NEWS - The African Mirror

Sep

05

2020

Congo police fire tear gas to disperse protest over Rwandan diplomat

NEWS

STANIS BUJAKERA POLICE in Congo's capital Kinshasa have fired tear gas to disperse around 100 protesters calling for the expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador they accuse of denying a massacre during the 1998-2003 Congo war. Two people were seriously injured, one of whom was in critical condition, after inhaling tear gas and being beaten by police, said Carbone Beni from the campaign group Filimbi, which organised the protest. Kinshasa's police chief Sylvano Kasongo confirmed some protesters were hurt, but said injuries were not serious. The city's governor had not authorised the demonstration, he said. The protest was broken up before…

Sep

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia’s Tigray region to holds poll, defying federal government

NEWS

GIULIA PARAVICINI ETHIOPIA’S northern Tigray region will head to the polls on Wednesday in defiance of the federal government, the latest challenge to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from a slew of regional leaders flexing their muscles ahead of next year's national elections. Abiy has overseen sweeping democratic reforms since taking power in Africa's second most populous nation two years ago. But the federal government - and major opposition parties - agreed to postpone national and regional elections due in August until the COVID-19 pandemic was under control. Tigray, whose leaders dominated the previous administration and have often bitterly denounced Abiy,…

Sep

04

2020

By The African Mirror

EU wants ban on Gambian-born ICC prosecutor must be reversed

NEWS

THE European Union's top diplomat has called on Washington to reverse its sanctions on International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another member of the ICC, calling the measures "unacceptable and unprecedented". The United States has blacklisted Bensouda over her investigation into whether American forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan, under sanctions authorised by President Donald Trump in June that allow for asset freezes and travel bans. Sanctions were also imposed on Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the Hague-based ICC Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division. Phakiso Mochochoko "The sanctions ... are unacceptable and unprecedented measures that attempt to obstruct the…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Top ANC politician granted R30 000 bail and vows to prove his innocence

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER VINCENT Smith, who has become the first high profile ANC politician to be arrested for corruption related to the state capture inquiry, has vowed to prove his innocence. Smith (60) was arrested and appeared in Special Commercial Crimes Court in Palmridge, outside Johannesburg, where he was charged with corruption. He was granted bail of R30 000, ordered to hand in his passport and not to interfere with state witnesses. He is a former MP and ex-chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Correctional Services. The charges relate to amounts totalling R660 000 that he received from Bosasa In an…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone anti-graft body summons ex-president Koroma for questioning

NEWS

UMARU FOFANA SIERRA Leone's anti-corruption body has summoned former President Ernest Bai Koroma for questioning under oath over allegations of graft while in office, it has announced. The summons by the anti-graft commission is the latest move in a campaign by Koroma's successor, President Julius Maada Bio, to call to account the previous administration that Maada Bio says took the country to the brink of economic collapse. His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, 20 January 2020 It concerns alleged wrongdoing in connection with mining, construction and procurement contracts, and…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Rwandan genocide suspect Kabuga can be sent to U.N. court

NEWS

TANGI SALAUN RWANDAN genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga can be handed over to a United Nations tribunal in Tanzania, France's top civil court has ruled, dismissing his lawyers' arguments that he is too frail to be extradited. U.N. prosecutors accuse the former tea and coffee tycoon of bankrolling and importing huge numbers of machetes for ethnic Hutu militias who killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda during a 100-day period in 1994. Kabuga's arrest in Paris in May ended a manhunt lasting more than two decades. He has denounced the charges, including genocide and incitement to commit…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Congo ‘jobs-for-sex’ expose prompts calls for greater scrutiny of aid workers

NEWS

NELLIE PEYTON VETTING aid workers more closely and giving women more power is critical to tackle sex abuse in humanitarian crises as exposed in a joint investigation by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New Humanitarian, aid experts said on Wednesday. In the expose, 51 women recounted multiple incidents of abuse by mainly foreign aid workers during the 2018-2020 Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, many saying men demanded sex to get a job or ended contracts if they refused. At least 30 women said workers from the World Health Organization (WHO) were involved and women also reported…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Rwanda genocide survivors want speedy trial for Kabuga, but court faces delays

NEWS

CLEMENT UWIRIGIYAMANA A special U.N. tribunal in Tanzania should quickly try elderly tycoon Felicien Kabuga on charges of financing the 1994 Rwandan genocide, survivors said on Thursday, after France's top civil court ruled he could be handed over for prosecution. "The case of Kabuga should be speedy," Naphtal Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of genocide survivor organization Ibuka told Reuters by phone. He lost his parents and three brothers in the genocide. "He is elderly, I think a quick trial would enable the victims to get justice." But the tribunal in Tanzania's northern town of Arusha faces both legal challenges and…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Arrest of politician sparks “who’s next’ panic in the ANC

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE arrest of a top ANC politician on allegations of fraud and corruption related to the capture of the state by corrupt elements has triggered panic with the ANC ranks. In separate operations, Vincent Smith, the former chair of Parliament’s Committee on Correctional Services and seven other people, including a businessman who gave millions to the ANC, were arrested in joint operation by the Haws and the Special Investigations Unit. A number of senior ANC politicians, including two former premiers and a sitting cabinet minister, have been named in testimonies heard by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia faces tough challenge to reverse apartheid legacy – president

NEWS

AXEL THREFALL and NYASHA NYAUNGWA NAMIBIAN President Hage Geingob says the southwestern African country must take care in its efforts to reverse the legacy of racist white minority rule, so as not to be seen as grabbing wealth. Speaking at a virtual session at an event organised by international organisation Horasis, Geingob said Namibia's status as an upper-middle-income country belied the fact that some 80% of its population, mostly Black, was living in poverty, while whites who make up less than 5% of Namibia's 2.4 million people were wealthy. "We are proud to be an upper middle income country ...…