Politics

Push for East African confederation strengthens as Kenya digs in

Published

1 year ago

June 3, 2023

The clamour for an East African confederation might be coming through soon as Kenya, a regional powerhouse, has reiterated its commitment to its realization.

Kenya’s President, William Ruto, had pledged $1 million to help speed up the process for the drafting of the constitution and have it available by the end of 2024.

“We should work together and collapse all the boundaries for the sake of integration.

“East Africans want to live together and do business regardless of national boundaries. The EAC partner states should therefore endeavour to catch up with them and factualise the political confederation as fast as possible,” said President Ruto.

Consultations were launched in Mombasa last month by the Committee of Constitutional Experts for Drafting the EAC Political Federation Constitution spearheaded by a regional team of law experts, led by former Ugandan Chief Justice, Benjamin Odoki, and former attorney general, Amos Wako.

Wako, in an interview, revealed that “when we listened to their views, there was nobody who was opposed to greater political social and economic integration. They were all supporting of a political confederation. They were all supportive to the confederation. In fact, some were saying we should not waste too much time on the confederation. We should just go straight to a federation.”

It is reported that Kenyans want an EAC that would be led by a commission similar to that of the European Union, rather than a secretariat. Others wanted the EAC to proceed to a political federation.

On his part, Justice Odoki noted that political federation required an organization where there would be a centre of authority among independent institutions to strengthen direction of control at the top. “Basically, that is what we are looking at but not in the form in which we weren’t selected to be”, he said.

An East African confederation would be a political arrangement where the federal government (the EAC) would be accountable to the member states— the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

4 hours 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.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.