Politics

Burkina Faso won’t negotiate with terrorists— PM, de Tambela

Published

1 year ago

May 31, 2023

West African country, Burkina Faso has insisted that it will not negotiate with jihadist insurgents who control some parts of the country.

Burkinabè’s prime minister, Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela made the position known on Tuesday and hinted that continued security threats in the country posed a great challenge to the planned transition into civil rule. The country is currently under the rulership of military dictator, Ibrahim Traore.

“We will never negotiate, either over Burkina Faso’s territorial integrity or its sovereignty,” de Tambela told the Transitional Legislative Assembly.

“We cannot organise elections without security. If you have a magic wand to ensure we can hold elections as soon as possible, we’d do it,” de Tambela told the representatives.

“If we organised elections now, while part of our territory is inaccessible, they’ll say that whoever is elected has been wrongly elected,” he said.

The prime minister also claimed the government has had progress in its fight against terror.

“Thanks to our efforts” more than 20,000 households, representing more than 125,000 people, “have returned to their regions,” he said, without giving further detail.

“We will defend our territory and our populations whatever the cost,” he declared.

More than 10,000 people have died as a result of the Burkina Faso crisis, and two million more have been forced out of their homes, according to non-governmental aid agencies. According to the United Nations, one in five Burkinabè, and approximately one in 10, or 1.9 million people, are internally displaced as of 31 December 2022.

Despite the troubles with insecurity, the country earlier this year severed defence ties with an age-long partner, France, expelling French ambassadors and French troops in the aftermath.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

15 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.