Botswana’s president defends electoral body as nation votes

GABORONE, BOTSWANA — Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi is defending the country’s electoral body amid criticism of its preparedness as voting began Wednesday.

Critics said some polling stations opened late, there weren’t enough stations to handle the number of voters, and lines were long.

Masisi, who is seeking a second and final term, told journalists after casting his vote in his home village of Moshupa, southwest of Gaborone, that he is confident of victory. The election will determine the makeup of parliament, and lawmakers will later elect the president.

Masisi also said he was content with the conduct of the Independent Electoral Commission, which has faced criticism from opposition parties on how it has handled the pre-election period.

He said any appearance that the IEC is not independent of his executive branch is “really almost cosmetic,” explaining that the government budget process requires the executive branch to present a budget on behalf of all other areas of the government, including the judiciary.

“Some are suggesting for the IEC to be independent,” Masisi said, “[that] they must go to parliament to present [their own] budget. But they are not members of parliament. How do you get an independent body to account to politicians?”

Voting began with some polling stations opening late.

IEC spokesperson Osupile Maroba acknowledged the difficulties but said they were resolved early enough to allow voters to cast their ballots.

On the eve of the election, opposition parties took the IEC to court, questioning the electoral commission’s readiness. Maroba said the parties were within their rights to seek the intervention of the courts.

“We are dealing with a sensitive emotive process that will always bring about complaints,” Maroba said. “It will bring about challenges that will lead to going to the courts. As the laws of Botswana allow, anybody who is not happy with a process has a way to try and seek redress.”

Meanwhile, Masisi said the time spent at the polling stations could be improved through a digital voting system.

Some voters were at the polling stations as early as 4 a.m.

One voter, Mosedi Kenosi, said he ran out of patience due to the slow process.

“Maybe I will go back later,” he said. “The process has been slow. I waited for more than three hours to vote. The verification process takes forever, which discourages voters.”

The elections come as the country faces an economic downturn due to weak global diamond sales. The opposition has criticized Masisi’s party, the Botswana Democratic Party, for failing to provide solutions.

Polling stations were expected to close at 7 p.m., with early results expected Thursday morning.

This story includes information from The Associated Press.

your ad here

Senegal’s president fights for mandate in parliamentary race 

Dakar — With fireworks displays, packed rallies, and town-to-town caravans, Senegalese political parties are wooing voters in a parliamentary race that will decide the extent to which the new president will be able to implement his agenda.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been under pressure to make good on promises to crack down on corruption and improve livelihoods that helped sweep him to power in April following a landslide election victory the previous month.

Faye has accused lawmakers in the opposition-led national assembly of refusing to engage in meaningful talks on the budget and other proposals and dissolved parliament last month, paving the way for the legislative election on Nov. 17.

Campaigning officially kicked off on Sunday. Faye’s Pastef party is competing for a majority that would secure his mandate, but former ruling parties have formed a rival coalition that unites the country’s influential ex-presidents Macky Sall and Abdoulaye Wade.

“This election has symbolic significance,” said political analyst Mamadou Seck. “The critical challenge today is for Diomaye Faye to understand whether the people who elected him with 54% still support his program.”

Earlier in October, the government unveiled an ambitious 25-year development plan that Faye promised would boost local industry, diversify the economy, and create much-needed jobs for the West African country’s fast-growing population.

The main threat to Pastef’s ambitions is the unexpected alliance of Sall’s Alliance for the Republic party (APR) and Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), who together accounted for 106 of 165 seats in the outgoing national assembly.

“This is the first time Pastef has decided to run alone, without a coalition. It appears that they are testing their strength and influence,” said analyst Seck, cautioning that the party had also recruited one-time allies of Sall in an effort to shore up support.

The race also includes two smaller opposition coalitions represented by former Prime Minister Amadou Ba and mayor of the capital Dakar Barthelemy Dias.

