured-personnel carrier on Tuesday. A reporter for the Associated Press news agency saw the young man fall to the ground after the carrier forced its way through the protesting crowd. Police chief Harona Sy confirmed the death of the youth, but denied police responsibility. Sy said he had checked all of their vehicles and found no traces of blood, according to the state news agency. "If there was the death of a man, then maybe we should talk about an accident, and we have opened an investigation,'' Sy said. "I spoke to an older woman and asked her why she was there. She said that Wade needed to leave. She said she had a large family, and when I asked her if she was there for them she said: 'I am here for me, I am here for everyone!' " - Megan Radford, journalist in Daka The AFP news agency reported that angry youth had taunted security forces, throwing stones at police who stood some 300 metres away from the square where the demonstration was being held. They burnt tyres and engaged in running battles with police in side streets after the square emptied out. The demonstration, organised under the umbrella activist organisation M23 comes just a day after two civilians were killed by paramilitary police in a similar demonstration in the northern town of Podor. Thousands of people gathered, held up signs and chanted slogans in protest against the decision taken by the country's top legal body to allow President Wade's candidacy in next month's election. Wade is seeking a third term, even though the constitution was changed soon after he took office in order to impose a two-term limit. Megan Radford, a journalist based in Dakar, told Al Jazeera the demonstrations took some time to begin as crowds trickled into the square into the late afternoon and early evening. "People only started arriving late but within the next few hours, the number of protesters had increased dramatically. I spoke to an older woman and asked her why she was there. She said that Wade needed to leave. She said she had a large family, and when I asked her if she was there for them she said: 'I am here for me, I am here for everyone!'" Authorisation granted
Earlier on Tuesday, Mor Ngom of the M23 movement said that authorities had "accepted" their application to hold a mass rally. The statement came after the interior ministry had earlier said that that the opposition had not gained authorisation to hold a rally. "Today's bloodshed marks a dramatic escalation in the violence that has plagued Senegal in the run-up to its elections." - Salvatore Sagues, Amnesty International Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye, Senegal's presidential spokesman, said: "The real combat is the one we must lead to hold a transparent election... being a candidate means nothing." "We deplore the will (of the opposition) to lead the country into chaos... We don't want Senegal to go up in flames." The constitutional council on Monday dismissed all appeals against Wade's candidacy, leaving no legal recourse for opponents who accuse him of carrying out a constitutional coup.The opposition has vowed to continue mass resistance to force Wade to step aside prior to the February 26 presidential vote. Rights group Amnesty International urged the government to halt a clampdown on protesters following the reported deaths in Podor. "Today's bloodshed marks a dramatic escalation in the violence that has plagued Senegal in the run-up to its elections," Salvatore Sagues, the UK-based rights body's West Africa researcher, said. 'Too late' to stop Wade The US urged 85-year-old Wade to allow power to pass "to the next generation". "While we respect the process, the political and legal process in Senegal, the fact that he's now been cleared to run, our message to him remains the same: that the statesmanly-like thing to do would be to cede to the next generation, and we think that would be better," Victoria Nuland, a state department spokeswoman, said. "Our view is that Senegalese democracy is strong enough to move to the next generation." Senegal, which some see as a beacon of democracy among troubled neighbours, is the only country in West Africa not to have had a coup since the end of the colonial era. El Hadj Amadou Salla, minister of state and a senior Wade campaign official, said it was "too late" to prevent Wade running since his candidacy had already been validated.
The opposition argues that the constitution allows a president to serve only two consecutive terms, but Wade says the law, which was amended in 2008, does not apply retroactively and cannot take into account his previous two terms. Wade has dismissed opposition protests as "temper tantrums". In a recent interview with a local news website, Wade said he needed three more years to complete his projects, fuelling speculation that he wanted to line up a successor. ### Profile: Abdoulaye Wade (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012127162041955479.html January 28, 2012 By an unattributed author Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's president, has ruled over the West African nation since 2000. Nicknamed "Gorgui" ("Old Man" in the West African language Wolof), Wade has tried to stamp his legacy on Africa, and has been a staunch supporter of the idea of a United States of Africa pushed by fallen Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The 85-year-old had competed in four elections over a period of 25 years before winning the presidential elections when he dislodged the Socialist Party from office after 40 years of uninterrupted rule. His victory was met with hope in the West African state. The manner in which his defeated rival, Abdou Diouf bowed out, graciously accepting Wade's victory, the former French colony was hailed as a model of democracy in Africa. More than a decade later, however, the mood has soured towards Wade. His attempt to seek a third term in office on a constitutional technicality comes on the back of growing discontent over corruption, nepotism and financial scandals. The country's current constitution was adopted in 2001. It reduced terms to five years after the completion of Wade's term at office. In 2008, however, the National Assembly approved a constitutional amdendment that increased his term to seven years. Criticism Recognised as a decisive leader who developed the nation's infrastructure, Wade's presidency has also been marred by a series of allegations of fraud, nepotism and limiting the freedom of the press.
