Johannesburg  — President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration’s movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high.

Experts disagree on what a second Trump term will mean for Beijing’s ambitions on the continent, with some saying it could be a boon for China – Africa’s biggest trade partner – if the U.S. pursues an isolationist, “America First” agenda that mostly ignores the region.

But Tibor Nagy, who served as Trump’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018 to 2021 has a different perspective. He said Trump grasped how powerful a player China had become on the continent.

“It was the Trump administration that was the first to kind of recognize the existential threat that China poses,” Nagy told VOA.

“We were on the front lines of that in Africa, and we saw what the Chinese were doing,” said Nagy, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia during the administrations of presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Nagy told VOA he does not think the incoming Republican administration will neglect Africa because it sees China as a threat to U.S interests there. He also said the continent is a major source of critical minerals attractive to both superpowers.

Nagy credits the first Trump administration with introducing policies on the continent intended to counter China’s influence.

“We had … the right focus because we made it about the youth. You know, our premise was that Africa is going to be undergoing a youth tsunami with the population doubling by 2050. And that more than anything, what the youth really wanted was jobs,” he said.

To this end, Nagy says, the first Trump administration set up Prosper Africa in 2018, an initiative designed to assist American companies doing business in Africa, and he expects the incoming administration will remain engaged there.

“Africa remains very much the front lines,” he said. “The United States is extremely concerned about our strategic minerals, and when a hostile power has a lock on strategic minerals, that’s really not very good when you need the strategic minerals for your top-end technology and for weapon systems.”

But Christian-Geraud Neema, Africa editor for the China-Global South Project, is skeptical and said a second term for Trump could be an opportunity for Beijing.

“Looking at his first term, Trump didn’t show much interest in Africa, which is likely to be the case still now,” he told VOA. “Only a few countries will matter — countries whose resources or position matter to the U.S. national security interests.”

“China will have room to maneuver and increase its influence in so many ways,” he added.

Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, echoed this.

“I doubt that Africa will be a featured priority for Trump,” she told VOA in an emailed response, adding that the United States’ absence on the continent “will boost the prominence of the Chinese position by its presence.”

Lobito corridor future

Views on how successfully President Joe Biden’s administration has engaged with Africa are also mixed. Many analysts said regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in office, the continent is usually an afterthought in U.S. foreign policy, which does not differ much from one administration to the next.

The current administration said it was “all in on Africa,” when Biden hosted dozens of heads of state at his first African Leaders Summit in 2022, an event seen as an attempt at reasserting U.S. influence in the face of a rising China.

Yet, “African leaders or the African Union were not consulted about the agenda of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit. This was also the case with the US’s Africa strategy,” wrote Christopher Isike, the director of African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, in an article co-signed by Samuel Oyewole, political science postdoctoral research fellow at the university

While Trump never traveled to Africa as president, top Biden administration officials did visit the continent, including the vice president. Biden is also expected to travel to Angola before the end of his term in December.

Under Biden, the U.S. agreed to develop the Lobito Corridor and Zambia-Lobito rail line, a project described by the State Department as “the most significant transport infrastructure that the United States has helped develop on the African continent in a generation.”

The rail line is seen as part of a transcontinental vision connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

The undertaking is to be financed through a joint agreement calling for the U.S., African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the European Union to support Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia.

Observers see it as an attempt to compete with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative, which has built railways, ports and roads across Africa.

There is concern among some analysts that Trump could pull back from this.

“Existing bilateral and multilateral business partnerships … such as the Lobito Corridor … might wane significantly during the next Trump administration,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a Nigerian analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, in an email to VOA.

“When that happens China will gain significant mileage in areas where the US Government’s exit creates a vacuum on the continent,” he added.

But Nagy disagreed, saying the Lobito Corridor is the “kind of project which would have come right out of the Trump administration.”

Therefore, there’s likely to be continuity, he added, noting: “The deal is done. Again, I can’t speak for President Trump, or the people who are going to be coming in … but it’s logical.”

‘Other Friends’

When asked how African leaders will navigate the next Trump administration, Sun said they could play the U.S. and China against each other.

