28 May 2023
Mozambique: Since September 2022, health authorities have battled a cholera outbreak that has seen 30,943 confirmed cases and 135 deaths so far. Rumours and misinformation – such as that “adding chlorine to water supplies and the use of purifiers, are in fact spreading the disease” – are making things worse and have led to attacks on individuals, officials and health centres. Several people were killed in such contexts.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world/africa
Somalia: The President has presented a plan to reintroduce universal suffrage from next year onwards instead of indirect voting. “The first direct vote would be in local elections in June next year, followed by federal elections later.”
BBC Africa Latest Updates 28 May 2023. 13:09
Nigeria: One thing is sure: he knows no shame. Maybe he thinks everyone is stupid. On his last day in office, Buhari noted that he has done a good job, that Nigeria is “better in 2023 than in 2015” with the economy revamped (?). It seems he didn’t dare mention insecurity though.
BBC Africa Latest Updates 28 May 2023. 8:22
27 May 2023
Congo-Kinshasa/Southern Africa: On 8th of May at a summit in Windhoek, SADC “approved the deployment of a SADC Force within the framework of the SADC Standby Force as a regional response in support of the DRC to restore peace and security in Eastern DRC”. This is as Tshisekedi (who is also member of SADC) is unhappy with the East African Community’s intervention, suggesting they are not doing what they are meant to (combat M23, first of all), with Burundi and Uganda instead only pursuing their own rebels who have their bases in Congo. But there are questions surrounding a SADC intervention, starting with member willingness to participate, availability of troops (as there is already an intervention in Mozambique ongoing) and finally financing.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/sadc-prepares-to-go-back-to-the-future-in-eastern-drc
South Africa: The article’s author accuses Pretoria and the ANC to be over-indulgent vis-à-vis Russia because of an over-awareness of the “historical abuses of colonial and imperial powers, and the perpetuation of these injustices through North-South power dynamics”. But not condemning Russia has put the ANC “into a difficult corner of its own making” where it risks to betray its commitment to human rights, international law and free & open societies. The author calls upon Pretoria (plus the ANC) to adopt a truly non-aligned approach, because “defaulting to an inflexible ideological posture on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not a workable foreign policy and does not serve South Africa’s national interests”.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/wheels-come-off-south-africas-hollow-version-of-non-alignment
Cairo: The centuries-old Sayyida Nafisa cemetery must make way for new roads and flyover bridges. Or are there property developers behind the destruction eying prime real estate?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65697835