In 2010, Wade unveiled a 50-metre bronze African Renaissance statue that cost $20mn. The artwork was poorly received by countrymen facing severe financial trouble. Many were baffled at Wade's decision to run for a third term, rather leaving with a strong legacy of development and infrastructure-building. A merchant's son, born on May 29, 1926, Wade studied law in France where he met his wife Viviane. He also holds degrees in economics and applied mathematics. In 1974, Wade convinced Senegal's father of independence, the poet-cum-president Leopold Sedar Senghor, to let him create an opposition party, the Senegalese Democratic Party. Under Diouf's rule, Wade became known as the "president of the street" and was imprisoned several times. He was finally elected in 2000 for a seven-year term and in 2007 for a five-year term. 'Dynastic succession' Wade says he needs three more years to complete his projects, fueling speculation that he wants to line up a successor. He has long been accused of trying to position his 44-year-old son Karim Wade to take over from him. A US diplomatic dispatch published by WikiLeaks in 2010 slammed corruption and warned that Senegal was "a weakening democracy". It alleged that Wade was looking to "open a path to a dynastic presidential succession". In June 2011, the usually peaceful nation was shaken by violent riots in the seaside capital Dakar when Wade tried to change the constitution. He scrapped these plans under pressure at home as well as abroad. The United States has repeatedly urged Wade to drop his presidential bid, fearing a blow to the country's democracy and further violence. He wanted to reduce the proportion of votes needed to win a presidential election from more than 50 per cent to 25 per cent and also create an elected post of vice president. This post was seen as designed for his son, whose appointment as a "super-minister" in 2009 drew widespread anger. Wade's son currently oversees the portfolios of energy, international cooperation, regional development, air transport and infrastructure.
### Residents clash with police near Algerian capital (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE81000K20120201 February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author CHERAGA, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian security forces used water cannon and tear gas on Tuesday to disperse rioting residents in a suburb of the capital who accused the authorities of failing to investigate properly the fatal stabbing of a local man. Riots have become a regular occurrence in Algeria, a big exporter of energy to Europe, and it has many of the same problems, including unemployment and a lack of trust in the authorities, that last year sparked revolts in several of its neighbours. Hundreds of people threw stones and petrol bombs at gendarmes, or paramilitary police, in Cheraga, about 10 km (six miles) west of Algiers. The protesters briefly blocked a main road through the suburb, Reuters journalists at the scene said. The gendarmes forced residents off the main road, but only shifted the rioting into the Sidi Hassan neighbourhood, where the clashes were continuing. The unrest in Algeria has so far been localised and uncoordinated, but analysts say the clashes could swell into a national movement, as happened in other north African countries rocked by last year's "Arab Spring" upheavals. Residents in Cheraga said they took to the streets to demand a thorough investigation into the murder of a local man who, they said, was stabbed to death by a gang. They said 10 suspects had been arrested but several of them had been released. Some local people accused prosecutors of releasing them because they were from wealthy, well-connected families. "We want justice to prevail," said Nouredine Ait Ouareth, the father of the stabbed man. "The government must do its job and put in jail those who killed our son." "There is a suspect. He is well known, he is rich, and the boss of the gang. He has been released. This is not acceptable." There was no immediate comment by officials on the investigation or the clashes. ### Kidnappings of Workers Put Pressure on China (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/world/africa/china-says-29-workers-still-missingin-sudan.html?_r=1&ref=africa
January 31, 2012 By Andrew Jacobs and Jeffrey Gettleman BEIJING Chinas government, grappling with the kidnapping of a construction crew in Sudan, is facing heightened pressure over the safety of the countrys citizens abroad after a group of cement plant employees in Egypt was briefly abducted by Bedouin tribesmen on Tuesday. Although the Chinese workers in Egypt were later released, the two abductions have highlighted the increasing perils that Chinas 5.5 million overseas workers face as Chinese companies expand their operations in some of the worlds least hospitable places. The engineers and technicians seized in Egypts Sinai region were taken away by gunmen as they rode a bus to work. The assailants had reportedly demanded the freedom of fellow tribesmen convicted in deadly bombings at the Red Sea resorts of Taba and Sharm el Sheik, according to the state-run Nile News. The Chinese workers were released on Wednesday and were reportedly unharmed, the official Xinhua news agency said. The fate of the missing road construction employees in Sudan remains uncertain. On Wednesday, China continued to press the Sudanese government to secure the release of the 29 men and women who were abducted last weekend in South Kordofan Province. China calls on all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and quickly release the Chinese personnel out of humanitarian concerns, the Foreign Ministry said on its Web site, adding that a group of Chinese officials had been sent to Sudan to help defuse the crisis. Officials have been frustrated by the Sudanese government, which falsely claimed on Monday that its military had liberated 14 of the workers. Xinhua reported that Xie Hangsheng, the vice foreign minister, had summoned a top Sudanese diplomat in Beijing to express his displeasure with the way the episode was being handled. The Chinese side urged the Sudanese side to keep in mind the overall situation of bilateral friendship and cooperation, Xinhua reported. The conflicting accounts about the plight of the workers in Sudan may stem from confusion surrounding the kidnapping and its aftermath. According to Xinhua, in addition to the 29 Chinese workers seized from an encampment, 18 had evaded the rebels during the attack on Saturday and fled to surrounding areas. All but one of those workers was later found, and there was speculation on Tuesday that the Sudanese military had confused their fate with that of those still missing. The government in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, has not provided further details about the rescue mission it had previously announced. A Sudanese Army spokesman did not answer his phone on Tuesday.