“I wish all Senegalese and all political actors a peaceful and dignified electoral campaign, and I guarantee that … the best will win,” Faye said on national TV on Friday.

your ad here

Botswana votes with ruling party seeking to extend six decades of power

Gaborone, Botswana — Southern Africa’s diamond-rich nation of Botswana voted in general elections Wednesday with the ruling party seeking to extend its nearly six-decade rule and hand a second term to President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. for more than a million people registered to vote, with four presidential candidates in the race to head the region’s oldest democracy, installed on independence from Britain in 1966 when the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) took office. 

“It is my time to voice my opinion. I can’t wait,” said Lone Kobe, 38, who had been queueing since 3:15 a.m. at a school in Gaborone hosting a polling station.

“I would like to experience a new Botswana. We are seeing a percentage of the population enjoying the benefits. We are just the spectators, like we are watching a movie,” said the self-employed woman, a light blanket around her shoulders.

“We want to see true democracy, transparency and a free and fair election,” said Muthisi Kemo, a 56-year-old unemployed man who arrived three hours before the polling station opened.

There were irregularities in the functioning of the Independent Electoral Authority (IEC) in favor of the ruling party, he said, echoing opposition claims in the lead-up to the polls. “It’s an open secret.”

Opposition groups have been critical of the IEC including for failing to share a digital version of the voters roll and a shortage of ballot papers in early voting for public officers.

An unemployment rate that has reached 27% amid a weakening economy has been one of the key concerns of voters ahead of the elections, alongside claims of government corruption and mismanagement.

But the ruling party points to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, with weakened demand for diamonds also chipping away at revenues.

An energetic Masisi, 63, held a final campaign rally with about 400 cheering supporters in the capital late Tuesday, saying that he wanted to use his second term “to polish” what he started in his first five years.

Queen Mosiane, 34, said at the rally she was loyal to the party because its government had supported her when she became an orphan, including with education and healthcare covered by the state.

“We live peacefully in this country because of BDP,” she said. “It’s not time to change because we don’t know what are we inviting.”

“The opportunities that we find, and our kids are going to find in the future, are because of the BDP,” said civil servant Refile Kutlwano, 34, at the same rally. “The opposition is not ready to rule.”

Fractured opposition

Masisi was elected in 2019 with around 52% of the vote. While the party is not expected to fare much better this time, the opposition is fractured.

The main opposition alliance is the left-leaning Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by youthful human rights lawyer, Duma Boko, 54.

It lost two key members in the run-up to voting day with the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) quitting and each fielding their own presidential candidates.

It was a blow to voters like Ookeditse Letshwenyo, 23, who saw the UDC offering opportunities to young people struggling to find work.

“Since our independence we’ve been ruled by the same people, with the same mindset, with the same goals,” said Letshwenyo, who has launched an IT start-up. “You can’t win against the BDP while you are divided,” he said.

While the surprise return six weeks ago from three years of self-exile of the previous president Ian Khama to campaign against Masisi added some energy to the opposition, analysts said his influence was limited to a few districts.

With 61 seats up for grabs in parliament, Botswana’s first-past-the-post system means that the first party to take 31 seats will be declared the winner and install its candidate as president.

Counting will start in the hours after polling stations close at 7 p.m. Wednesday with results due late Thursday.

your ad here

Community soup kitchens feed Sudan’s starving as aid access bloc

In war-stricken Omdurman, Sudan’s most populous city, community-funded soup kitchens are feeding those in need with little help from the international community. As one part of Sudan faces famine, the world’s first in seven years, the U.S. and others have called on the warring sides to allow unfettered access for aid groups. Henry Wilkins reports.

your ad here

Prosecutor tells jury of 9/11-style plot thwarted in the Philippines

NEW YORK — A Kenyan man who plotted a 9/11-style attack on a U.S. building was training as a commercial pilot in the Philippines when his plans were interrupted, a federal prosecutor told a New York jury Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Bodansky told a federal jury in Manhattan that Cholo Abdi Abdullah plotted an attack for four years that he hoped to carry out on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab.

He said Abdullah was almost finished with his two-year pilot training when he was arrested in July 2019 in the Philippines on local charges. He was transferred in December 2020 to U.S. law enforcement authorities, who charged him with terrorism-related crimes.

