26 January 2022
Egypt/USA: Washington has approved the sale of 12 military transport planes, air defence radar systems, etc. to Cairo worth more than 2.3bn USD. Human rights don’t seem too important for the Biden administration.
BBC Africa Live 26 January 2022. 5:20
The Gambia/Senegal: Senegalese soldiers who are part of the ECOWAS peacekeeping mission in The Gambia have clashed with Senegalese separatists smuggling timber – two of the soldiers have been killed and nine are missing, maybe being held hostage.
BBC Africa Live 26 January 2022. 4:35
Zambia: Police had “warned and cautioned” a Kenmark Broadcasting Network (KBN) journalist after the airing of a story about a presidential aide who, in the report, “is heard telling a top civil servant that a member of the opposition should be ‘fixed’.” The audio clip then went viral. The government then advised media to be ‘ethical and professional’. Now a consortium of 10 civil society groups accuses the government of attempting to muzzle the media, the government should be “more concerned about dealing with the revelations rather than criticising the press”. President Hichilema’s honeymoon may well be over.
BBC Africa Live 26 January 2022. 18:02
25 January 2022
Mali/Denmark: According to the Malian government, around 90 Danish soldiers have been deployed without its consent and has called on Copenhagen to withdraw the troops immediately. “Denmark says it's in touch with the government in Bamako and is working intensely to clarify the situation.”
BBC Africa Live 25 January 2022. 5:45
Senegal: Macky Sall’s Bennoo Bokk Yaakaar coalition has been defeated in Sunday’s local elections in the capital Dakar and in Ziguinchor (Casamance). Barthelemy Dias, an ally of former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, an arch-enemy of the Senegalese president, will be mayor of Dakar and Ousmane Sonko – the fiercest rival of Macky Sall – the mayor of Ziguinchor.
BBC Africa Live 25 January 2022. 16:55
Malawi: President Lazarus Chakwera has dismissed his entire government in order to “confront all forms of lawless conduct by public officials”. Three ministers of the old cabinet face corruption charges. The president’s main promise in the 2020 elections had been to fight corruption, but he has been accused of doing far from enough.
BBC Africa Live 25 January 2022. 4:31
Burkina Faso: According to BBC, quite a few support the military coup that has just taken place in Burkina. The rest seems “resigned to accepting military rule, perhaps in the hope that soldiers will achieve more than civilian leaders”.
BBC Africa Live 25 January 2022. 13:28 & 12:08 & 9:41