“Africa could highlight its role in the US-China great power competition in order to strengthen its position in the US grand strategy,” she said in an email to VOA.

But she is doubtful African leaders will take that route because it “will carry the effect of being forced to choose, which I doubt that Africa will want to do.”

However, at least one African politician has already alluded to this option.

Kenya’s Raila Odinga, who is in the running to take over as chair of the African Union Commission next year, was blunt in his assessment of how African governments would handle a more isolationist U.S. under Trump.

“If he does not want to work with Africa,” Odinga told Agence France-Presse last week, “Africa has got other friends.”
…

your ad here

Yaoundé, Cameroon — The government of Chad said Tuesday that hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are fleeing the central African state’s territory and crossing over into Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. State TV reports the fighters fled after clashes with Chadian forces over the weekend that killed more than 100 Boko Haram fighters as well as close to 20 Chadian soldiers. 

Chad state TV reports that assaults have continued against Boko Haram strongholds after the central African state’s military saw almost 20 soldiers killed and 32 others injured in a Saturday battle with Boko Haram terrorists in the Lake Chad basin.

A government statement said about 100 Boko Haram fighters were killed and a dozen others injured during the clashes, and that Boko Haram fighters are now fleeing to Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

Earlier this month, Chad’s military launched an operation aimed at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from areas around Lake Chad, according to the central African state’s president, General Mahamat Idriss Deby.

Deby said the operation – named Haskanite — is to avenge the killing of 40 government troops in October and to improve security for civilians in the area.

The offensive hit a complication last week, when Deby said the fighting forces of Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, who all contribute troops to a regional anti-terrorism joint task force, had decided to not collaborate with the Chadian offensive.

Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger have made no public statements confirming or denying Deby’s claim, and VOA could not independently verify if the three countries have chosen not to participate in the Chadian operation.

Cameroon’s military said it is security the country’s borders and protecting its civilians.

Deby has said he planned to withdraw his troops from the multi-national force, which has about 11,000 troops, because of the absence of what he calls coordinated efforts among member states to fight Boko Haram terrorism.

Remadji Hoinathy is a lecturer at the University of N’Djamena in Chad and a researcher on strategic development in central Africa and the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

He said it is imperative for neighboring states to strategize and join Chad in fighting Boko Haram because the terrorist group has a high capacity to infiltrate communities in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger when attacked by forces from Chad. Remadji says fighters that survive onslaughts from Chad government forces will escape to safety areas in Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria and return to Chad to commit more atrocities when Operation Haskanite ends.

Chad has not said when it might withdraw its troops from the U.N.-assisted joint fighting force.

Chad civil society groups and political parties say they are surprised that officials of the joint task force have neither reacted to Chad’s threat to withdraw nor announced plans to cooperate with the offensive against Boko Haram.

Hisseine Abdoulaye is spokesperson of The Patriots, one of Chad’s political parties. He spoke to VOA via a messaging app from Chad’s capital N’djamena.

Abdoulaye said although it is the right of any state or party to pull out of an organization if its interests are not protected and respected, he disagrees with Chad’s announced plan to withdraw its troops from the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. He saif Chad’s military alone cannot stop militants from attacking government troops and communities.

Boko Haram launched an armed rebellion against the Nigerian government in 2009 to establish an Islamic state. Fighting has since spread to neighboring countries and has killed more than 40,000 people, displacing over 3 million according to the United Nations.
…

your ad here

WASHINGTON — According to the Somaliland National Electoral Commission, more than 1 million registered and eligible voters head to the polls Wednesday to elect their president for the next five years.

Three candidates, including incumbent President Muse Bihi Abdi, seek to consolidate the region’s fragile democracy, boost economic growth and gain international recognition that the Somali enclave has struggled to secure for 33 years.

Abdi, of the ruling Peace, Unity and Development Party, also known simply as Kulmiye, seeks a second term in Wednesday’s polls.

He is running against Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as “Irro,” of the Waddani party and Faisal Ali Warabe of the Justice and Development Party, or UCID.

Promises

In an interview with VOA Somali, each of the three candidates promised to strengthen democracy, boost economic growth and seek international recognition for the breakaway region.

