Politics

Sierra Leone launches bid for UN Security Council seat

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2022

West African country Sierra Leone has launched a bid for a seat in the non-permanent category of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), President Julius Maada Bio announced on following weeks of speculations.

Before the public announcement, there had been rumours that the government had been mobilising support from friendly countries through diplomatic engagements, particularly on the continent, to get the bid off the ground.

According to President Bio who officially launched the campaign at a ceremony at State House in Freetown,
said the Sierra Leonean government is hoping to use its past war experience as the selling point to canvass for its membership with Bio announcing that the world has a lot to learn from his country’s resilience.

The Council is one of six organs of the UN with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security and Sierra Leone had once served in the influential Council from 1970 to 1971, since it joined the UN in 1961.

While launching the bid before an audience that included foreign western diplomats, President Bio said:

“Fifty plus years after our 1970-1971 tenure on the Security Council, we are once again presenting Sierra Leone’s candidature for a seat in the non-permanent category of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2024-2025.”

He added that the two “unforgettable” years served as “bold footprints” that continued to define the West African country’s commitment to its “international obligations and its unflinching support for a multilateral rules-based world order to advance and sustain global peace and security.”

The UNSC presently comprises 15 member countries, five of whom are permanent members – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States, collectively known as P5, and any of the five countries can veto a resolution.

The remaining 10 members are elected to serve on rotating two-year, non-consecutive terms, without veto power.

Current African countries in the 10 non-permanent member Kenya, Ghana and Gabon with voting for the next cohort of members of the non-permanent slot slated for June during the UN General Assembly in New York.

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Politics

Mali: 7 Russian mercenaries killed

Published

5 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

An al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has claimed responsibility for the attack in central Mali, killing at least seven mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military contractor company.

Wagner earlier lost a battle in July with mostly Tuareg rebels and Islamists close to Mali’s Algerian border, exposing the perils faced by mercenaries used by military juntas in the Sahel area of West Africa.

The separatists and strong branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large areas of the Sahel over the past 12 years, are difficult for Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to control.

The al Qaeda offshoot JNIM claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack, according to a statement from SITE Intelligence Group, which keeps an eye on extremist activity in the area. According to SITE, JNIM captured several weapons and killed seven Russian Wagner mercenaries.

Following an attack, the bodies of at least five white males wearing army fatigues were seen laying near a military truck in a video obtained by Reuters. The validity of the footage could not be confirmed by Reuters.

SITE Intelligence posted images allegedly from JNIM that showed many crates of weapons and ammo together with the dead and bloodied bodies of troops.

Although two local officials acknowledged the incident, a Malian army source claimed to have seen seven dead bodies, including Russian fighters. Five Wagner warriors were slain, according to one of them.

At least six Russians have been murdered in the attack, which was carried out by Katiba Macina, a division of JNIM, according to a consultant working on security in the area.

The expert referred to the Russians as Africa Corps warriors, a paramilitary group under Kremlin leadership that has taken Wagner’s position in Africa throughout the previous 12 months.

Mali has previously said that Russian servicemen trainers are assisting local troops with Russian-purchased weaponry rather than mercenaries.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

2 days 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.