Abdullah underwent training in explosives and how to operate in secret and avoid detection before moving to the Philippines in 2017 to begin intensive training for a commercial pilot’s license, the prosecutor said.

Abdullah posed as an aspiring commercial pilot even though his true intention was to locate a building in the United States where he could carry out a suicide attack from the cockpit by slamming his plane into a building, Bodansky told the jury.

He said Abdullah was “planning for four years a 9/11-style attack” only to have it thwarted with his arrest.

The defendant, operating from a Nairobi hotel, used the internet to research how to breach a cockpit door and looked up a 2019 terrorist attack that killed some 21 people, Bodansky said. Among those killed in that attack was an American businessman who survived the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Prosecutors have said Abdullah also researched information “about the tallest building in a major U.S. city” before he was caught.

Abdullah, who is representing himself and once pleaded not guilty, declined to give an opening statement and did not actively participate in questioning witnesses Tuesday.

In court papers filed before the trial, prosecutors told the judge that they understood “through standby counsel that the defendant maintains his position that he ‘wants to merely sit passively during the trial, not oppose the prosecution and whatever the outcome, he would accept the outcome because he does not believe that this is a legitimate system.'”

The State Department in 2008 designated al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, as a foreign terrorist organization. The militant group is an al-Qaida affiliate that has fought to establish an Islamic state in Somalia based on Shariah law.

If convicted, Abdullah faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison. His trial is expected to last three weeks.

your ad here

Somalia expels Ethiopian diplomat

Somalia has declared an Ethiopian diplomat working in Mogadishu a persona non grata.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the diplomat of engaging in “activities incompatible with his diplomatic role.”

The diplomat, Ali Mohamed Adan, who is a counselor at Ethiopia’s embassy in Mogadishu, was ordered to leave Somalia within 72 hours of receiving the notice.

Somalia did not specify the actions allegedly committed by Ali, but the statement said they “constitute a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

VOA’s Horn of Africa Service sought comments from the spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nebiat Getachew, but did not receive any.

Somalia and Ethiopia have been involved in a heated diplomatic dispute since Addis Ababa signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Somaliland, a move Somalia sees as infringement on its sovereignty. Ethiopia and Somaliland defended the MOU. If implemented, it would give Somaliland recognition from landlocked Ethiopia in return for the leasing of 20 kilometers of seafront, according to Somaliland officials.

In April, Somalia expelled Ethiopian Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware, alleging “internal interference” by Ethiopia. Somalia also ordered the closure of Ethiopia’s consulates in Somaliland and Puntland, though they remained open.

Last month, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, urged the international community to stand with Somalia in condemning Ethiopia’s violations.

Barre alleged that Ethiopia was attempting to “annex parts of Somalia under the guise of securing sea access.”

Taye Atske Selassie was the foreign minister at the time and rejected the Somalian prime minister’s comments, insisting that Ethiopia’s MOU with Somaliland is “based on existing political dispensation in Somalia.”

“Ethiopia’s name can never be associated with any one of the allegations,” said Taye, who has now become Ethiopia’s ceremonial president.

your ad here

Companies find solutions to power EVs in energy-challenged Africa

NAIROBI, KENYA — Some companies are coming up with creative ways of making electric vehicles a more realistic option in power-challenged areas of Africa.

Countries in Africa have been slow adopters of battery-powered vehicles because finding reliable sources of electricity is a challenge in many places.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies described Africa as “the most energy-deficient continent in the world” and said that any progress made in electricity access in the last five years has been reversed by the pandemic and population growth.

Onesmus Otieno, for one, regrets trading in his diesel-powered motor bike for an electric one. He earns his living making deliveries and ferrying passengers around Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, with his bike.

The two-wheeled taxis popularly known as “boda boda” in Swahili are commonly used in Kenya and throughout Africa. Kenyan authorities recently introduced the electric bikes to phase out diesel ones. Otieno is among the few riders who adopted them, but he said finding a place to charge his bike has been a headache.

Sometimes the battery dies while he is carrying a customer, he said, while a charging station is far away. So, he has to end that trip and cancel other requests.

To address the problem, Chinese company Beijing Sebo created a mobile application that allows users of EVs to request a charge through the app. Then, charging equipment is brought to the user’s location.