Abdi, 76, who was elected head of the region in 2017, has pledged there will be progress on a controversial maritime deal that Ethiopia signed with Somaliland earlier this year.

“On our side, we [Somaliland] are free, we are ready to implement the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding], and we are waiting from the Ethiopian side so that we can go ahead with it,” Abdi said. “Ethiopia needs access to sea, and we need recognition, and this MOU is about these needs.”

This is the fourth presidential election since the region on the northwestern tip of Somalia broke away from the rest of the country, following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.

The territory declared independence that year but has never achieved international recognition.

Despite this, Somaliland has a functioning government and institutions, a political system that has allowed democratic transfers of power between rival parties, its own currency, passport and armed forces.

According to Freedom House’s 2024 flagship annual report, which assesses the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the world, Somaliland experienced an erosion of political rights in the past several years.

The report said, “Journalists and public figures face pressure from authorities. Minority clans are subject to political and economic marginalization, and violence against women remains a serious problem.”

Talks between Somaliland, which is seeking full statehood, and Mogadishu, which fiercely opposes the move, have been held on and off between 2012 and 2020 but failed to bear fruit.

Irro, of the Waddani party, who also served as speaker of the House of Representatives of Somaliland’s lower chamber of parliament for more than 11 years, said he would resume talks with Somalia.

“It was not our choice to talk to Somalia because our goal has always been getting recognition, but the international community urged us to talk. If I am elected, I will resume the talks if the Somaliland interest lies there, and [at] the same time we will review the previous failed talks,” said Irro.

Warabe, of the Justice and Development Party, said that if elected, he would seek recognition through the establishment of a national unity government in Somaliland.

“The return of Bihi [Abdi], who has been for seven years in power, and his party, which has been in power since 2010, is not [an] option for Somaliland voters,” Warabe said. “If I am elected, I will lead Somaliland to recognition and [a] more prosperous road.”

Regional tension

Somaliland’s Wednesday vote comes at a time when tensions remain high between Somalia and Ethiopia over the controversial Memorandum of Understanding that Ethiopia signed with Somaliland.

The deal would grant Ethiopia a 50-year lease of access to 20 kilometers of the Red Sea coastline in exchange for the potential recognition of Somaliland’s independence, which Somalia views as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The deal signed on January 1 in Addis Ababa by Abdi and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sparked anger in Mogadishu, which considers Somaliland as part of its national territory. The opposition to the deal plunged the two neighboring countries into a deadlocked situation.

In April, Somalia expelled Ethiopian Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware, alleging “internal interference” by Ethiopia. Somalia also ordered the closure of Ethiopia’s consulates in Somaliland and Puntland, although they remained open.

Last month, Somalia expelled Mogadishu-based Ethiopian diplomat Ali Mohamed Adan, who was a counselor at Ethiopia’s embassy in Mogadishu.

In July and August 2024, two rounds of talks between Ethiopia and Somalia, mediated by Turkey, failed to solve the dispute, with Somalia demanding Ethiopia withdraw from the deal and Ethiopia insisting that it does not infringe on Somalia’s sovereignty.

On Saturday, Somali Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur repeated the Somali government position against Ethiopian troop involvement in a new African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia starting in January.

“I can say that Ethiopia is the only government we know of so far that will not participate in the new AU mission because it has violated our sovereignty and national unity,” Nur said Saturday in a government-run television interview.

Somaliland’s last presidential elections were held in 2017. The current presidential election was originally set to take place in 2022 but was postponed until 2023 and then again pushed back to November 2024, following a controversial extension of Abdi’s mandate by the parliament’s upper house.

The Somaliland National Election Commission, or NEC, said at the time that the delays were due to “time, technical and financial constraints.” Opposition parties vehemently denounced the delays.

The president is directly elected for a maximum of two five-year terms and appoints the Cabinet.

Sahra Eidle Nur and Harun Maruf contributed to this report.
…

your ad here

Nairobi — A prominent human rights group is calling for the deployment of peacekeepers in Sudan, following a recent wave of attacks on civilians in Al Jazirah state widely blamed on the Rapid Support Forces, one of the warring sides in the country’s ongoing conflict.

Human Rights Watch says the situation has become so grim that a mission is needed to protect the population. 

