Politics

Chadian military leader Idriss Deby announces plan to run for president

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2024

Days after opposition politician, Yaya Dillo, was shot and killed in the capital N’Djamena, Chad’s interim president, Mahamat Idriss Deby, said on Saturday he planned to run in this year’s long-awaited presidential race.

In a speech that avoided mentioning Dillo’s murder or his uncle’s arrest, Deby declared his candidature for the May–June election while addressing supporters and state officials.

“It is … with a mixture of honour, humility, responsibility and gratitude that I accept this nomination,” he said.

Divisions within the political class have been further revealed by Dillo’s death under dubious circumstances, at a politically sensitive moment for the

country as it gets ready for the anticipated return to democratic rule through elections.

The government of Chad claims that Dillo was slain in a gunfight with security personnel and charges that members of his party also attacked the internal

The European Union’s diplomatic service expressed its deep concern over the recent violence in N’Djamena on Saturday as well, calling for the facts and those responsible to be established in “a credible and independent way”.

“These events undermine the efforts needed to ensure a transparent, pluralist, inclusive and peaceful transition,” it said in a statement.

Chad is one Central and West African countries under military reigns as pressure continues from local and international stake holders for transition into democratic reign.

After his father, who had ruled for a long time, was killed in rebel clashes in 2021, Deby first pledged an 18-month switch to elections. However, later resolutions passed by his government permitted him to run for president and moved elections to 2024.

Around 50 civilians were killed when security forces violently put an end to protests that were sparked by the election delay.

Related Topics:#CHAD Featured Mahamat Idriss Deby

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Politics

Mozambique: Ruling FRELIMO announces Chapo as presidential candidate

Published

2 days ago

May 7, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Daniel Chapo has announced that he will run for president in the October election on behalf of the ruling FRELIMO party in Mozambique.

Since achieving independence in 1975, FRELIMO has ruled the nation in southern Africa, and the party is hoping that Chapo can lead it to another win in the election on October 9.

“The soap opera of speculation is over, including speculation about the third term,” President Filipe Nyusi said on state television on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of contesting elections again.

“We must all unite around comrade Daniel Francisco Chapo, in the demanding march towards electoral victory next October,” Nyusi said.

The president of Mozambique is limited to two terms of five years by the constitution. Nevertheless, following his reelection as party leader in 2022, there had been conjecture in the media that Nyusi may run for a third term.

Chapo, a relatively unknown person in national politics, is the governor of the province of Inhambane in southern Mozambique. As to the party announcement, he secured 225 votes (about 94%) from the central committee of the party.

“We are going to work with all social strata,” Chapo said on television after his win.

Chapo, a former radio host, was born in 1977, making him the first candidate for FRELIMO to be born since the nation gained its independence.

He has served in many governmental capacities, most notably as an administrator of the districts of Nacala and Palma. He also has a master’s degree in development management and a law degree.

Politics

Again, Rwanda denies it attacked displaced persons in DR Congo

Published

5 days ago

May 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

For the sixteenth time, Rwanda refuted US charges on Saturday that its troops attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), placing the blame instead on militants it claimed were backed by the military of the Congo.

The US State Department released a statement in which it vehemently denounced the incident that claimed at least nine lives on Friday.

There have been persistent accusations against Rwanda of providing support to the armed organizations, which has resulted in diplomatic tensions between the neighbours in East Africa.

Citing the threat that Rwanda’s surface-to-air missile systems posed to civilians, U.N. and other regional peacekeepers, aid workers, and commercial aircraft operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the US demanded in February that Rwanda remove its systems and all of its armed forces from the DRC immediately. Rwanda denies providing any assistance to the rebels.

According to the U.S. statement, the M23 rebel group, which Rwanda supports, and the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) held the positions from which the attack was launched. The United States is “gravely concerned about the recent RDF and M23 expansion” in eastern Congo.

Speaking on behalf of the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo refuted claims that the RDF was responsible for the attack, blaming instead rebels backed by the Congolese military.

“The RDF, a professional army, would never attack an IDP (displaced persons). Look to the lawless FDLR and Wazalendo supported by the FARDC (Congolese military) for this kind of atrocity,” she said in a post on X.

Wazalendo is a Christian sect, while the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a Hutu organization that was founded by Hutu officials who left Rwanda after planning the 1994 genocide.

Thousands of people from the surrounding areas have fled to Goma in eastern Congo as a result of the M23 rebels’ two-year offensive, which has advanced toward the city in recent months.