Lin Lin, general manager for overseas business of Beijing Sebo, said because the company produces the equipment, it can control costs.

“We can deploy the product … in any country they need, and they don’t need to build or fix charging stations,” Lin said. “We can move to the location of the user, and we can bring electricity to electric vehicles.”

Lin said the mobile charging vans use electricity generated from solid waste and can charge up to five cars at one time for about $7 per vehicle — less for a motorbike.

Countries in Africa have been slow to adopt electric vehicles because there is a lack of infrastructure to support the technology, analysts say. The cost of EVs is another barrier, said clean energy expert Ajay Mathur.

”Yes, the capital cost is more,” Mathur said. “The first cost is more, but you recover it in about six years or so. We are at the beginning of the revolution.”

Electric motor bike maker Spiro offers a battery-swapping service in several countries to address the lack of EV infrastructure.

But studies show that for many African countries, access to reliable and affordable electricity remains a challenge. There are frequent power cuts, outages and voltage fluctuations in several regions.

Companies such as Beijing Sebo and Spiro are finding ways around the lack of power in Africa.

”We want to solve the problem of charging anxiety anywhere you are,” Lin said. 

This story originated in VOA’s Mandarin Service.

your ad here

Nigeria praises CAF decision in controversy over Libya’s treatment of Nigerian footballers

Abuja, Nigeria — Africa’s football governing body has sided with Nigeria in that country’s dispute with Libya over a canceled qualifying game. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarded Nigeria a 3-0 victory over Libya following accusations Libya deliberately breached competition guidelines.

Libya’s football federation is appealing.

The decision by the CAF puts Nigeria at the top of their division, Group D, and in contention for a spot at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON, finals, in Morocco.

The CAF on Saturday said Libya violated a rule that mandates that host nations receive and manage the logistics of visiting teams.

The body also ordered Libya to pay a fine of $50,000 within 60 days.

On October 15, Nigerian players returned home rather than play what would have been a qualifying match in Libya. They were protesting long delays at an airport about 250 kilometers away from the venue after their charter flight was unexpectedly diverted. Some news reports say the players were delayed by about 16 hours.

Nigerian football fan Elvis Ume welcomed the CAF’s decision.

“I think justice was served because the truth of the matter is that they genuinely put our players’ lives in danger,” he said “It was extremely malicious on their part. In my opinion they got off lightly. I think CAF could still have been a bit more firm in their decision for it to serve a sort of a deterrent to other countries.”

But the Libya Football Federation, or LFF, denies deliberately trying to dampen the morale of the Nigerian Super Eagles players and has appealed the decision.

Libya called the CAF’s decision unjust and malicious. The federation accused the Nigerian team of using the reputation of its players – who are team members of various European leagues – to win global support on the matter.

The LFF said its players faced similar challenges in Nigeria days earlier and that the situation is not unique to African football leagues.

Sports analysts say common tricks may include immigration delays, lengthy trips or allocation of poor training facilities.

“When you look at antecedents, the North Africans especially Libya, Morocco, Egypt, they’re known for this ‘gamesmanship,'” said Nigerian sports analyst Bunmi Haruna. “I think in Europe they call it the ‘dark act.’ This is the chance for CAF to let the whole world know … it’s not good for our football in any way.”

Haruna said the CAF must continue to uphold this standard.

“I think it’s a very good step from CAF and I hope it’s not just going to be a one-off because these things happen even in club football. They want to go and appeal, which is good in terms of testing the laws.”

It is very unlikely that the CAF will reverse its decision, but many will be watching to see the outcome of Libya’s appeal.

your ad here

Chad president launches operation to fight Boko Haram after attack kills over 40 troops  

Yaounde — Chad’s President Mahama Idriss Deby has launched a security operation to track and neutralize several hundred Boko Haram fighters who attacked and killed on Sunday more than 40 Chad government troops in the Lake Chad Basin, shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad. Deby visited the area on Monday and assisted in the burial of his soldiers.

