Politics

Kenya to increase police in Haiti after gang attacks

Published

1 month ago

October 12, 2024

President William Ruto announced on Friday that Kenya would send an additional 600 police personnel to Haiti next month in support of an international anti-gang mission. The prime minister of Haiti was visiting Kenya to accelerate the force’s deployment.

A minimum of ten nations have committed to dispatching over 2,900 soldiers to take part in the Multinational Security Support (MSS), which is spearheaded by Kenya.

However, since the U.N.-authorized operation began in June, only roughly 430 people have deployed, with over 400 of them coming from Kenya.
The majority of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, is under the grip of heavily armed gangs, and they are still expanding.

A local mayor claims that last week, members of the Gran Grif gang carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the nation’s recent memory, killing at least 115 people in an agricultural area.

Ruto called the war against gangs “the battle that we can win” and informed reporters that the expedition was aimed at enhancing security in Haiti. He declared that 600 more Kenyan officers had been committed and were undergoing training to be deployed the following month.

The prime minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, stood with Ruto and commended the police response to the massacre that occurred last week.

“The police and the (Kenyan) contingent were able to deploy by road within – really, virtually – hours to make sure that the city in question was quickly protected,” Conille said.

According to the UN, over 700,000 people in Haiti have abandoned their homes, and over five million people—nearly half of the population—are starving.

The term of the MSS was unanimously extended by the U.N. Security Council last month. Russia and China opposed the U.S. effort for a plan to make it a U.N. peacekeeping force, therefore it was removed from the resolution.

After the Security Council approved the MSS mission, Kenya sent about 400 police officers—out of an expected 1,000—to Port-au-Prince in June and July. A few more countries have combined to pledge at least 1,900 more troops.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

18 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.