Over the past week, there were lots of important stories from around the African continent, and we served you some of the most topical ones.
Here is a rundown of the backstories to some of the biggest news in Africa that we covered during the week:
1. From prison to power: The inspiring story of Senegal’s youngest President, Bassirou Faye
Before he was announced the winner of Senegal’s presidential election on March 24, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was another political prisoner who only released from prison a few days to the contentious poll that had to be held twice.
Despite the power of incumbency of sitting President Macky Sall and his efforts to buckle down on the opposition including one-time favourite, Ousmane Sonko who was accused of insurrection and disqualified from contesting in the election, the 44-year-old Faye dared all odds to secure 53.68% of the vote, while his close rival, Amadou Ba, the candidate for the ruling coalition, secured 36.2% of the vote to come a distant second.
Sonko’s disqualification had effectively paved the way for Faye with many Senegalese resolving to vote in new breed of politicians away from the usual recycled old heads that has come to be the bane of leadership in Africa.
Much of Faye’s success can also be attributed to the support of Sonko who enjoys high popularity, particularly among young people who promptly switched allegiance to Faye following Sonko’s disqualification.
So when the second round of elections took Center stage in the West African country, the electorates showed their discontent with the old order and decided to make Faye the youngest president in the country’s political history.
It was also a testament to the new reality of change and awareness that is gradually changing the face of politics in the continent with more younger people being voted into leadership positions.
The nationwide celebration that erupted in the country following the announcement of Faye’s victory by the Senegal Electoral Commission (SEC), also showed that a new dawn had come, not only for Senegal but for Africa in general.
The icing on the cake came following President Sall’s congratulatory message to Faye:
“I salute the smooth running of the presidential election of March 24, 2024, and congratulate the winner, Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the trends show as the winner. It is the victory of Senegalese democracy,” the outgoing president had said.
2. ‘You can run, but you can’t hide,’ Tinubu tells killers of Nigerian soldiers
President Bola Tinubu was at his teether’s end on Wednesday, March 27 during the burial of the 17 military officers who were abducted and killed by gunmen while on a peace-keeping mission to the Okuama community in Delta State, and for the umpteenth time, vowed that the killers of the soldiers will be arrested and made to face the full weight of the law.
has once again reiterated that killers of 17 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Delta State on March 14 will not go unpunished as he has mandated security agencies to go after them and make them pay for their crimes.
The visibly angry President Tinubu, while paying homage to the fallen soldiers during the burial at the National Cemetery in Abuja, assured their families, colleagues and Nigerians that those who perpetrated the dastardly attacks on the military personnel would be made to face the full weight of the law.
“They went as peacemakers and peacekeepers respectfully seeking to bring an end to the hostilities between the two communities,” President Tinubu said.
“They didn’t go with tanks, machine guns, or other weapons. They were on a mission of peace. They kept faith with their military calling until the end.
“The elders and chiefs of Okuoma also have a duty to help the military in fishing out the gunmen who committed the barbaric crime against our men.
“Those who committed this heinous crime will not go unpunished. We will find them, and our departed heroes will get justice,” Tinubu reiterated, not for the first time since the dastardly attacks on March 14.
But beyond the vows and zeal displayed by the Nigerian Army to fish out the killers of the gallant soldiers, many Nigerians are sceptical about the method being deployed.
There is a deja vu feeling of such encounters in the past where whole communities are brought down by soldiers out to avenge the killings of their colleagues by a few hot heads or militant groups.
It happened in Zangon Kataf in Kaduna State; the same scenario played out in Zaki Biam in Benue State; while the most devastating incident happened in Odi in Bayelsa State.
Will the Tinubu administration be able to curb the excesses of the Army with reports that they had already invaded the Okuama community in search of the killers who must have escaped into the creeks.
Nigerians are waiting with fingers crossed and bated breaths.
3. ‘Don’t rejoice too soon, you’d be disappointed,’ Zambian Alliance cautions citizens over debt restructuring deal
During the week in review, Zambian opposition coalition, the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), threw spanners into the celebration of citizens who had welcomed a debt restructuring deal brokered by the President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration and the government claims that the country’s economy was picking up at the same time.
The Alliance, in a scathing statement on Thursday, said Zambians should not engage in premature celebrations because the Hichilema and the government was misleading the masses.
Before the attack on the deal, the government had announced that it had successfully brokered secured the debt restructuring deal with international bond holders and the Official Creditors Committee (OCC).