Most of the available information has come from the Chinese news media, which have been closely following the drama. On Monday, 17 of the men who had escaped capture flew into Khartoum and described how they had sought cover as gunfire rang out on Saturday morning. Some hid in a mango grove, they said, while others crawled beneath shipping containers. One of the men, Han Zhangliang, told the state-run Peoples Daily that the rebels, in addition to leading away a group of Chinese and Sudanese workers, had confiscated the valuables of everyone they came upon. Of the missing man, he said, unfortunately he was probably shot. Luo Xiaoguang, Chinas ambassador to Sudan, told the state broadcaster CCTV that officials had little information about the captive workers. They are still being held, he said, but as far as we know, none of them have been injured or killed. The abducted workers were part of a larger contingent of Chinese who are helping the Sudanese government build a road through South Kordofan, an oil-rich region that has been the scene of intense fighting between the Khartoum government and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North, a rebel group that is allied with the newly independent South Sudan. China has been trying to mediate the mounting crisis between the countries, which have deadlocked in recent weeks over how to share oil revenues from South Kordofan and the surrounding area. The seized Chinese workers were employed by the Chinese state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China, affiliated with the Sinohydro Corporation. Sinohydro is building the $63 million road, a project financed by the Export-Import Bank of China. Rebels claim the road is largely aimed at helping facilitate the movement of government troops battling the insurgency. The Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North has acknowledged holding the Chinese workers, but it has suggested that they were spirited away from the battle zone for their own protection. It said rebel leaders had met with three Chinese diplomats and had assured them that the workers would be safe unless the Sudanese government tried a rescue by force. The groups secretary general, Yasir Arman, said it had asked the Chinese delegation to convey to Khartoum that they should stop any military operations in the area where the Chinese are present until their safe evacuation. The kidnappings have challenged Beijings traditional noninterference approach to foreign affairs and increased pressure, much of it expressed online, to protect its citizens more aggressively abroad. Last year, the plight of 36,000 Chinese workers trapped in Libya during that countrys civil war prompted the government to orchestrate a mass evacuation aided by the military. Sudan, rich in oil but perennially unstable, has proved to be an especially dangerous place for the Chinese. Last October, a worker in South Kordofan was shot dead by unidentified
gunmen, and in 2008 five oil company workers were killed after they were abducted from the same region. In recent days, users of Chinas popular microblog service Sina Weibo have expressed frustration with the governments inability to rescue the workers. If it was the United States or Russia, they would have air dropped in special commandos by now, one posting said. ### Zimbabwes president slams African leaders over Libya, calls some fronts for the West (AP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/zimbabwes-president-slams-africanleaders-over-libya-calls-some-fronts-for-the-west/2012/02/01/gIQAzFFDhQ_story.html February 1, 2012 By an unattributed author HARARE, Zimbabwe Zimbabwes president has condemned the continentwide Africa Union for recognizing Libyas National Transitional Council at a recent summit, state radio reported Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe returned to Harare late Tuesday from the gathering of African nations in Ethiopia. At the airport, he accused unnamed African countries of being fronts for Western powers whose criminal NATO bombardment of Libya helped lead to the killing of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, a former Mugabe ally, state radio said. The continental body didnt even protest the NATO action, Mugabe said. He also said it was unprocedural for the AUs Peace and Security Council to make the decision to recognize the NTC instead of the whole summit of leaders. Zimbabwe itself has not officially recognized Libyas NTC and expelled the Libyan ambassador when he defected to the rebel cause during the uprising against Gadhafi. State media said Wednesday that Mugabe complained the African Union should have taken more action to protest NATO bombings: We said absolutely nothing. Even if we could not raise a force, at least we could have protested. How did we fail to say even no to killings that included civilians in the NATO bombings? Gadhafi became the first chairman of the African Union when it was founded in 1999 at a summit in the Libyan city of Sirte to succeed the Organization of African Unity that campaigned against colonialism for nearly four decades.
Mugabe said the continent had long fought oppression but the AU council appeared to have felt intimidated to recognize Libyas transitional authority, the state broadcaster reported. Other independent accounts from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, said Mugabe told fellow African leaders there Western countries now saw their organization as a toothless bulldog. He said Gadhafi was killed in broad daylight and his children were hunted like animals, the independent NewZimbabwe media agency reported. Then we rush to recognize the NTC without demanding an investigation in Gadhafis murder, Mugabe said He cautioned that Western powers suffering the effects of recession could target other African countries for their mineral wealth and resources. Who is next? he said, repeating warnings he gave his to own party at its national convention in Zimbabwe in December that Western powers were not to be trusted. ### Wave of arrests in Sudan targets nonviolent student activists (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2012/0131/Wave-of-arrests-inSudan-targets-nonviolent-student-activists January 31, 2012 By Tracy Fehr, Guest blogger NOTE: Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services arrested at least nine peaceful student protesters in Khartoum last week, and the government has yet to acknowledge the arrests, reports guest blogger Tracy Fehr. Sudans ruling National Congress Partys grip on power seems to be tightening to the point of suffocation. In the past week, Sudans National Intelligence and Security Services, or NISS, has targeted non-violent, pro-democratic student activists in a wave of arrests and harassment. On January 25, following a forum on the human rights situation in eastern Sudan held in commemoration of the 2005 Port Sudan massacre of unarmed civilians by government forces, the NISS arrested five members of the non-violent, student-led, pro-democracy group Girifna. The five students arrestedGirifna Co-founder Nagi Musa, Amar Dirar, Ghazi Eltayen, Mohammed Mahjoub, and Sharif Kamalhave since been moved to Kober prison, notorious for brutal NISS interrogation tactics. News of the arrests sparked an explosion
