Politics

Mali’s PM dismissed for criticising the junta

Published

3 weeks ago

November 21, 2024

According to official media ORTM on Wednesday, Mali’s Prime Minister, Choguel Maiga, was dismissed for criticising the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24 months allotted for the country’s return to democracy.

Elections were scheduled for February, but the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, postponed the poll indefinitely for technical reasons.

Maiga said last week that he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion inside the administration over the postponing of the elections.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Maiga told reporters on Saturday.

According to a source close to Maiga, his remarks caused the junta to become agitated and postpone a ministerial council meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

Maiga fiercely supported Mali’s junta in the face of criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa for its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

The measure would require Maiga’s successor to confer with Assimi Goïta, the acting president, before forming a new cabinet.

Maiga was Mali’s minister of commerce under former President Amadou Toumani Toure and minister of the digital economy under former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita before being appointed prime minister in 2021.

Before his fall, Maiga led the M5-RFP opposition alliance, which led demonstrations against Keita.

Related Topics:Featured Mali Military Junta

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Politics

Officials report fight between Somalia’s Jubbaland region, central govt

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Jubbaland staged an election against the advice of the Mogadishu administration, officials claimed on Wednesday that fighting had broken out between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region of Somalia.

“This morning, federal forces from Mogadishu in Ras Kamboni, using drones, attacked Jubbaland forces,” Adan Ahmed Haji, assistant security minister of Jubbaland, told a press conference in Jubbaland’s capital Kismayu.

Response requests were not immediately answered by Interior Minister Yusuf Ali or Information Minister Daud Aweis of the national administration.

Jubbaland, one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous republics that borders Ethiopia and Kenya, elected regional president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe to a third term in late November.

Jubbaland has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest districts due to its location and natural resources, but for more than 20 years, violence has kept it permanently unsettled.

There are no explicit guidelines in the Somali constitution regarding the establishment of recently formed federal entities or their interactions with the national government.

Politics

Ghana’s ex-president Mahama returns to power after close contest with former VP

Published

4 days ago

December 8, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following his challenger Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s concession on Sunday, former Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, has made a political comeback by winning the country’s presidential election.

In a region where voters are seeking leadership change due to economic hardship, rising inflation, and depreciating local currency, the outcome of Ghana’s general election is yet another setback for the ruling party.

The 66-year-old Mahama, who presided over Ghana as president from 2012 to 2016, presented Bawumia as carrying on the policies that caused the country to experience its worst economic crisis in a generation.

After defaulting on most of its foreign debt, the world’s second-largest cocoa grower and significant gold producer agreed with the IMF last year for a $3 billion rescue.

“I have, this morning, received a congratulatory call from my brother Dr. Bawumia, following my emphatic victory in Saturday’s election. Thank you, Ghana,” Mahama said in a post on X social media.

Bawumia told a news conference from his home that he had contacted Mahama to congratulate him and that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahama’s party, had also won the legislative election.

“The data from our internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the presidential election decisively,” Bawumia said, adding that NDC also won the parliamentary election.

Bawumia said that to reduce tensions, he gave in before to the official outcome.

Scuffles had been reported in several local constituency centres before to his concession when polling station results were still being received.

“I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the Electoral Commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country,” Bawumia said.

“It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana,” he added.

Following Bawumia’s loss concession, hundreds of NDC supporters celebrated Sunday in the streets of Accra, the country’s capital.

According to preliminary findings, Mahama and the NDC party had a strong lead. Joy News stated that after preliminary results from 68 of 276 seats were tabulated, Mahama had more than 53% of the vote compared to Bawumia’s 45.16%.

Sammy Gyamfi, the national spokesman for the NDC, stated at a press conference on Sunday before Bawumia’s concession that Mahama was leading with around 56% based on preliminary internally collated figures from 38,896 of the 40,976 voting stations. According to him, the party seemed to be headed for about 185 of the 276 seats in Parliament.