Chad state TV reports that President Mhamat Idriss Deby has ordered that flags be flown at half-mast and that all radio and tv stations in the central African states should play only religious music for three days from October 28 at midnight.

Deby announced on Monday the three days of national mourning after visiting Ngouboua, a western village in Lake Chad, on the island of Bakaram, near the border with Nigeria where Boko Haram fighters killed at least 40 Chad government troops on Sunday night, according to Chad state TV.

Videos of Deby dressed in a military uniform and present at the burial of soldiers killed have been broadcast several times since Monday by local TV stations, including Chad state TV.

After the burials, Deby announced the launch of “Haskanite,” a military operation with fresh troops deployed to Lake Chad, to search out and eliminate members of the terror group hiding in the large area. Deby spoke on Chad state TV.

He said as president of Chad, he is the supreme commander of government troops and guarantor of the security and safety of civilians, and that he has ordered Chad’s military to protect civilians and their property by tracking and eliminating Boko Haram terrorists who committed atrocious acts on government troops and are hiding in the vast Lake Chad.

Chad officials note that Haskanite is a strong and resilient plant that grows in deserts and in the Lake Chad area. The deployed government troops are experienced and have the equipment necessary to defeat the jihadists, Deby said.

Chad military officials say they estimate the number of soldiers in the jihadist attacking force was 300 and that the surprise assault came Sunday at around 10 pm. In addition to the 40 deaths, several dozen government soldiers were injured, they said.

Scores of the attackers were killed and the fighters succeeded to escape with some dead bodies and seized weapons according to Chad’s military. Many civilians either died or were injured in the attack, Chad military says. Deby ordered that all civilians and troops receive medical care free of charge.

Chad’s military says the heavily armed jihadist fighters took control of the garrison before torching vehicles, motorcycles and buildings equipped with heavy arms. The attackers disappeared in the waters of lake Chad and surrounding villages.

Saibou Issa, a conflict resolution specialist at Cameroon’s University of Maroua, says it will be difficult for Chad to singlehandedly fight the jihadists in Lake Chad.

Issa says it is obvious that poverty and hardship push Boko Haram fighters who either surrendered or were weakened by the firepower of forces from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger to rejoin smaller jihadist groups in Lake Chad. He says Lake Chad, which serves as a hideout for jihadist groups, is vast and only joint efforts from states that share the lake can stop militants, who are becoming more active.

Issa spoke on Cameroon state Radio on Tuesday. He said the militants attack mainly for supplies and seize weapons from both armed groups and government troops in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Chad’s government says it has informed the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, or MNJTF — made up of 11,000 troops and rescue workers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — to assist in a renewed push against the terror group. VOA could not independently verify if troops of MNJTF have been deployed, but Cameroon says its military is alert.

The United Nations says over 40,000 people have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. since 2009, when fighting between Nigerian government troops and Boko Haram militants degenerated into an armed conflict and spread to Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

your ad here

Sudan’s RSF, allies sexually abused victims from 8-75 years, UN mission says 

Geneva — Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allies have committed “staggering” levels of sexual abuse, raping civilians as troops advance and abducting some women as sex slaves during the more than 18-month war, a U.N. mission said on Tuesday.

Victims have ranged between eight and 75 years, said the U.N. fact-finding mission’s report, with most sexual violence committed by the RSF and allied Arab militia in an attempt to terrorize and punish people for perceived links to enemies.

“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman in a statement accompanying an 80-page report based on interviews with victims, families and witnesses.

The report echoed investigations by Reuters and rights groups into widespread sexual abuse in the conflict.

The RSF, which is fighting Sudan’s army, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it would investigate allegations and bring perpetrators to justice.

The paramilitary RSF has roots in so-called Janjaweed militias, which helped the military crush a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region two decades ago.

In the current conflict, the RSF has seized control of large parts of Sudan including in West Darfur where it is accused of carrying out ethnic killings against the Masalit people with the help of Arab militias.

The U.N. mission said racist slurs against non-Arabs in parts of West Darfur state were widely used during sexual attacks, indicating ethnicity targeting.

Forced impregnation

One victim from El Geneina in West Darfur said her rapist told her at gunpoint: “We will make you, the Masalit girls, give birth to Arab children,” the report said.