in the Twitterverse, with Sudan influentials such as New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and author Rebecca Hamilton calling for attention to the NISS's actions, interspersed with real-time updates from Girifna members. But the January 25 arrests are just the tip of the iceberg. Four more student activists have been arrested in recent daysMohamed Omer Al Amin, Girifna member Omar Ahmad Hamid, Youth for Change members Khalaf Saeed, and Taj Elsir Jafar. Girifna reports that a Youth for Change student leader, Gasm Allah, has been missing since Friday. And members of Girifna reported the NISS tapping their phones and staking out youth activists homes. In a statement to the Enough Project, Girifna said that the detention and abuse at the hands of the NISS is widespread and targets not only students, but also journalists and other activists. Girifna asks the media to focus on the detainment of its own members but to also highlight the wider issue of the NISSs detention and arrest policies. Girifna told Enough that Sudans National Security Forces Act allows NISS officers to detain suspects for up to six months without taking them to court. Several aspects of this act are troubling when viewed from the perspective of human rights, in particular, the provisions that allow the NISS to hold individuals for extensive periods of time without charge or trial and without notifying their relatives, said Enough Project Sudan Policy Analyst Jennifer Christian. Girifna, which translates into Arabic as Weve Had Enough, is one of several Sudanese student groups that have voiced public opposition against the Khartoum regime and been met with arrests, intimidation, and detainment. So far, the government of Sudan has been silent on the issue, though that comes as little surprise. Violence and arrests of student protesters is becoming common practice in Khartoum, and this latest round of arrests demonstrates the standard protocol of the NISS. A round of protests slated for January 30 was canceled. But Girifna has tweeted, It is 31/Jan/2012 and the fight for freedom, democracy, equality and social justice for all Sudanese will be long and we are ready for it. For updates on the whereabouts of detained student activists, follow Girifna on Twitter. ### Gaddafi daughter applies to ICC over jailed brother (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE81000G20120201 February 1, 2012 By Christian Lowe
ALGIERS (Reuters) - The daughter of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi asked on Tuesday to make representations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to help her brother Saif al-Islam, who is in a Libyan jail awaiting trial on rape and murder charges. Aisha Gaddafi wants to hand information to the court about the welfare of Saif al-Islam, who has also been indicted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity dating from Libya's civil war last year. Supporters of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was captured disguised as a Bedouin in the Sahara desert in November, say they doubt he will be given a fair trial in Libya. They say he should be tried instead by the ICC in The Hague. If he is found guilty by a Libyan court, Saif al-Islam faces the death penalty while if the court in the Hague convicts him the most he can be given is a prison term. A document submitted to the ICC for Aisha Gaddafi suggested that the Libyan authorities were unwilling to let any foreign lawyer act for Saif al-Islam. "Aisha Gaddafi wishes to protect the interests of her brother," said the document, which was seen by Reuters. Saif al-Islam, the most high-profile of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, is the subject of wrangling between the new Libyan authorities and the ICC on where he should be tried. Libya's ruling National Transitional Council says he should be tried at home and that he will be given a fair hearing. But the ICC has reserved the right to insist that he be sent to the Hague. The ICC has jurisdiction over the case because it issued a warrant last year for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and the Libyan leader's intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. All three were indicted on charges of crimes against humanity. The charges related to failed attempts by Libyan security forces to put down a revolt last year which eventually ended Gaddafi's 42-year rule. Aisha Gaddafi asked the court to be able to give information to the ICC about attempts she has made to contact Saif al-Islam, and two telephone interviews with Libya's deputy prosecutor, showed the document, which was signed by her lawyer Nicholas Kaufman. "From these telephone conversations, it may be inferred that the Libyan authorities who purport to be investigating and prosecuting Saif al-Islam Gaddafi refuse to deal with international legal counsel," Kaufman said in the document. The information, which was not disclosed in the document, would be filed confidentially, Kaufman said.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed after rebel fighters captured him near his hometown of Sirte in October. His intelligence chief is reported to have been captured but his location is unknown. Saif al-Islam is being held in the town of Zintan, southwest of the Libyan capital, which is the base of the militia which captured him. Aisha Gaddafi, along with her mother Safiya, her brother Hannibal, her half-brother Mohammed and other family members, fled Libya around the time that rebel forces took control of the capital in August. They are in an unknown location in the neighbouring country of Algeria after the government there took them in on what it said were humanitarian grounds. ### Rwanda genocide: ICTR seeks refuge for acquitted (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16816668 January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author The court trying Rwandan genocide suspects is appealing for countries to give refuge for those acquitted, the UN tribunal's spokesman has told the BBC. Five of 10 people cleared of involvement in the 1994 killings believe they cannot return to Rwanda. They remain in a house in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based, guarded by police. The ICTR is due to wind up its trials by the end of this year. Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in 100 days in 1994. 'Burden' ICTR spokesperson Roland Amoussouga told the BBC that finding countries willing to accept those acquitted of charges "was one of the key challenges facing the tribunal". "It's a burden on us to continue hosting for so many years these acquitted people and we've worked with them and their lawyers to identify suitable countries were they can be sent. So far we have not been successful," he said. The five men still living in Arusha and acquitted by the ICTR are all Hutus and include a former brigadier general, ex-ministers and a businessman.