According to a local pro-democracy group, the Wad Madani Resistance Committee, 169 people have been killed since the violence started in southeastern Jazirah state on Oct. 20.  

The attacks began after a commander for the Rapid Support Forces defected and joined the Sudanese army. Rights groups report that in response, RSF forces entered villages and towns in the area where the commander was from and carried out targeted killings and abuse.  

Laetitia Bader, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa division, said the violations have added more problems for a population reeling from more than 18 months of war.  

“Sudanese women’s rights groups have been documenting cases of sexual violence against women and girls in these towns and villages. And we’re talking here about over 30 towns and villages which have been attacked in recent weeks, and these attacks are ongoing,” Bader said. “It led to massive displacement of the civilian population in an area where people had already fled to and from. So it’s just adding to the layers of suffering.” 

The RSF has denied attacking communities in Jazirah state and has accused Sudanese forces of arming local communities.  

The RSF and Sudan’s military have been at war since April of last year. Rival generals lead the parties and are locked in a power struggle. 

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch and other observers are calling for the deployment of peacekeepers to Jazirah and other parts of Sudan, in hopes of protecting civilians.  

Getting a presence on the ground could deter further attacks and help monitor humanitarian obstruction, Bader said, and also play a role in bolstering local cease-fire efforts and efforts by emergency response teams to provide assistance. 

“Right now the problem is that what is happening at the local level cannot act alone,” Bader added. 

Ahmed Hashi, a Horn of Africa political and security commentator, said troops are needed, and strong action must be taken against the leaders of the warring groups.  

“There is a need to send at least 50,000 United Nations soldiers. There is a need to take the criminal generals to the International Criminal Court and issue a warrant for their arrest,” Hashi said. “It is important for the United Nations to put its foot down on conflicts because they are going to metastasize into a massive humanitarian catastrophe.” 

In a report issued last month, the office of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed shock at the human rights violations often witnessed in Sudan’s western Darfur region being repeated in the Jazirah area. 

The United Nations Security Council is slated to discuss the report on Sudan later this month.
…

your ad here

N’DJAMENA — Boko Haram insurgents killed 17 Chadian soldiers in a weekend attack on a military post that also left 96 of the assailants dead in the country’s west, Chad’s army said.

The attack in the Lake Chad region happened on Saturday, army spokesperson Gen. Issakh Acheikh said on national television Sunday night. He did not provide details.

The Lake Chad region has been plagued this year by frequent attacks from insurgents, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa. It has revived fears of violence after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist groups’ bases.

Last month, 40 soldiers were killed during an attack on a military base, prompting President Mahamat Deby Itno to launch an operation to dislodge Boko Haram militants from Lake Chad. In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers.

Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education, seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Chad, a country of nearly 18 million people, has been reeling from political turmoil before and after a controversial presidential election that resulted in Deby Itno’s victory. He had led the country as interim president during the period of military rule that followed the death of his father in 2021.
…

your ad here

A senior Somali official insisted Saturday that Ethiopia will not participate in a new African Union peacekeeping mission starting in January.

The two nations remain deadlocked over a Memorandum of Understanding that Ethiopia signed with the breakaway region, Somaliland, earlier this year.

“I can say that Ethiopia is the only government we know of so far that will not participate in the new AU mission because it has violated our sovereignty and national unity,” Somalia Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said Saturday in a government-run television interview.

African Union troops from several countries have been operating in Somalia since 2007. They started with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) before changing the mission and its name on April 1, 2022, to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). Its mandate ends at the end of this year.

For 17 years, the African Union mission helped Somalia combat al-Shabab, a violent extremist organization that threatened to overthrow the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The aim of past and upcoming missions is to hand over security responsibility to the Somali National Forces.

The nation is preparing for a third peace support operation, set to begin January 1, 2025, when a new mission, the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), replaces ATMIS.

According to a United Nations report in August, ATMIS has been drawing down troops from about 20,000 to less than 13,000. The new mission is expected to number at least 12,000. AUSSOM is scheduled to operate until the end of 2028.

It is not the first time Somalia has rejected the involvement of Ethiopian troops in a peacekeeping mission in the country.