But the UKA, through its Media Chairperson, Saboi Imboela, urged the citizens not to jubilate just yet because, according to her, “the government was only exhibiting political desperation to show good results while hiding their bad governance.”
“President Hakainde Hichilema’s government’s debt restructuring celebrations are premature, a sign of political desperation meant to show intangible results while misleading the Zambian people,” she stated in the statement.
The UKA also challenged the government to acknowledge that the debt restructuring deal did not remove the burden of the Euro-bonds, except that they have been merely consolidated into two new ones – Bond A and Bond B in order to resume debt servicing.
“The Government is not fully disclosing its financial predicaments and weaker status for this process, as the terms of the Debt Restructuring Deal will negatively impact the Zambian economy and worsen the cost of living for the majority citizens,” Imboela said.
To the ordinary Zambian on the streets, the news that the government had secured such a debt restructuring deal would naturally be a thing of joy as it could trigger economic growth as well as curb the escalating inflation which has led to high cost of living.
But with the revelation by the UKA, now behoves on the government to employ it’s best public relations machinery to convince the people of its genuine intentions.
4. End of the road for Moroccan ‘Tinder Rapist’
The African adage which says that there are a hundred days for a thief but just one day of reckoning for the owner of the property, played out in grand style following the arrest of a Moroccan serial rapist who preyed on women on the online dating app, Tinder.
The accused, Salim Berrada, who is fondly called the “Tinder Rapist”, a 38-year-old Moroccan photographer, was arraigned at a French court on Friday on allegations of serial rape and sexual assault against 17 women spanning from 2014 to 2016 in France.
Prosecutors told the court that Berrada had, during the period, lured the women on the dating app to his photography studio where he would drug them and rape them thereafter.
They described a well-established pattern that began with contact through dating apps or social media, followed by a photoshoot in Berrada’s Paris studio, consumption of alcohol, suspicion of drugging, and non-consensual, often violent, sexual encounters.
According to French media, the “Tinder Rapist” case had drawn widespread attention because of its “chilling portrayal of alleged predation facilitated through the online dating platform.”
A French media outlet, BFMTV, in a report, said Berrada faces 20 years in prison if he is convicted of thirteen counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault.
“The trial has garnered significant attention, with the verdict expected on Friday. Berrada faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him,” BFMTV said.
In his defence, Berrada said:
“I have never drugged anyone. I have never had a modus operandi to rape anyone.
“There are people who slept with me to look good when they didn’t really want to. There are people who slept with me to get their photos and when they didn’t get the photos, they say they suffered abuse,” Berrada claimed.
Though he had denied all accusations levelled against him, it would be a big ask for Berrada to sweet talk his way out of the court.
5. Biafran dissident, Simon Ekpa dares Nigeria, declares President Tinubu, VP Shettima, govt officials wanted
In the same week under review, Finland-based Biafran dissident, Simon Ekpa, took his war against constituted authorities another notch when he declared Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and other top government and security officials wanted
over the insecurity situation in the South-East region of the country.
Ekpa who broke away from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu to set up a rival group known as IPOB-Auto Pilot before transitioning to become the self-styled Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in-Exile (BRGIE), made the pronouncement two days after the Nigerian government declared wanted on account of terrorism
In a list he released on his verified X account, also declared wanted the governors of Imo, Anambra and Enugu States, Hope Uzodinma, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Peter Mbah, respectively, as sponsors of terrorism in the region.
“The above sponsors of terrorism, ethnic cleansing, killing and wanton destruction of lives and properties of Biafrans must be arrested anywhere you see them within Biafra territory,” he said.
Also included in Ekpa’s list were “all South East Senators and House of representatives members, except Chief Chinyelugo Imo, all GOCs of Nigeria within Biafra territory, and all CPs within Biafra territory.”
In the post on X, Ekpa stated that Tinubu, Shettima and the others on his listed are behind the insecurity in the South-East region and as such, are persona non-grata in the zone and should be arrested anytime they step foot in the region.
As funny as the declaration of the Nigerian officials may seem and a joke taken too far, many Nigerians believe it is time the government takes him seriously and activate diplomatic channels with Ekpa’s adopted country and bring him to book.
The reasoning is that he has some very gullible followers who take his orders hook, line and sinker and are willing to give their up their lives to satisfy his whims and caprice.
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