Eye on Africa

Somalia's protracted political crisis has entered a new, dangerous phase. In a hastily convened session on April 12, MPs overwhelmingly endorsed a bill that would delay the election by two years, effectively extending the term of office of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo". The movement is an alarming escalation of a dispute that could very well turn into widespread violence unless Somalia's political elite returns to the negotiating table. The opposition is said to be considering forming a parallel…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Outgoing Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo convened a closed-door meeting with foreign diplomats on Saturday at the Afisyonie tent at Mogadishu airport. Sources close to Villa Somalia said Farmajo went to the venue early in the morning to hold talks with international partners five days after Parliament in the lower house extended its mandate by two years, a move the Senate rejected as unconstitutional. Axadlesources revealed that the foreign diplomats are making a final effort to convince…

The independent Roman daily "Domani" managed, in collaboration with the British newspaper "The Guardian" and the Italian TV channel RAI News, to obtain documents transcribing wiretaps from 2017. These documents are in the possession of the prosecutor's office Trapani, in Sicily, prove the inertia at the Libyan Coast Guard in the face of migrants' shipwrecks in their territorial waters.…

In a move aimed at reducing the risk of more COVID-19 outbreaks in the country's overcrowded prisons, Zimbabwe announced an amnesty under the president that allowed the release of some 3,000 prisoners. About 400 prisoners were released from Chikurubi Prison and other prisons in the capital Harare on Saturday, and more are coming from other prisons across the country. Zimbabwe's prisons have a capacity of 17,000 prisoners but are held about 22,000 before the amnesty is declared by President Emmerson…

Marcel Hitayezu, who had lived in France for twenty years, served in a parish in the south of France and had even acquired French nationality. This Rwandan priest has been imprisoned and charged since Wednesday, April 14, overrun by accusations of his role in the 1994 Tutsi genocide. As early as 2015, Rwanda issued an…

A fire broke out on Friday at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in South Africa's largest city in Johannesburg, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of patients. No injuries or deaths have been reported and patients are being moved to other public hospitals in the metropolitan area, Johannesburg officials said. Early on Saturday morning, the fire caused the third floor of the hospital's parking garage to collapse. Sixty firefighters have been battling the blaze through the night. The fire started Friday morning and had…

Ethnic tensions in the Central African country of Chad left at least 55 people dead and more than 40 injured when three villages burned to the ground, an official said on Friday. Clashes in the southeastern region of Salamat broke out between ethnic groups on Wednesday night in the villages around Am Timan's provincial capital, according to Salamat's governor Abel Yamabaye Massira. Dozens of injured people were treated in hospital as of Thursday, he said. The reason for the outbreak of violence was…

Russia's Wagner group is increasingly pushing tribes in southern Libya to support Putist general Khalifa Haftar as the latter declines with Libya embarking on a new political path towards normalization and ending the country's decadelong war. Sources on the ground told the Daily Sabah that the Wagner group is trying to help Haftar through pressing tribes that want to support the newly elected government of national unity (GNU). Sources stressed that Wagner used the argument to fight Daesh when he…

Petit Mbao was known for having one of the most beautiful white sand beaches in Senegal. Since the 1960s, industrial plants have moved in, including Senegal's largest chemical plant. Many people in Petit Mbao have for years complained about the smell of the plant and the chemical in the air that burns their eyes and affects breathing. Children, livestock and fishermen have been known to…

The UN Security Council is voting on a draft resolution calling on all foreign forces and mercenaries to leave Libya and authorizing a small UN team to monitor last October's ceasefire order ordering their departure. The results of the e-mail vote on the proposed resolution - due to COVID-19 - are expected to be announced on Friday. The UK draft resolution would approve Secretary - General Antonio Guterre's proposal on the composition and operational aspects of ceasefire monitoring set out in a letter…