In August, Somalia Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said Ethiopian forces would only join AUSSOM once Addis Ababa withdraws from the MoU with Somaliland.

Mogadishu, which sees Somaliland as a part of Somalia, has described the agreement as an assault on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Analysts say Somalia’s repeated demands that Ethiopia withdraw from the MoU have fallen on deaf ears, which further alienates Somalia.

Professor Sonkor Geyre, a former director of the defense ministry, said Somalia has a right to choose the countries it wants and rejects others.

“Somalia has national sovereign rights to exclude Ethiopia from the upcoming AU mission because it sees Ethiopia’s actions, including its MoU with Somaliland, as a national threat,” Geyre told VOA Somali.

Last month, the leaders of Somalia, Eritrea, and Egypt signed a security cooperation deal seen as an anti-Ethiopia front, and Mogadishu has also boosted its military ties with Cairo, which has offered troops for the new AU mission.

“There is an ongoing procedure that we will share and announce when the time comes regarding the new governments that will join and the previous ones who will not be part of the new mission,” Nur, the defense minister, said.

Under the current AU mission, at least 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers officially operate as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission fighting al-Shabab. Another 5,000 to 7,000 Ethiopian soldiers are stationed in several regions under a bilateral agreement.

Other countries contributing to the current AU forces in Somalia include Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, and Uganda.
…

your ad here

port louis — Mauritius holds a parliamentary election Sunday with incumbent Prime Minister and his main rivals all promising to tackle a cost-of-living crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago. 

The country of about 1.3 million people markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, deriving most of its revenues from a flourishing offshore financial sector, tourism and textiles. 

It has forecast 6.5% economic growth this year compared with 7.0% last year but many voters are not feeling the benefits. 

Jugnauth’s Alliance Lepep coalition has promised to raise minimum wages, increase pensions and reduce value added tax on some basic goods. 

It says it will use payments from the U.K. under an October agreement for Britain to cede the Chagos Islands while retaining the U.S.-U.K. Diego Garcia air base. 

Mauritius also receives aid from China. 

“The alliance led by the prime minister is selling the economic prosperity card, with promises of more money to different segments of the population,” said political analyst Subash Gobine. 

The opposition is also pledging to increase pensions as well as introduce free transport and internet services and reduce fuel prices. 

It is dominated by the Alliance du Changement coalition led by Navin Ramgoolam and two other parties running in the Linion Reform alliance whose leaders, Nando Bodha and Roshi Bhadain, plan to alternate as prime minister if they win. 

“It is the youths who will make the difference in these elections,” voter David Stafford, 36, said in the capital Port Louis, explaining that people were looking for economic innovation and job opportunities as much as fiscal changes. 

Just over 1 million people are expected to choose lawmakers for the islands’ 62 seats in parliament for the next five years from a list of 68 parties and five political alliances. 

Last week, Jugnauth’s government blocked social media platforms until a day after the election, when results are expected, citing national security concerns after conversations between public figures were leaked. It lifted the ban a day later after opposition parties criticized the move. 

Voting starts at 0300 GMT on Sunday and closes at 1400 GMT. Whichever party or coalition gets more than half the seats in parliament also wins the prime minister’s post. 
…

your ad here

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Thousands protested in Mozambique’s capital on Thursday and security forces responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets, as weeks of post-election unrest continued in the southern African country.

The protests were sparked by a vote last month that will keep the ruling party in power for more than a half-century amid allegations of rigging.

Opposition parties and many citizens have rejected the results of the October 9 presidential election as fraudulent and growing protests in the capital, Maputo, and other cities have been met by deadly force from police. Thursday’s protest was the biggest yet.

International rights groups say at least 20 people have been killed by police since the unrest began nearly a month ago, while local groups say the death toll is more than 50. Authorities are threatening to deploy the army as protesters set fires on the streets and burn ruling party offices.

The internet is being restricted and social media sites have been blocked, according to Human Rights Watch. Neighboring South Africa has shut its border post with Mozambique and heightened security around it.

What happened in the election?

The candidate for the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, was declared the winner of the presidential election on October 24. That keeps the party that has governed Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975 in power for another five years.

