Politics

Rwanda frees jailed opposition leader Ingabire

Published

6 years ago

September 15, 2018

Rwanda on Saturday freed Victoire Ingabire, an opposition leader who has served six years of a 15 year jail term, after President Paul Kagame exercised his power to grant a pardon.

Ingabire, who leads the unregistered FDU-Inkingi opposition party, was freed along with other prisoners, including singer Kizito Mihigo, jailed in 2015 for plotting to kill Kagame.

She emerged from prison in a red dress, green jacket and a broad smile. Flanked by her lawyer Gatera Gashabana, she told waiting reporters that her release, together with the election of two opposition parliamentarians earlier this month, were positive signs.

“There is hope for the opening of the political space,” Ingabire said, thanking the president for granting her mercy.

“I would also ask him to release other political prisoners who remain here.”

Government officials downplayed the political significance of her release.

“There is nothing political about her release, there is nothing political about her imprisonment,” Justice Minister Johnston Businge told Reuters by telephone.

“The president has granted mercy, and under the constitution, he is allowed to do that,” he said.

Eight officials of the FDU-Inkingi, including Ingabire’s deputy, still remain in detention, Gashabana said.

Another opposition figure, Diane Rwigara, who tried to run against Kagame in a 2017 presidential election, is also in detention.

Rwigara was arrested with her mother last year, accused of inciting an insurrection and using forged documents. The pair are due to appear in court on Sept. 24.

Kagame, who won a third term last year, is lauded for Rwanda’s economic recovery after the 1994 genocide but critics say he has muzzled free media and dissenting voices.

Ingabire was handed a 15-year sentence in 2012 for conspiring to form an armed group to undermine the government and for seeking to minimize the 1994 genocide.

She had returned from exile in the Netherlands to contest a presidential election in January 2010, but was barred from standing after being accused of genocide denial.

Her lawyer welcomed the decision to free her but said it came with certain conditions.

“This is a conditional release,” Gashabana said. He said that Ingabire must report her place of residence to the prosecutor and seek authorization before leaving the country.

Click to comment

Politics

Sierra Leone imprisons 11 military, police officers over coup attempt

Published

3 days ago

July 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Sierra Leone’s high court has sentenced 11 soldiers and police officers to hefty prison terms for their alleged roles in an attempted military coup last year.

On November 26, gunmen in Sierra Leone freed 2,200 detainees and killed over 20 in military barracks, a jail, and other locations.

After the coup attempt failed, 12 individuals were charged with treason in January. On Monday night, a unanimous jury found 11 guilty of 20 counts, including treason, murder, and military uniform use.

Due to health difficulties, the APC’s Bai Mahmoud Bangura, the twelfth accused, is being tried separately.

Amadu Koita Makalo, a retired army major and former bodyguard of ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma, received consecutive 40-70-year sentences for multiple counts.

Two female police officers were sentenced. Ramatu Kamanda Conteh received 30 years of harbouring Koita.

The government attributed the coup attempt to Koroma’s bodyguards, who were ultimately charged with four offences. However, the government let him leave the country on medical grounds.

Ex-president, Ernest Bai Koroma was accused of participating in a botched military coup attempt in November, and on January 3, was charged with four offences. However, a high court decided on Wednesday that Koroma was free to leave the nation.

His lawyers labelled the coup attempt “trumped up” and a “political vendetta” while Koroma condemned it.

Two decades after a 1991-2002 civil conflict that killed over 50,000 Sierra Leoneans, tensions have risen again.

Politics

Tanzania’s president fires foreign, information ministers

Published

4 days ago

July 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has announced the sack of two top officials, including the foreign minister, in a mini-cabinet reshuffle.

Hassan took steps to rebuild international trust in his economic and political reforms, including relaxing restrictions on opposition parties and media, which had been criticized for failing.

The presidency stated late Sunday that Hassan fired January Makamba, minister of foreign affairs and East Africa cooperation, and Nape Nnauye, minister of information, communication, and IT.

They are influential in Chama cha Mapinduzi, the ruling party.

No explanation was offered for their removal. Makamba and Nnauye responded slowly to calls for comment.

Nnauye was fired a week after a video showed him suggesting election results depended on who counts ballots and announces them.

Nnauye later apologized, saying it was a joke, but activists and social media users argued it harmed Hassan’s democracy efforts.

Muhammad Thabit Kombo became the foreign affairs minister and Jerry Silaa information, communication, and IT minister under Hassan.

While Silaa was minister of lands, housing, and human settlements development, Kombo was Tanzania’s ambassador to Italy. Two more ministers and deputy ministers were appointed, the presidency stated.

Since 2021, Hassan’s government has been lauded for rolling back her predecessor’s opposition and civil rights crackdowns. The arrests of a lawyer and an opposition leader last year have cast doubt on her government’s human rights record.