Politics

Senegal: President Sall dismisses alleged 3rd term agenda

Published

10 months ago

July 4, 2023

Senegalese President, Macky Sall has dismissed the long speculation of a planned third-term ambition.

The president, who has been consistently rumoured to be interested in continuing as the country’s head said during a state of the nation address on Monday that “Senegal is more than me, and is full of capable leaders for the country’s development.”

“My dear fellow citizens, my decision after long consideration is to not be a candidate in the election on February 25, 2024,” Sall said in a televised address.

Although the constitution prohibits a president from serving more than two terms, Sall’s supporters claimed the 2016 modification had reset the counter to zero.

The alleged tenure elongation has been widely criticized by opposition in the country, notably Ousmane Sonko who has repeatedly called for demonstrations against Sall’s administration.

Sonko, on the eve of the president’s announcement, also urged the public to “come out en masse” and oppose him.

Previous demonstrations have led to violence which killed at least 16 persons after Sonko supporters clashed with security officers.

A presidential election is meant to hold in 2024; with President Sall out of the contest, Sonko will fancy his chances, but he must first cross the legal hurdles that could invalidate his candidacy.

Related Topics:Featured President Macky Sall Senegal

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

20 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.