In another case, a West Darfur woman was held captive for over eight months by RSF guards and impregnated by her main captor during repeated rapes, it added.

In four other incidents, women were taken from the street before being beaten and raped then released or abandoned unconscious on the street. Perpetrators mostly wore either RSF uniforms or scarves concealing their faces, victims said.

The report said it had documented a smaller number of sexual violence cases involving the Sudanese army, with more investigation needed. It also said it had credible reports that both warring parties had recruited child soldiers.

Last month, the mission found that both the army and RSF had committed major abuses like torture and arbitrary arrests.

Though pushed out of global headlines by the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, Sudan’s war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, with thousands killed, more than 11 million uprooted, widespread hunger and involvement of foreign powers.

your ad here

DR Congo wants UN peacekeepers gone, but war around minerals complicates that

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — The end of one of the world’s deadliest and yet most shadowy wars is as difficult to predict as the end of the large peacekeeping force meant to contain it.

Congo desperately wants stability in its mineral-rich east, of intense interest to the global economy. But political friction means the government wants the longtime United Nations peacekeeping force there to get out.

That would leave the vast region, overrun with dozens of armed groups including one affiliated with the Islamic State organization, with even less defense for millions of displaced civilians. But frustration has become so high with the peacekeepers that many Congolese want them gone, too.

The Associated Press witnessed the dilemma on a rare visit and night patrol with the U.N. force now known as MONUSCO, which entered Congo more than two decades ago and has 14,000 peacekeepers on the ground.

It patrols a landscape that feels far from the authority of Congo’s government, with its dirt roads churned into slippery mud in pounding rains and residents long accustomed to feeling that, security-wise, they are on their own. Some of the region’s armed groups are self-defense collectives.

During a visit to one frontline town, Sake, about 24 kilometers from the regional hub of Goma, the AP spoke with militia members trying to defend the population from a resurgent group, the M23, and its sniper fire from surrounding hills.

The M23 is backed by neighboring Rwanda, whose government denies it. The involvement of better-equipped Rwandan forces, with U.N. experts estimating up to 4,000 of them in Congo, has led to talk of war by Congo’s government.

A July truce brokered by the United States and Angola has reduced the fighting between Rwandan and Congolese forces, but clashes between M23 and other militias continue.

“We are fighting the enemy who is a foreigner in our country. They are not Congolese, but they want to take Congo,” said one fighter, Amini Bauma.

Sake is one of the last main routes into Goma under government control, but fierce fighting this year forced most residents to flee, leaving boarded-up homes.

About 160 civilians and soldiers came through Sake’s military hospital during the summer, most with gunshot wounds, said Omar Kalamo, a nurse. In August, a bomb exploded behind the building, he said.

Some who fled are now returning, finding little safety elsewhere. Bitakuya Buhesha found his house destroyed. But he said he’d rather brave the gunfire than live in displacement camps, which have been infiltrated by fighters.

“We’ve waited a long time and we don’t know whether our army will win this war or if it’ll be the M23 rebels,” he said.

Many Congolese who once looked to the U.N. peacekeeping force with hope are now angry. Multiple protests, some of them violent, have targeted the force in recent years.

Last year, at Congo’s request, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to draw down the peacekeeping force and gradually hand over its security responsibilities to Congo’s government by this December.

But the soaring violence means that departure is now delayed.

On a recent day, peacekeepers in armored vehicles pulled into a small base in the hazy hills outside Goma, its tents surrounded by looping razor wire and sandbags. Troops perched with a machine gun pointed in the rebels’ direction.

In recent months, clashes between Congo’s army and M23 came within a mile of the base.

The U.N. force is trying to find new ways to repel the rebels. Last year, it established new bases between the frontlines and about 600,000 displaced people sheltering around Goma. It is training Congolese soldiers in the hope that they can fill the security void once it leaves.

“If the belligerent armed groups had come forward and attacked the civilians, the MONUSCO would have changed its stance purely from defensive to offensive operations,” said U.N’s center sector commander for North Kivu province, Brig. General Ranjan Mahajan.