Even before the results were announced, opposition parties claimed fraud, accusing the ruling party, known as Frelimo, of ballot stuffing, manipulating voter lists and staffing polling stations with officials loyal to it. Frelimo has long been accused of rigging elections in the country of around 34 million.

The European Union’s observer team said there were irregularities in the election, including the altering of some results. Mozambican media has reported that the Constitutional Council, the supreme body for election law, has asked the commission that ran the election to explain discrepancies.

Senior opposition figures killed

Independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, who was second behind Chapo in the official results, has led criticism of the vote. He called for a national strike and for people to stay at home in the days after the election in protest at the alleged tampering. But the mood changed when two senior opposition figures were killed in their car in a late-night shooting by unidentified gunmen on October 18.

The men who were killed were the lawyer for Mondlane and the official spokesperson for the political party that supported Mondlane in the election. Mondlane said they were assassinated and he and opposition supporters gathered near the site of the killings the day after to protest. Police fired tear gas canisters at Mondlane, his aides and journalists who were interviewing him, forcing them to flee.

Growing protests

Since then, there have been waves of protests across the country. In one city, protesters toppled and cut the head off a statue of current President Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after serving a maximum two terms.

Mondlane said on social media that he had gone into exile in fear for his life after the killing of his lawyer. His whereabouts are unknown, but he has called on social media for more protests “so that we can then be freed from these shackles that have held us up for 50 years.”

Authorities have said little other than the protests have been violent and needed to be quelled. They have not given information on the number of people killed or injured in the protests.

Rights groups accused the police of shooting at peaceful protests in the days after the election and said children were among the victims. Anger among opposition supporters has swelled. The presidential palace is under heavy guard.

A history of civil war and violence

Mozambique is still in the shadow of a bloody 15-year civil war the leftist Frelimo fought against rebel group Renamo after independence. The country only held its first elections in 1994 and this was the first vote where there were no armed groups connected to political parties after a process to disarm militias.

The country, which has rich natural resources including large, newly discovered natural gas fields, was already struggling with a yearslong insurgency by an Islamic State-affiliated group in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Mondlane, who broke away from Renamo, has support among Mozambique’s disaffected youth and he and the new Podesa party that is backing him have become the biggest challenge to Frelimo’s long rule. 
…

your ad here

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Chadian military airstrikes killed scores of Boko Haram fighters and injured several dozen more in the Lake Chad Basin, President Mahamat Idriss Deby said Friday.

Chad planned the operation against the Islamist militant group after Boko Haram fighters killed 40 Chadian soldiers in an attack on a military garrison last month.

About 700 Chadian soldiers celebrated as air force fliers returned to Kaiga Kindira, an island in the Lake Chad Basin near the border with Nigeria. Top military officials and Deby were there to greet them.

Deby said he was happy because Haskinite, an operation he launched to search for and eliminate Boko Haram members hiding in the Lake Chad Basin, had begun successfully with the strikes carried out Thursday night into Friday.

Military officials said the air attacks targeted five Boko Haram hideouts but did not identify locations.

Deby said he also has ordered close to 1,000 infantry and navy troops to eliminate Boko Haram fighters and protect civilians, who are constantly harassed, raped, maimed and killed by militants in the Lake Chad area.

Military officials said soldiers have seized many weapons and destroyed boats used by Boko Haram fighters to attack civilians and government troops.

Deby said the attacks on Boko Haram will continue until the group is eradicated.

Deby, who spoke on state TV, has been in areas of the Lake Chad Basin — shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad — since October 28, when Boko Haram fighters attacked a military garrison, killing 40 soldiers and injuring scores of others, on the island of Bakaram, near the border with Nigeria.

Chad’s government called on its citizens to support the ongoing operation by reporting strangers to soldiers, government officials and traditional rulers.

Passale Kanabe Marcellin, Chad’s water and sanitation minister, told officials at the Lake Chad Basin Commission meeting in N’djamena on Friday he is happy villagers who live in fear of Boko Haram are assisting government troops by contributing food, water, first aid equipment and money.

