Politics

Former Guinean President Alpha Conde to be prosecuted for murder

Published

3 years ago

May 5, 2022

The Guinean military government says it will prosecute former President Alpha Conde for murder and other crimes against humanity during his time in office, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Conde who was toppled in a military coup in September 2021, is among 27 former senior officials who face prosecution for “murder, assassination and complicity,” according to the government official in a document given to journalists by prosecutor Alphonse Charles Wright.

He has also been charged with other crimes including illegal detention of opposition figures, torture, kidnapping, disappearances, rape and other sexual abuse and looting carried out by soldiers and government officials during his regime.

Others indicted and earmarked for prosecution include a former president of the constitutional court, ex-speakers of parliament, a former prime minister and many former ministers, legislators and heads of the security services.

Wright who was appointed by the Guinean junta said the prosecution was launched following a complaint filed in January by the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), an umbrella group that had spearheaded previous protests against Conde.

The 84-year-old Conde was ousted by mutinous soldiers last year amid anger at his unsuccessful bid for a third term instead of the constitutionally lower two terms.

He was the first democratically elected president in the history of the West African country in 2010 but his popularity nosedived in his second term as critics accused him of authoritarianism, while opposition protests were violently repressed, with dozens killed by security forces loyal to Conde.

He was overthrown on September 5, 2021, by army officers led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former special forces commander.

Since Conde’s ousting, Doumbouya has been sworn in as interim president and implemented a crackdown on alleged corruption by the former regime with a vow to prosecute members of Conde’s cabinet.

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Politics

Mali: 7 Russian mercenaries killed

Published

5 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

An al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has claimed responsibility for the attack in central Mali, killing at least seven mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military contractor company.

Wagner earlier lost a battle in July with mostly Tuareg rebels and Islamists close to Mali’s Algerian border, exposing the perils faced by mercenaries used by military juntas in the Sahel area of West Africa.

The separatists and strong branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large areas of the Sahel over the past 12 years, are difficult for Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to control.

The al Qaeda offshoot JNIM claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack, according to a statement from SITE Intelligence Group, which keeps an eye on extremist activity in the area. According to SITE, JNIM captured several weapons and killed seven Russian Wagner mercenaries.

Following an attack, the bodies of at least five white males wearing army fatigues were seen laying near a military truck in a video obtained by Reuters. The validity of the footage could not be confirmed by Reuters.

SITE Intelligence posted images allegedly from JNIM that showed many crates of weapons and ammo together with the dead and bloodied bodies of troops.

Although two local officials acknowledged the incident, a Malian army source claimed to have seen seven dead bodies, including Russian fighters. Five Wagner warriors were slain, according to one of them.

At least six Russians have been murdered in the attack, which was carried out by Katiba Macina, a division of JNIM, according to a consultant working on security in the area.

The expert referred to the Russians as Africa Corps warriors, a paramilitary group under Kremlin leadership that has taken Wagner’s position in Africa throughout the previous 12 months.

Mali has previously said that Russian servicemen trainers are assisting local troops with Russian-purchased weaponry rather than mercenaries.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.