They live together in a safe house and can go to town and to church, but otherwise cannot leave. Andre Ntagerura - the former minister of transport - has been waiting nearly six years for refuge since his acquittal. The five have been joined in the safe house by two others who have served their sentences, but also have nowhere to go. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says their fate resembles the detainees at Guantanamo Bay - the detention facility which the US wishes to close but whose inmates other countries are reluctant to take. The men in Arusha have families in Belgium, Canada and France but so far they cannot get permission to join them, despite appeals to the UN Security Council. Since the court started in 1997, the ICTR has dealt with 72 cases - of which 18 are on appeal. It has three cases in progress and one person awaiting trial - all of these must be finished this year, with the appeals hearings to be completed by the end of 2013. ### Rwanda: HIV Positive Women Denied Inheritance Rights - Report (The New Times <Rwanda newspaper>) http://allafrica.com/stories/201201301759.html January 30, 2012 By James Tasamba Women living with HIV/Aids in Gasabo and Nyanza districts are being denied their rights to inherit family property by their spouses and other relatives, a research conducted by the Women's Network for Rural Development, commonly known by its French moniker Reseaux Des Femmes, has shown. According to the research, carried out in three sectors in each of the districts, husbands say they cannot offer property to someone destined for death, leaving women stranded. Worse, they are threatened and, at times, thrown out of their marital homes once the husband dies, says the report, made public at a workshop in Remera, Kigali last week. The survey, sponsored by UN Women, focussed on issues related to women's property and inheritance in the context of HIV/Aids. Nutritional needs were highlighted as the other challenges facing the women, it said
The research was carried out as part of efforts to mitigate the impact of women's vulnerability to HIV/Aids through enhanced advocacy and increasing their access to property, according to Beata Busasa, the National Coordinator for Women's Network for Rural Development. "The research provides broader understanding of the challenges to women infected with HIV. People living with HIV need a lot of support to live their full lives just like anybody else," Busasa said in an interview with The New Times. In the case of discordant couples (where one partner is negative), the report says, women are mistreated and accused of being responsible for bringing the virus. With an estimated three percent of the adult population infected with HIV, Rwanda is less affected than other regional countries. The National Strategic Plan on HIV and Aids 2009 to 2012 provides that people infected and affected by HIV have the same opportunities as the general population. However, grassroots leaders are not keen to resolve issues of violation of the inheritance rights of women infected with the virus, the report indicated. And most women, especially in rural areas, are ignorant of where to seek appropriate help in case their rights are abused, the researchers said. ### Kenya doctor fights mental health stigma in 'traumatized continent' (CNN Health) http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/health/frank-njenga-mentalhealth/index.html?hpt=wo_t4 January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author Editor's note: Every week CNN International's African Voices highlights Africa's most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera. (CNN) -- As Kenya's leading psychiatrist, Frank Njenga has been championing the cause of better mental health care on the east African country and the continent for more than three decades. He's been working tirelessly to bring quality mental health care in a country where mentally disabled people receive little help from the state and face massive stigma from society.
"It's a horrible indictment on what we've done but the truth and reality is that very little has been done systematically and deliberately by government or by ourselves to bring up the level of mental health in this part of the world," says Njenga. In Kenya, an estimated three million, mostly poor, people live with intellectual and mental disabilities, according to NGO and United Nations figures. At the same time, the ratio of psychiatrists to the population is dismal -- just one psychiatrist to half a million people. But Njenga, who is president of the African Association of Psychiatrists, says the problem is even worse in other countries on the continent. "It is a major challenge but it is a challenge that is very sadly is spread across the whole of the Africa continent," he says Njenga. "In fact, Kenya is ironically behind South Africa and perhaps Egypt in the ratios of psychiatrists that are available per population. There are countries in Africa where there is no single psychiatrist to five-six million people." This has motivated Njenga to dedicate his life helping mental health patients and raising awareness in a continent where mental disorders are often neglected and described as "un-African" and belonging to "people in the West." Njenga, however, discards such claims as "clear nonsense." "For as long as you are a self-confessed human being you will continue to suffer human conditions of which mental disorders are an integral part," he says. Read also: Namibia's 'miracle doctor' brings gift of sight Njenga describes Africa as "truly the traumatized continent" that's been plagued by wars, human suffering and lethal dictatorships. "Whether you are looking at Rwanda or southern Sudan or Sierra Leone or DRC, the number of women and children and adults who have suffered severe trauma is greater than any other continent that I can think of." He underlines the link between good mental health and productivity and calls policy makers to make mental health services a priority in order to help their countries escape poverty. "There is no health without mental health and there is no economy," says Njenga. "We are losing far too many men and women to mental illness and therefore to un-productivity by not treating them for mental illness."
Born in Kenya, Njenga was inspired as a teenager by the work of psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, writer of "Wretched of the Earth," a seminal book that explores identity and the post-colonial experience. From then on, Njenga was convinced he wanted to be a psychiatrist. He went on to study psychology throughout medical school in Kenya before moving to the UK for his postgraduate studies at the Maudsley Hospital -- the world's oldest psychiatric hospital.