He said Deby wants all countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to assist Chadian troops fighting Boko Haram by allowing soldiers to cross into Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger in pursuit of the militants.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency against the Nigerian government in 2009. Fighting spread into Cameroon, Chad and Niger, where the militants established bases and hideouts. The United Nations says the fighting has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced over 3 million.
…

your ad here

Nairobi — Amnesty International is calling on the Mozambican government to stop its crackdown on protesters challenging the results of last month’s elections. At least 20 people have been killed in post-election violence, according to human rights groups.

Demonstrators rallied again on Thursday, burning tires and blocking streets. Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters in the capital, Maputo.

Cidia Chissungo, who works with Amnesty International, said tensions are high in Mozambique.

“There are cases of people that have already been shot. We cannot confirm how many died this morning. We still have to analyze all the evidence we are receiving,” Chissungo said. “There are dozens of people being arrested not only in Maputo but also in Nyambane province. We have cases of police using rubber bullets, as well. So, there is massive tension today, and nobody knows how this will end.”

The October 9 vote extended the rule of the Frelimo Party, which has led the southern African country for 50 years. Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo was declared the winner of the presidential election with more than 70% of the vote.

Opposition parties, civil society groups and electoral observers said the election was unfair and rigged in favor of Frelimo — allegations that Frelimo denies.

Chissungo said security forces must halt violent crackdowns against demonstrators and address their grievances.

“Police should respect people’s right to protest. There are cases of people just standing on the streets, and police decided to take them, and there are hundreds who have been arrested,” Chissungo said. “If people are demanding and are criticizing the government, and they are saying they need clarification over the election, it is for the authorities to listen and respect people’s rights to speak out if they think there is something wrong, and not shoot at protesters.”

Human Rights Watch has called for the government to lift internet restrictions, which have further fueled a perception that authorities are trying to stifle the protests.

Allan Ngari, HRW’s Africa advocacy director, said lack of internet access and social media networks hinders people’s rights.

“Sometimes it is working, sometimes it is not working. So, it is not an entire shutdown, but it is, rather, restrictions. And we [are] of the view that this violates multiple rights, including rights to freedom of speech, peaceful protests and from access to information,” Ngari said. “But also, the internet has become a source of employment, business for people, and those who are impacted then by this restriction cannot make a living anymore.”

Mozambique’s internet was working Thursday, to the surprise of many after days of interruptions.

But as tensions rise, South Africa closed its main border crossing with Mozambique on Wednesday for security reasons. The South African government also warned its citizens not to travel to Mozambique.
…

your ad here

GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Three out of 28 female candidates were elected to Botswana’s National Assembly in last week’s general election, as women’s rights activists called on the new administration to increase female representation in the nation’s politics.

Helen Manyeneng of the new ruling party, the Umbrella for Democratic Change, is one of the three female members of parliament in the 61-seat assembly.

The UDC defeated the Botswana Democratic Party, which had held power since the country gained independence in 1966.

Manyeneng said women face many challenges, including poverty, in their efforts to win political office.

“We have very low socio-economic status in Botswana as women,” she said. “The past government showed no political will to assist. I think as a newly elected female MP, I am going to advocate for women economic empowerment.”

Manyeneng said the patriarchal nature of Botswanan society, in which men have greater control over money and decision-making, restricts female participation in politics even though women are interested and capable.

“The issue is, who is supposed to elevate them?” she said. “Who is supposed to assist them? If you allow yourself to be under a man … who is assisting you financially, he will not allow you to stand for political position. The majority of men want to control. They don’t want to be controlled or don’t want to share that control with you.”

The regional nonprofit organization Gender Links released a report on Botswana before the October 30 election. It raised concerns about “missing women’s voices in politics.”

Gender Links consultant Pamela Dube said Botswana has done too little to empower women.

“It is a sad situation,” Dube said. “It has been like this for a very long time. Fifty-eight years later [since Botswana’s independence from the U.K.], we only have three women in parliament.”

Botswana’s “patriarchal society,” she said, “does not believe women can lead, particularly in areas like politics.”

On Wednesday, newly elected President Duma Boko used a special dispensation to name three more women to the National Assembly.

“We wanted to reach out as broadly as possible to bring in young women, in particular, with skills and visibility in society,” he said. “And then of course, we had to look at increasing the number of women [in parliament].”

