Politics

Thousands protest in Tunis over President Saied’s raid on government institutions

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2022

Opposition protesters have hit the streets in Tunis, capital city of Tunisia on Sunday in demonstration against President Kais Saied’s power grab and the economic crisis in the North African country.

Report says at least 2,000 people gathered in the city centre chanting – Poverty has increased”, and “Famine is at our doorsteps”

Protesters held up signs in English and French, reading “Tunisia wake up” and “Tunisian state is on the verge of collapse”.

Recall that slamreportafrica.com reported last Tuesday that “President Kais Saied has continued his “revolution” of government institutions in the North African country as he inaugurated a “temporary” council of judges to replace an independent watchdog that he abolished in early February.

Saied last July sacked the government, suspended parliament and moved to rule by decree, sparking fears for democracy in the birthplace of the 2011 Arab uprisings.

The latest demonstration was called by the Free Destourian Party which is led by staunchly anti-Islamist lawyer Abir Moussi.

“The government today is incapable of finding solutions for the Tunisian people… If we continue in silence, we will lose the country,” Moussi said in a speech during the demonstration.

She branded Tunisia’s current executive as “illegitimate” and called for legislative elections to be brought forward from their scheduled date of December.

Bearing a portrait of Moussi, protester Youssef Jabali told newsmen “Saied, the dictator, is shut off in his palace and the people can’t find semolina, flour, oil or sugar.”

Already plunged in an economic crisis, Tunisia has in recent weeks seen a shortage of staple foods, as the war in Ukraine threatens to interrupt key supplies to various Arab countries.

The authorities have attributed the shortages to panic buying ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, starting this year in April, when Muslims traditionally break a dawn-to-dusk fast with lavish family meals.

Saied on Wednesday declared a “relentless war” on food speculators and profiteers, accusing them of seeking to “strike at social peace and security”.

Related Topics:2013 murder of 817 protesters Featured Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi

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Politics

Kenya: Senior ICC prosecutor drops probe into 2007 post-election violence

Published

16 hours ago

November 28, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

A senior official of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nazhat Shameen Khan has announced an end to all further investigations into crimes committed in Kenya relating to violence that erupted following elections in 2007.

The ICC Deputy Chief Prosecutor said the 13-year legal saga, which involved senior Kenyan politicians, had been dropped

“I have reached this decision after considering the specific facts and circumstances of this situation,” she said in a statement.

“Accordingly, the Office will not pursue additional cases into the alleged criminal responsibility of other persons.”

Prosecutors claim that during the nation’s post-election violence in 2010, some 600,000 people were left homeless, and 1,300 people killed in a case in which suspects included former and current Kenyan presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and President William Ruto. The Hague-based tribunal began looking into the incident in 2010. Six suspects were initially charged with crimes against humanity, which included deportation and murder.

However, in 2014, former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped the charges against Kenyatta, and in 2016, the prosecution’s case against Ruto was also dropped due to insufficient evidence. The lack of evidence caused the case against all six to fall apart.

Prosecutors opened a new investigation into witness intimidation and bribery after Bensouda claimed that an unrelenting campaign of intimidation against victims and witnesses prevented a trial.

Decades after the “third wave of democratisation,” widespread violence still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa after elections. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe, among others, have had their share of election conflicts.

Kenya is still not free from election disturbances, as levels of violence also played out during and after the 2022 elections.

Politics

Sierra Leonean govt finally labels weekend attack ‘failed coup’

Published

21 hours ago

November 28, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Sierra Leonean government has finally labelled attacks on several locations in the capital, Freetown, on Sunday as failed attempt to overthrow the government, having previously refraining from so classifying it.

Authorities in the West African nation said that gunmen stormed a military barracks, a prison, and other locations on Sunday, freeing roughly 2,200 prisoners and leaving over 20 people dead. On Monday, everything had returned to normal.

“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” said President Julius Bio.

“The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”

The tense situation in Sierra Leone, which is still recuperating from a civil war that claimed over 50,000 lives between 1991 and 2002, has persisted since Bio was re-elected in June.

International allies, such as the US and the EU, questioned the outcome, and the major opposition candidate rejected it.