At the end of this studies, however, Njenga chose not to pursue a career in the UK but to return to his home country, committed to promoting the cause of better mental health in the continent. "I went to the UK to come back and to come back as a psychiatrist and to make a difference in my homeland and in my continent. That is the reason I left Kenya and that is the reason I came back," he says. On his return to Kenya, Njenga embarked on a mission to reduce the social stigma that is attached to going to a psychiatrist or seeing a mental health professional. In a ground-breaking weekly show called "Frankly Speaking," Njenga spoke with his patients on television, putting the spotlight on tough issues such as schizophrenia and substance abuse -- taboo topics that were usually kept out of public sight. "I felt powerful and relaxed I felt at last here I was able to tell it exactly as it was," he says. "Of all the things I have done in this society and community it is the program on television -- Frankly Speaking -- because I spoke frankly as my name is and my patients spoke very frankly indeed." In his commitment to providing top-notch mental health care, Njenga also helped build a private in-patient psychiatric hospital, the first of its kind in Kenya. He's also authored several children's books in a bid to build better understanding of mental illness and advocated for an insurance cover for mental health patients as chairman of the largest insurance company in Kenya. Through awareness and affordable treatment, Njenga has changed how many people in Kenya think about mental health. "Today the discussion of mental health issues on this continent is focused and is positive -- about that I feel proud and privileged," he says ### Nigerian Sani Abacha aide Mustapha appeals over hanging (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16810996
January 31, 2012 By an unattributed author An aide to former Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha has appealed against his hanging sentence for killing the wife of politician Moshood Abiola. Lawyers for Major Hamza al-Mustapha lodged papers in a Lagos courtroom on Tuesday. Mr Mustapha, Abacha's former security chief, who has been detained since 1999, says he is innocent. Abiola's wife, Kudirat, was shot dead in 1996 - three years after he was widely believed to have won elections. Mr Mustapha's lawyers say the 13 years he has spent in prison is an "injustice". After the 1993 elections were annulled and Abacha seized power, Abiola declared himself president and was charged with treason. Abacha and Abiola both died in 1998, paving the way for the end of decades of military rule the following year. One of Abacha's sons, Mohammed, was also accused of links to the killing of Kudirat Abiola but was cleared in 2002 after three years in detention. ### Africa: Global Fund - Challenges Ahead (allAfrica) http://allafrica.com/stories/201202010094.html January 31, 2012 By Sue Valentine Cape Town In its short 10-year history, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, uberculosis and Malaria has saved millions of lives, but as it marks its anniversary it finds itself the subject of questions and concern, rather than celebration. Two recent announcements shocked and alarmed health workers, governments and activists in the developing world who rely on support from the Fund to provide treatment for millions of people living with Aids and tuberculosis, and to supply bed nets to prevent malaria. In November 2011 the Global Fund cancelled "Round 11" of its funding cycle, stating that it would not accept any new applications for funding until 2014, and last week the executive director, Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, announced his resignation.
"Many people assumed that the Global Fund cancelled Round 11 because it was 'running out of money' and donors were drastically cutting back on their grants," says Bernard Rivers, executive director of Aidspan, an independent observer of the Global Fund. "The situation is serious, but it's much less serious than that." From interviews by AllAfrica with Rivers and recipients of Fund grants, as well as an examination of fund documents, the following emerges: ** Far from running out of money, the Fund is boosting grants in the current funding cycle, but not by as much as it wanted to; ** The cancellation of Round 11 can be linked to the failure of donors to live up to their promises, which has forced the Fund to budget conservatively; ** Some recipients of grants are in financial difficulty as a result of the Global Fund's poor management, and unless the fund improves its internal systems it could see donor countries reducing their support; ** The fund recognizes that its systems are not working effectively and has appointed a new general manager to fix the problems; and ** There is enough money to honour grants within agreed timeframes, which pay for Aids and TB treatment for millions of people, and for bed nets to prevent malaria. Explaining how Round 11 came to be cancelled, Rivers told AllAfrica that one of the reasons was the introduction of a more conservative forecasting methodology to anticipate what percentage of the amounts pledged by donors would actually materialise. These new calculations forced the fund to reduce its budget and curtail its grant-making. A statement posted on the Global Fund website spells out what spending is likely to be in the next few years. In the statement, the chair of the Global Fund board, Simon Bland, says that the Fund will disburse "around $10 billion" between 2011 and 2013. This is U.S.$2 billion more than in the previous funding period between 2008 and 2010, and, according to Bland, it will mean that in certain countries "more people, not less" will gain access to Aids and TB treatment in 2012 and 2013. However, Bland admits that the current budget is $2 billion less than the $12 billion the Fund expected to have for new grants. In his explanation of the decision to cancel Round 11, Bland said, "we are living in uncertain economic times and budgets are strapped. It would have been irresponsible to continue promising opportunities for additional funding when we are not sure we will have the money needed."
Bland's statement came in the wake of confusion and concern created by the way in which the Global Fund communicated its decision to cancel Round 11. The news that broke last November came just two months after the Global Fund had called for applications for Round 11 and many organisations had already started the painstaking process of applying for a Global Fund grant. "The Fund did a terrible job in explaining that decision," says Rivers, who added that the fund has always been poor at explaining itself, whether it was to applicants to help them understand what the Fund wanted, or to those responsible for implementing grants. "But," he concluded, "you would think that for the writing of a basic press release which explains the news about what's happened with Round 11, that at least they would be able to write that clearly." One organisation that has been frustrated by the Global Fund's reputation for poor and bureaucratic communication is the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa. TAC, one of the continent's strongest and most effective Aids advocacy groups, is facing bankruptcy due to Global Fund delays in releasing promised funds. "The current payment [that we're expecting from the Global Fund] is seven months overdue," says Nathan Geffen, treasurer of TAC. "No other donor has ever defaulted in its payments to us. But with the Global Fund, hardly any of our tranches have been paid on time." Soul City is another South African organisation that has won international acclaim for its edutainment model promoting health and development communication. It too has been exasperated by the Global Fund's bureaucratic processes and mercurial demands. "They keep on shifting the goal posts as to what is required," says Sue Goldstein, programme director at Soul City. "It's impossible to know where you are and how to plan. Funding can be delayed by six months, then they ask you for a report, then you hear nothing. And you can't question them." According to Rivers, who has permanent observer status at Global Fund board meetings, TAC's experiences are a very worrying indication of the internal management situation and the relationship between the Fund and its recipients, or "implementers" as the fund prefers to term them. Rivers believes that part of the problem is a heavily bureaucratic system, and part of it is "risk aversion", resulting in a reluctance to make decisions. In May 2011, the Global Fund itself identified and exposed some cases of corruption in West Africa. These were picked up by the international media and led to concerns about the Fund's ability to avoid the mismanagement of funds. "Nobody wants to be the manager on whose watch some piece of corruption took place," says Rivers. "Zero risk can only be achieved if they give zero grants, and if you give zero