MONUSCO described the security challenges “multiple and multifaceted” and said only one of its brigades is tasked to go on the offensive. That affects a single area, Beni, where deadly attacks have been especially frequent. The U.N. mission otherwise is defensive and works alongside Congolese forces and others.

But some Congolese, who see the U.N. force as not aggressive enough, said any new efforts to protect them are futile.

“You can see that MONUSCO is there, but that’s in name only … People are dying, but it does nothing,” said Maombie Aline, a displaced person in Goma.

And yet, the international community has warned that the U.N. force’s pullout would leave a security vacuum. More than 80% of Congo’s 7 million displaced people live in areas protected by the U.N., according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

Last month, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the peacekeepers’ pullout from South Kivu province in June left critical gaps, and the Security Council shouldn’t authorize further withdrawals until there’s a plan to mitigate them. The U.S. is the force’s top financial supporter.

Congo’s communication minister, Patrick Muyaya, said there would be a new timeline for MONUSCO’s departure, but didn’t give details. He said a joint team of government and U.N. officials was evaluating the situation.

Goma’s streets are full of armed men, local and foreign. In addition to the U.N. force and an unknown number of Congolese forces, there are about 1,000 foreign mercenaries, a coalition of local militia and a Southern African regional force. A recently deployed East African force was kicked out amid criticism it was ineffective.

“It’s a military jungle,” said Onesphore Sematumba, a Congolese researcher for the International Crisis Group. “There are many actors, but everyone has their own agenda … they can’t make a difference because they are divided.”

Global interest in eastern Congo’s minerals is one reason the violence is so difficult to contain, experts said.

Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. It also has substantial gold, diamond, copper and cobalt reserves.

In May, M23 fighters seized the town of Rubaya, which holds deposits of tantalum — used in electronics, including Apple devices —and extracted from coltan. The area is estimated to supply more than 15% of global production of tantalum and now generates about $300,000 a month for M23, said Bintou Keita, head of Congo’s U.N. mission.

U.N. experts in June said a portion of Rubaya minerals have been smuggled across the Rwandan border.

Rwanda is selling minerals from eastern Congo and passing them off as conflict-free, said Darren Davids, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit — allegations documented by both U.N experts and the U.S.

Davids said the international community has hesitated to meaningfully call on Rwanda to stop the fighting because it has become a reliable trading partner for the West as competition grows for the minerals.

Meanwhile, the Rwandan-backed rebels are accused of obstructing and threatening the U.N. mission so it can seize more territory, and are widely expected to benefit from its departure.

Rwanda’s government and M23 didn’t respond to requests for comment.

your ad here

Guinea authorities dissolve dozens of political parties with no election date set

CONAKRY, Guinea — Guinea authorities dissolved dozens of political parties and placed two major opposition ones under observation late Monday, while the transitional government has yet to announce a date for elections.

The West African country has been led by a military regime since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has pushed for a return to civilian rule and elections are scheduled for 2025.

The mass dissolution of 53 political parties and required observation of 54 others for three months is unprecedented in Guinea, which held its first democratic election in 2010 after decades of authoritarian rule. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization announced the moves based on an evaluation of all political parties begun in June. The evaluation was meant to “clean up the political chessboard,” according to the ministry.

The 67 parties that will be under observation for three months can operate normally but must resolve irregularities noted in the report. Those parties include the Rally of the Guinean People, which is the party of former President Alpha Condé, and another major opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea.

The authorities said the parties placed under observation failed to hold their party congress within the time limit and to provide bank statements, among other issues.

Guinea is one of a growing number of West African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule. Earlier this year, the military junta in Burkina Faso extended its transition term by five years.

Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who leads Guinea, overran the president three years ago, saying he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises.

However, since coming to power he’s been criticized by some for being no better than his predecessor.

In February, the military leader dissolved the government without explanation, saying a new one will be appointed.

