Politics

São Tomé and Principe to demand reparations from Portugal

Published

4 months ago

May 3, 2024

The education and cultural minister of Sao Tome and Principe, an African island nation, announced on Thursday that the government would like Portugal to make up for the moral harm done by colonization.

The Sao Tome and Principe administration will draft and open a new tab for a plan to discuss compensation with Portugal, Minister Isabel Abreu said in a statement to Portugal’s Lusa news agency, adding that the process would take time.

According to Abreu, the topic will be covered at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. The request follows Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s assertion last week, when questioned by Reuters, that his nation was accountable for atrocities done during the colonial era and transatlantic slavery and that reparations were necessary.

His remarks provoked harsh criticism from right-wing parties and a national conversation. The centre-right Portuguese government, which holds administrative authority, declared that it will not start the process of making reparations payments, in contrast to Rebelo de Sousa’s remarks, which were conservative in the first place. Rather, it demanded reconciliation.

For more than 400 years, Portuguese ships abducted around 6 million Africans, forced them across the Atlantic, and sold them into slavery, mostly in Brazil.

Two weeks ago, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in an address at the closing of the four-day U.N. Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD), called on countries to take real steps toward reparations for people of African descent. He appealed while adding his voice to calls for justice for the horrible crimes committed during slavery.

During the Portuguese colonial era, Portugal ruled over nations including Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, and certain Asian provinces.

Also reacting to Rebelo de Sousa’s comments, Mozambique’s ambassador to the United Nations welcomed the remarks and said that confronting the past was “already reparatory” but that it “would be even better if we could go beyond that”.

Cape Verde’s President Jose Maria Neves said on Monday there was a need for discussions to “reach an understanding and consensus on these matters”.

Anielle Franco, Brazil’s Minister of Racial Equality, informed news outlet G1 that her staff was speaking with the Portuguese authorities about the matter.

Among other reasons, reparations opponents contend that modern states and organizations shouldn’t be held accountable for slavery in the past. Advocates argue that states today continue to profit from the wealth created by hundreds of years of labor without compensation, and that action is necessary to redress the legacy of slavery on underprivileged populations.

Although it is still hotly debated, the idea of making additional amends or paying reparations for transatlantic slavery has been gaining traction globally. Reparations were required, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, last month to end “generations of discrimination”.

Related Topics:Featured Reparation Sao Tome and Principe

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Politics

Tunisia: Presidential contender Zammel remains in detention despite being legally discharged

Published

1 day ago

September 6, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After being arrested on Monday, and his release ordered by a judge on Thursday, Tunisian presidential contender, Ayachi Zammel, remained in custody as of Friday, his campaign staff reported.

Zammel is one of three candidates approved by Tunisia’s electoral commission for an Oct. 6 presidential election that opposition sources allege is rigged for President Kais Saied.

Authorities accuse him of electoral irregularities.

He was reportedly released from police custody for the first time before being re-arrested. But he remained in prison Friday, his campaign staff told Reuters. Mahadi Abdel Jawed: “Zammel was arrested minutes after his release last night.”

For next month’s election, he’s accused of fraudulent voter forms. All candidates must submit 10,000 supporter forms to run. He denies accusations.

Zammel says he is restricted and intimidated since he is a serious Saied competitor. He promises democracy, liberties, and economic recovery for Tunisia.

Saied was democratically elected in 2019, but he took power by fiat in 2021, which the opposition called a coup.

Major political forces argue that Saied’s rule has damaged Tunisia’s 2011 revolution’s democratic accomplishments.

Human rights groups and opposition parties have accused the government of employing arbitrary limitations to re-elect Saied.

Presidential elections in Tunisia are scheduled for October 6, 2024. These are the first presidential elections since President Kais Saied’s 2021 coup attempt.

Politics

Burundi launches much-awaited demographic census

Published

3 days ago

September 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Burundi’s National Census of the Population, Housing, Agriculture, and Livestock has begun as President Evariste Ndayishimiye urged citizens to provide accurate information to aid in project development.

The president of state urged Burundians and foreigners living in Burundi to be counted and to be truthful with information.

“Everyone must know that this census is important for the country and the population. Based on this census, we will be able to get the right state of the country, and its economic situation, and enable us to make good project plans, because it is difficult to plan for the future without knowing the current situation. I call on residents of Burundi to respond truthfully and honestly in the questionnaire because wrong information may hinder project planning,” the President said.

Census personnel, supervised by the president of the Central Bureau of the Census, Nicolas Ndayishimiye, registered President Ndayishimiye and his family at their home on Mt Vugizo in Bujumbura’s Kiriri Quarter.

Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza and his family also participated in the exercise on Monday, and he echoed the President’s message, adding that accurate data would aid in the design of education and other social services.

However, this year’s count has presented complications, with enumerators reporting difficulty locating certain residents due to abandoned homesteads.

The agents are also dealing with travel and accommodation issues as a result of delays in the disbursement of their allowances, and many have had to walk great distances during the day to reach residential neighbourhoods.

In a news briefing last week, Central Bureau of Census Director Nicolas Ndayishimiye stated that the government has set aside BIF66 billion ($22.85 million) to fund the activities, with the World Bank pledging an additional $6.5 million.

Burundi’s last population and housing census was done in 2008. The ongoing exercise is scheduled to end on September 15.

Since its independence in 1962, Burundi has undertaken three censuses: in 1979, 1990, and 2008. The country now has five provinces: Gitega, the political capital; Bujumbura, the economic capital; and Butanyera, Buhumuza, and Burunga.