grants, you have zero impact. What you have to do is ascertain risk, manage it, and work out how best to deal with it." The man who is now tasked with cleaning up the management problems at the Global Fund is Gabriel Jaramillo, a Latin American banker who was a member of a panel that evaluated the work of the Global Fund during 2011. It was Jaramillo's appointment as general manager reporting directly to the Global Fund Board that prompted the resignation of the executive director Kazatchkine. He will leave the Fund in March this year. Kazatchkine has been at the helm of the Global Fund for the past five years. "He's a brilliant and deeply motivated doctor who has done some remarkable medical research in the area of Aids," says Rivers, "but he's not a manager." Shaun Mellors is a Global Fund board member, representing communities living with HIV, TB and affected by malaria. He too believes that a number of things about the Fund's management need to be fixed. In the past it has taken too long from the point at which the Fund approves a grant, to when countries actually benefit from the resources, says Mellors. "So improving and strengthening some of the internal processes and information flow between the secretariat, office of the inspector-general and country level is crucial to a stronger partnership. This forms a big part of the comprehensive transformation plan that will be managed by the newly appointed general manager." Some activist networks have been dismayed at the appointment of a banker to manage a fund that has cultivated radically distinctive characteristics from other international institutions. Rivers is less pessimistic. He points out that besides the billions of dollars that the Global Fund disburses, it has a staff of more than 600 with its own substantial administrative budget. This, he believes, requires "formidable" management. Although Rivers does not know Jaramillo, he thinks the Global Fund has done the right thing. "It sounds like a good decision to bring in someone with significant management experience in dealing with money," he says. So what are the challenges for the Global Fund as it enters its second decade? According to Rivers, the Global Fund must put its house in order in 2012; otherwise it could see donors reducing their support. "If the Global Fund does not improve in some of its problem areas, or does not improve fast enough or visibly enough, donors, especially those that have their own economic problems, might well start cutting back," he said. Mellors is also concerned. "We need to ensure that donors meet their pledges and turn them into actual contributions. A pledge, whilst sending an important political message, does not save someone's life."
In its short history the Global Fund has forged a unique identity, which includes unparalleled levels of transparency. "Tell me another donor which is as transparent as the Global Fund and as vigorous as the Global Fund in trying to find out whether the money has been spent as promised, or misspent. And then tell me another international donor, that having discovered to its horror that there had been some corruption will publish the details on its website," asks Rivers. "There is no other major donor like that." For Rivers the Global Fund represents "philanthropy for the 21st century". It allows countries to identify their own needs and agendas, and it has created a governance structure that gives genuine voice and power to civil society and recipient governments, as well as to donor governments. "There are very few global health institutions where civil society, especially communities living with and affected by the three diseases, have an equal say and vote, as countries such as the U.S., the UK or France," says Mellors. The Global Fund may not be in crisis yet, but there is cause for concern. Aids treatment advocates are unanimous in their calls for the Global Fund not just to sustain the three million people who currently receive antiretroviral therapy courtesy of the Fund, but to expand access for others who need it. According to Stephen Lewis, the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa who is currently co-director of the advocacy organisation Aids-free World, the cancellation of Round 11 is a worrying step backwards. In a speech at Yale University last November, Lewis expressed horror that the Global Fund would make no new grants in the next two years. "Quite simply, without adornment, people will die in large numbers. The fund will attempt to sustain the programs presently in place, but the opportunity to enroll others who need treatment-and that number is 7.6 million-will be lost." Rivers says it's now time to gear up the Fund for its second decade. "I don't feel anyone, including donor governments, is saying let's scrap the Global Fund, or the key principles of the Fund. I think they're saying, let's get it right." ### Hershey to invest $10 million in Ivory Coast to reduce child labor, improve cocoa farming (AP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/hershey-to-invest-10-million-in-ivorycoast-to-reduce-child-labor-improve-cocoafarming/2012/02/01/gIQATGcThQ_story.html February 1, 2012
By an unattributed author ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast The Hershey Company says it will invest $10 million in Ivory Coast to reduce child labor and improve the cocoa supply in the West African nation. Spokesman Andy McCormick says the measure will bring higher productivity for farmers and will increase supply to meet the demand of a growing middle class in countries like China and India. Ivory Coast produces 35 percent of the worlds cocoa. Combined with coffee, the cocoa sector accounts for 15 percent of GDP. Cocoa production hit a record 1.48 million tons in 2010 despite a political crisis. UNICEF estimates 600,000 children work on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and that 35,000 are victims of trafficking. McCormick says that Hershey is already trying to address child labor issues, but we all recognize that more needs to be done. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ### African Union summit: disunity on display (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0131/African-Union-summit-disunity-ondisplay January 31, 2012 By Scott Baldauf For sheer murkiness, the African Union is in a world of its own. Established back in 2002 to replace the older, less-organized Organization of African Unity, the African Union has ambitions of creating a common policy front so that 54 different African countries can confront what they see as an exploitative and richer world with one voice. Its an ambition deeply rooted in the Pan-Africanist movement of Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere and Leopold Senghor, who wanted to do away with colonial borders and build on the common features and strengths of Africa culture to form a single African nation. But it's an ambition wrapped in profound distrust of other countries who would take advantage of Africa and its disunity. Today, at the end of its 18th assembly of African leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the AU is an organization that has begun to put action behind its words. It sends peacekeeping missions to the Darfur region of Sudan and to support the tottering transitional government in Somalia. Its leaders jet off to growing conflict zones such as post-election Ivory Coast and pre-war Libya and attempt to achieve peace through