The special appointments mean Botswana’s parliament has 9% female representation, still well below the Southern African Development Community target of 30%.
…

your ad here

washington — President-elect Donald Trump put immigration at the front of his campaign agenda, pledging to bring what he calls “unprecedented order” to the southern border and launch the nation’s largest mass deportation operation of undocumented immigrants on his first day in office.

Throughout his campaign, Trump called immigration a crisis and vowed to move swiftly to implement a series of controversial policies to clamp down on illegal immigration and curb new arrivals.

“We are going to fix our borders. … We want people to come back in, but we have to let them come back in. They have to come in legally,” Trump said during his victory speech in Florida on Tuesday.

However, managing the re-entry of possibly millions of people presents formidable legal and logistical challenges.

“There’s this belief that there’s a line and people should stand in line. Oftentimes, there’s not a line,” Mark Hetfield, CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, told VOA.

A Migration Policy Institute report makes the same point, saying there are multiple visa pathways, each with distinct backlogs and wait times, governing how long individuals wait for permanent residency.

Annual limits and country quotas create extensive delays, with some applicants facing waits lasting decades.

Many undocumented immigrants may have no way to join these lines because of restrictive re-entry policies.

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act blocks re-entry for immigrants with a history of “unlawful presence” in the U.S. If they leave and want to re-enter legally, those with more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence face a three-year re-entry ban. Those with more than one year of unlawful presence face a 10-year ban.

Unlawful presence generally includes overstaying or entering without inspection.

Largest deportation campaign in US history

Trump has vowed to surpass deportation numbers from his first term.

With plans to use the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants, Trump has also invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that allows the president to deport noncitizens from nations deemed hostile to the United States.

Trump aims to drastically reduce the undocumented population, something his supporters see as a step toward restoring order, though opponents argue it will lead to legal battles and logistical hurdles.

Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council, wrote in an email to VOA that should any president choose to pursue mass deportation, it would come at an extraordinary cost to the government while also devastating the economy.

“It’s critical that policymakers and the American public understand what this would involve: tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, already-strained industries devastated, millions of people locked up in detention, and thousands of families torn apart causing widespread terror and chaos in communities across the country,” Robbins wrote.

Travel ban, birthright citizenship and more

The Remain in Mexico program, a program initiated in the first Trump administration, is expected to be renewed. The policy forces migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed. Also expected to be renewed is a policy to quickly expel migrants and curb immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Another central promise Trump made during his presidential campaign is to roll back initiatives under the Biden administration that have allowed specific groups of migrants to enter the U.S. legally.

Under Biden, up to 30,000 migrants per month from four countries — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — were allowed to come to the U.S. legally if they met certain conditions. Trump has pledged to end these pathways.

In an effort to intensify scrutiny of those entering the U.S., Trump has promised to renew and expand travel bans aimed at a broader list of countries and introduce an “ideological screening” to bar individuals whom Trump describes as “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs.”

Trump’s campaign says this measure will enhance national security, though it has sparked concerns over discrimination and civil liberties.

Trump also said he plans to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country illegally. This would require a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment and is expected to face intense legal challenges.

While Trump’s immigration plans have the support of his base, they face steep opposition from advocacy groups and legal experts, who argue that mass deportations and travel bans could lead to human rights violations and extensive court challenges.

Hetfield of HIAS told VOA that advocates are concerned about what a new Trump administration will do to legal immigration.

“We will likely litigate if he tries to close down the [refugee] program and oversteps. … But the bottom line is, the president has a lot of discretion when it comes to the refugee program. … And for asylum, [he’s] going to make it impossible to apply at the border as he did with Title 42 and his Remain in Mexico policies,” Hetfield said.

Michelle Ming, political director at United We Dream, the nation’s largest immigrant youth-led organization, said they will be ready to “protect” immigrant families.

Ming anticipates a significant amount of “know your rights” events throughout Trump’s second term in the White House.

“Once Trump takes office, we’re going to remind him that we are here to fight back against any kind of policy that he tries to implement to hurt our communities,” Ming said.
…

your ad here