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What next as Guinea, Burkina Faso juntas dare ECOWAS, miss April 25 deadline to announce transition plan?

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Today, 25th April 2022, marks the set deadline set by the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the military junta in Guinea and Burkina Faso to announce specific plans to transition into civil governments.

None of the two countries have however indicated any concrete plan for transition, thus risking further sanctions by the regional body – ECOWAS.

Slamreportafrica reported last month that Burkina Faso’s ruling junta, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), had signed a charter setting a three-year transition period before the country held elections.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had expressed worry over the three-year transition period announced by the leader of the military junta in Burkina Faso, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

Leaders of the regional ECOWAS bloc last month told the juntas in Guinea and Burkina Faso they had until April 25 to explain how and when they would hand back power to civilians or face immediate sanctions.

Burkina Faso’s junta spokesman Lionel Bilgo said on Sunday evening that restoring peace and security remained a pre-requisite for constitutional rule.

“If we manage to do this in less than three years, we will organise these elections,” Bilgo told state television, calling on ECOWAS to be more sensitive to on-the-ground realities.

The story is similar in Guinea as the government spokesman, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo argued that “Guinea’s reality will prevail over all other imperatives.”

“We are going to evolve, taking into account the context… and specific situation of our country, towards exiting the transition.” Diallo told a radio station.

West Africa has been rocked by two coups in Mali, one in Guinea and one in Burkina Faso since August 2020.

ECOWAS is yet to give an official position on the defiance case of the two countries to meet the April 25 deadline.

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

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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.

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Sierra Leonean govt finally labels weekend attack ‘failed coup’

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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.

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