Politics

Uganda returns 100 Congolese police officers who escaped violence

Published

4 weeks 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

Click to comment

Politics

Tunisian court mandates electoral commission to reinstate presidential contenders

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The highest court in Tunisia has issued an order requiring the electoral commission to re-enter two candidates for an October presidential election, cautioning that not doing so might compromise the election’s credibility.

The Administrative Court’s decision was made in rising political unrest in the nation of North Africa, where opposition parties and civil society organisations are concerned that a rigged election could give President Kais Saied a second term.

In the largest demonstration against constraints on liberties and the undemocratic electoral environment in Tunisia in two years, thousands of Tunisians came to the streets on Friday. Among the shouts screamed by the demonstrators was “Out with dictator Saied.”

Tensions increased after the electoral commission, citing purported flaws in their candidacy forms, rejected the court’s decision earlier this month to restore the candidatures of Abdellaif Mekki, Mondher Znaidi, and Imed Daimi ahead of the contest on October 6.

The president himself appointed the committee’s members, and major parties and civil society organisations claimed that this meant the president was using the inquiry as a weapon against his opponents.

Regarding the charges, commission president Farouk Bouasker has stated that “the commission is the only constitutional body entrusted with the integrity of the election” and refuted them. However, the commission must carry out its mandate and, if needed, revise the election schedule, the court ruled on Saturday. It’s unclear if this entails delaying the election or prolonging the campaign.

“Otherwise it would lead to an illegal situation that conflicts with the electoral law and the transparency of the electoral process”, it said.

Following their filing of a new complaint against the commission’s ruling, the court requested that Znaidi and Mekki be allowed to participate in the race. Daimi, the third contender, hasn’t yet submitted a second appeal.

After winning a democratic election in 2019, Saied strengthened his hold on power and started governing by decree in 2021—a move that the opposition has called a coup.

Politics

Under their new coalition, Mali, Burkina, Niger to launch biometric passports

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As part of their departure from the West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance, military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will implement new biometric passports, the countries’ leaders announced on Sunday.

Together, the three Sahelian neighbours run by juntas declared in January that they would be exiting the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), despite efforts by the organisation to convince them otherwise.

In July, the three West African nations signed a confederation treaty demonstrating their will to forge on together outside of the regional political and economic bloc that has been pressuring them to revert to democratic governance.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso declared that it will no longer be issuing passports with the ECOWAS emblem.

“In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world”, Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.

On the eve of the decision to form their alliance, the foreign ministers of the three nations will meet on Monday. He made this statement beforehand.

In addition, Goita announced that they intended to open a common information channel “to foster a peaceful exchange of information among our three states.”

Meanwhile, ECOWAS had warned that the 400 million residents of the 49-year-old bloc would lose their freedom of movement and access to the common market if the three countries were to exit,

Their withdrawal coincides with their troops fighting militants associated with the Islamic State and al Qaeda, whose insurgencies have caused instability in the area for the previous ten years and pose a threat to those bordering West Africa.