Politics

Uganda returns 100 Congolese police officers who escaped violence

Published

3 months ago

August 19, 2024

A spokesman for the Ugandan military has revealed that the almost 100 Congolese police officers who had crossed the border to escape fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army have been turned over to Uganda.

It said that the police officers’ nationalities had been established and that they were allowed to enter Uganda as a humanitarian act and in line with international law.

For many years, the Congo has been torn apart by war. Under the guise of protecting themselves from regional rebels, Uganda and Rwanda invaded each other in 1996 and 1998. Forces from Uganda and Congo are still working together to fight a terrorist group in Uganda.

Major Kiconco Tabaro, a spokesman for the Ugandan military, said in a statement that the soldiers were given over along with their weapons, ammunition, and other weapons.

Tabaro said that more and more people were crossing into Uganda to get away from the violence in Eastern Congo.

Since 2022, the M23 has been fighting a new uprising in the east of Congo, which is full of militias.

The M23 took over the town of Kanyabayonga in June. The city is on a high point, which makes it easy to get to other parts of North Kivu Province in the east of Congo.

With the help of drones and planes, Congo’s military has been trying harder to push back the rebels over the past year, but the insurgents have still taken over more land.

According to the UN, fighting in North Kivu has forced more than 1.7 million people to leave their homes. This brings the total number of Congolese people forced to leave their homes by different wars to a record 7.2 million.

Since 2022, the Tutsi-led M23 rebels have been fighting a new uprising in the east of Congo, which is full of militias. Ugandan soldiers were part of a regional group sent in November 2022 to keep an eye on a peace deal with the M23. Congolese leaders asked the troops to leave their country last year, saying it wasn’t working well.

Related Topics:Democratic Republic of Congo Featured Uganda

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Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

16 hours 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.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 days 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.