Doumbouya has rebuffed attempts by the West and other developed countries to intervene in Africa’s political challenges, saying Africans are “exhausted by the categorizations with which everyone wants to box us in.”

your ad here

Small modular reactors could give developing countries access to nuclear energy

Experts say small modular reactors, called SMRs, are bringing affordable nuclear energy to less wealthy countries. But what are SMRs and why are proponents so excited about them? VOA reporter Henry Wilkins explains

your ad here

Police in Botswana block opposition protest alleging election rigging

Gaborone, Botswana — Botswanan opposition activists took to the streets of capital Gaborone over the weekend ahead of general elections set for this Wednesday. They wanted to march to Zimbabwe’s embassy with a petition that voiced concerns the neighboring country is conspiring to help Botswana’s ruling party extend its 58-year hold on power. But the marchers did not reach their destination.

The weekend march was organized by a coalition of opposition parties under the Umbrella for Democratic Change, or UDC.

But police, wielding guns, batons and shields pushed back the marchers and barricaded roads, forcing them to disperse.

UDC representative Phenyo Butale read out the petition despite the failed effort to reach the Zimbabwean Embassy. The petition urged Zimbabwe not to interfere in Botswana’s election. 

Butale told VOA there have been reports Zimbabwe wants to aid the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, or BDP, by helping it rig this Wednesday’s election. The party has been in power since 1966. Its candidate, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, is seeking a second term. He faces three challengers. 

“We decided to march to the Zimbabwe Embassy because we have been receiving credible information that there is an attempt by the Zimbabwean government to assist their friends here, the ruling party in Botswana, through clandestine means,” Butale said.

He said the police were not supposed to prevent them from marching to the embassy.

“We were met by brute force,” he said. “Heavily armed police blocked the way and said we cannot go to the embassy; we need a permit. We told them that our interpretation of the law is that the process of asking for a permit is not because we need permission to enjoy our freedom of expression; the purpose is for the police to facilitate us and ensure our safety.”

Police said that for a demonstration to take place the organizers must obtain a permit first.

But political analyst Zibani Maundeni, a professor at the University of Botswana, says the police’s actions could be viewed as political.

“The police have to be a neutral body,” Maundeni said. “If people organize a peaceful demonstration, there is no reason it should be stopped. In many countries in the region, the police have been a problem, acting in favor of the ruling party.”

Meanwhile, the ruling BDP has denied claims it is working with Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party to win the elections.

Equally, ZANU-PF spokesperson Farai Marapira said there is no truth in the Botswana opposition’s allegations.

“We do not interfere in the internal activities of any other country, Marapira said. “We do not interfere in the processes. We respect the electoral processes in different countries, and we support what the people of those countries will have decided on. This is just absurd and an insult to ZANU-PF and an insult to the people of Botswana themselves.” 

The handling of early voting in Botswana has also been criticized, with reports saying some polling stations ran out of ballot papers. 

Masisi is a former vice president. He took office in 2018 after he was handpicked to succeed President Ian Khama, who stepped down that year. Masisi was officially elected in 2019 to a five-year term.

your ad here

US, Germany launch joint conflict stability program for West African coastal states

The United States and Germany have launched a $40 million joint initiative, the Coastal States Stability Mechanism, across five West African states, focusing on countering terrorism and extremism. Unlike past military-driven efforts, this program emphasizes community-led developmental approaches to address the root causes of instability and promote good governance and economic development. Senanu Tord reports from Yendi in Ghana.

your ad here

Building collapse in Nigeria’s capital leaves at least 7 dead

Abuja, Nigeria — A building collapsed in a suburban area of Nigeria’s capital over the weekend, killing at least seven people, police said Monday.

The building, located in the Sabon-Lugbe area of Abuja, had already been partly demolished and its structure was further compromised by scavengers looking for scrap metal, the Abuja police said.

Abuja police spokesperson Josephine Adeh said five people were rescued from the rubble on Sunday.

Building collapses are becoming increasingly common in Nigeria, with more than a dozen such incidents recorded in the last two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on failures to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has recorded 22 building collapses between January and July this year, according to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.

In July, a two-story school collapsed in north-central Nigeria, killing 22 students. The Saints Academy college in Plateau state’s Busa Buji community collapsed shortly after students, many of whom were 15 years old or younger, arrived for classes.

your ad here