02 March 2022 b
“No matter how powerful a king, he won’t crown himself”
BBC Africa Live 02 March 2022. 4:39. African proverb of the day. Sent by D'Boss Ating to BBC News Pidgin
Uganda: Renowned Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija – he has won the Pen Pinter international writer of courage prize in 2021 and recently fled to Germany – is taking the Ugandan government to the East African Court of Justice and wants it “to declare that his arrest, detention and torture were illegal”. He had been “arrested in December after posting tweets (allegedly) insulting Mr Museveni and his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba.”
BBC Africa Live 02 March 2022. 5:40
South Africa: The third and final part of the Zondo report into state capture recommends that Jacob Zuma be investigated for accepting gifts from Bosasa, an enterprise that was repeatedly awarded government contracts. Beside him, “current Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and senior African National Congress politicians Nomvula Mokonyane and Thabang Makwetla” should also be investigated for their dealings with Bosasa.
BBC Africa Live 02 March 2022. 12:53
South Africa/Terrorism: US sanction against four alleged IS financiers based in South Africa point to the possibility of IS members in the country “playing an increasingly central role in facilitating the transfer of funds from the top of the ISIS hierarchy to branches across Africa”.
BBC Africa Live 02 March 2022. 17:01
Africa & the Indo-Pacific: Despite the Indo-Pacific’s growing weight in today’s world, the littoral states of the western Indo-Pacific rim don’t have a vision for the super-region and neither does the African Union. To not lose out, the Indian Ocean Rim Association could serve as a platform.
https://theconversation.com/african-states-need-a-vision-for-relations-with-the-indo-pacific-177377
Climate change/IPCC report: Under the best-case scenario – a 1.5℃ warming above pre-industrial levels – “children under 12 will experience a fourfold increase in natural disasters in their lifetime, and up to 14% of all species assessed will likely face a very high risk of extinction.” Effects will not be evenly spread – Africa, Asia and low-lying island nations will be hardest hit. Climate change will further increase inequities across the globe. Of course: the more temperatures increase, the worse the effects.
https://theconversation.com/mass-starvation-extinctions-disasters-the-new-ipcc-reports-grim-predictions-and-why-adaptation-efforts-are-falling-behind-176693
Nigeria: The authors of this article did research into the harmful effects of the lockdown on informal workers in Nigeria, focussing “on violations of human rights of informal workers in Nigeria by state actors”. They give an overview over their results. They call for major changes if anti-pandemic measures ever become necessary in the future.
https://theconversation.com/nigerias-pandemic-lockdown-measures-were-hard-on-informal-workers-177466
02 March 2022
Mali: The country’s external debt defaults now sum up to 180 million USD. At fault: the Ecowas sanctions because of Mali’s exceeding the originally promised length of the transition.
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2022. 14:19
Uganda: The commander of Uganda's land forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni’s son supports Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. “When the USSR parked nuclear armed missiles in Cuba in 1962, the West was ready to blow up the world over it. Now when Nato does the same they expect Russia to do differently.”
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2022. 10:14
Congo-Kinshasa: Tenke Fungurume mine is one of the world's largest sources of cobalt. China Molybdenum, owner of the mine for the past 6 years, is accused of understating its reserves and owing the state billions of dollars. A court has now temporarily removed its control over the copper and cobalt mine.
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2022. 6:24
Uganda: The USA have promised up to 5m USD for information leading to the capture of the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony. The article looks for answers to “Why?” With less than 1,000 fighters scattered in splinter groups, the LRA looks pretty weak even if there are reports of atrocities in South Sudan and the Central African Republic including violent attacks on civilians and abduction of children. Do the USA want to support the ICC from outside (they have never become members)? Or do they want to become a player in the Central African Republic, seen that Russia has become important there? Anyhow, it is most unlikely that morals could have driven the 5m USD offer, that the USA want to protect civilian LRA victims.
https://theconversation.com/ugandan-rebel-joseph-kony-the-latest-us-arrest-bid-raises-questions-177578