negotiation, with varying success. But is it any closer to creating a single voice on matters that affect all African states? A fairly vicious battle for the AUs top leadership position, as chairman of the AU Commission, shows that unity is still a distant goal. The incumbent is Jean Ping, a Gabonese diplomat of mixed heritage. His father was a Chinese immigrant, his mother was Gabonese. Mr. Ping was educated in France, and rose up through politics to be chief of cabinet for the long-ruling Gabonese President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba. The magazine African Confidential quoted Ping as being largely uncritical of Chinas growing role in Africa. With China, everything is simple," Ping is quoted by African Confidential as saying. "She gives us debt forgiveness or long-term loans without interest or conditions. But Pings capabilities as a diplomat were not quite up to the exacting standards of South Africa. During last years Libyan crisis, when South African President Jacob Zuma was attempting to broker a peace deal between Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and Libyan rebels, Ping was seen as inadequately standing up for the interests of the AU. Ping failed last March to broker a peace deal in Ivory Coast, after disputed elections turned into a brief civil war. Many South Africans fretted that his failure gave an opportunity for France to throw in its troops to oust former President Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to accept election results showing he had lost. So when Pings job came up again for renewal, South Africa mounted a campaign to replace him. AU members did not accept South Africas alternative, the formidable former foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, but they did prevent Ping from getting the two-thirds majority vote required for another term. When the final votes were counted, and the AU was left without a leader, witnesses told the Monitor that South Africas delegation was dancing in the hall. Ms. Dlamini Zuma, meanwhile, says that she will try again for the chairmanship, when Pings extended six month tenure ends. One thing that most African diplomats can agree on these days is that Africans need to protect their interests against the power of former colonial powers, such as France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and their perceived supporters, such as the United States. Another thing many Africans can agree with is that they still need outside foreign assistance, as long as that assistance comes with few strings attached. Thats why China, and to a lesser extent, India are welcomed in Africa.
At the AU summit, a senior Chinese diplomat, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said all the right things. we must fully respect the efforts of African countries in resolving African issues independently. In recent years, Africa has steadily built up its capacity to independently address African issues. Facts have proven that African countries are able and wise enough to do so. The international community should provide support and help to the resolution of African issues. China believes that such help should be based on respect for the will of the African people and should be constructive. It should reinforce, rather than undercut, Africa's independent efforts to solve problems. Interference in Africa's internal affairs by outside forces out of selfish motives can only complicate the efforts to resolve issues in Africa. China has not been shy about getting involved in Africa, as the recent construction of the AU's new headquarters -- built by Chinese companies -- clearly illustrates. But while China is clearly giving money in order to secure access to natural resources, it does not give African leaders a lecture on how to run their countries, how to protect civil liberties or human rights, or how to run the public treasury. In the end, it may have been outside interference by old colonial powers that cost Ping his job. Speaking with South Africas Independent newspaper, the Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi, confirmed that AU members were turned off by the interference of outsiders, and separately, South African and other southern African participants confirmed that intense lobbying by the French ambassador to Ethiopia in favor of Ping made many AU members see him as Frances man. Normally, AU members would have voted to extend Pings chairmanship but, because we felt this was not just a discussion between Africans and that is why Ping did not win on the fourth round. Mr. Baloi did not specifically name France, but did say, I cannot mention the name of the country, but there was outside interference, not only in the election, but also in some of the dossiers under discussion, such as the question of Madagascar. Now the AU is in a kind of leadership limbo. Ping has been given a six-month extension, a leader without a mandate, until another vote can be held at a summit in June or July. With an ongoing election crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with growing tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, with an increasingly bloody war and killing famine in Somalia, with electoral troubles brewing in Senegal, and the challenges of restoring peace in Libya and Egypt, this is a time when Africa could use a unified voice. ### Perfect group stage for co-hosts Gabon (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/2012/01/2012131192931494970.html January 31, 2012
By an unattributed author Co-hosts Gabon defeated Tunisia 1-0 on Tuesday to finish top of Africa Cup of Nations Group C with a perfect nine points from three matches. The Panthers will play the runners-up in Group D in Libreville on Sunday, while Tunisia, who finished second in the group will face the winners of Group D. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Gabon the lead after 62 minutes when he collected a loose ball before wrong footing Tunisia goalkeeper Rami Jeridi for his third goal of the competition. Skipper Daniel Cousin could have doubled the co-hosts' lead in the 67th minute but his shot from a rebound was well off target as Gabon seemed to be a revived team after the recess. The north Africans fought to restore parity but the home team were resolute in defence to hold on for another famous victory. "I don't have any preference who we play in the quarterfinals,'' said Gabon's coach Gernot Rohr. "We're just happy to be there. We weren't expecting to be first (in the group) but we are first." Meanwhile Morocco denied Niger their first ever point with a 1-0 win in their meaningless closing Group C tie. With both teams already knocked out pride was the only prize on the table. Niger, 45 minutes away from an historic first Nations cup point, held a prayer session before the restart. They were looking at grabbing all three points as Karim Lancina's pinpoint 25m free-kick headed for goal on 46 minutes only for Mohamed Amsif to safely extinguish the danger. Good work from Daouda Kassaly was keeping Morocco at bay until the 89th minute when Marouane Chamakh fed Montpellier midfielder Younes Belhanda whose sliding right-footed shot broke Niger's hearts and perhaps kept Morocco coach Eric Gerets in a job. ### END REPORT

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