Liberia’s ruling party on Sunday announced a formal complaint against the electoral commission over the outcome of the October 10 presidential poll, days before a runoff involving its candidate, Vice-President Joseph Boakai.
A statement released by the Unity Party and two other parties called for “a logical legal conclusion as quickly as permissible under Liberian law,” citing “widespread and systematic fraud (and) incompetence” that prevented legitimate voters from casting ballots.
The statement also accused incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, also of the Unity Party, of “interfering” with the election by meeting polling officials at her residence.
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order resuming the admission of refugees into the country, but imposed tougher scrutiny on nationals from 11 countries identified as posing a high risk to national security.
The new order was issued Tuesday as an earlier order that imposed a 120-day ban on refugee admissions expired. All refugees hoping to enter the United States will face additional, enhanced vetting measures, such as providing additional biographical information than previously required, under the new directive.
Nationals from the 11 countries identified as high risk will face an extra 90-day review on their application, and will be admitted into the United States on a case-by-case basis if their entry is deemed in the national interest, and they pose no threat to Americans.
Officials refused to name the 11 countries, but both Reuters and the French news agency have identified them as the same countries whose nationals are already required to undergo higher-level screening known as Security Advisory Opinions — Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Refugee advocates say the tighter requirements on refugees from those nations could add months, if not years, to the application process, effectively banning them from coming into the United States.
Tuesday’s order is the latest in President Trump’s efforts to follow through on his campaign promises to curtail the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States. He issued temporary bans on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries within days of taking office in January. Lawsuits stymied the initial roll-out of the temporary ban. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court determined arrivals could continue as long as the refugees could demonstrate “bona fide” close family ties to the country.
The high court on Tuesday also dismissed a lawsuit by the state of Hawaii against an earlier version of Trump’s travel ban – the same one that limited refugee arrivals. The new refugee vetting procedures, and a separate presidential proclamation in September limiting travelers from eight countries, replace much of what the two earlier travel bans attempted. Last week, a judge in Hawaii halted the administration’s latest efforts to block travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
In addition to the forthcoming vetting changes, the Trump administration last month announced it would drop the ceiling on refugee arrivals for the 2018 fiscal year to 45,000, the lowest limit ever set for the program. Former President Barack Obama set the ceiling on refugee arrivals for the previous fiscal year that ended on September 30 at 110,000.
As a memorial to five Southern Illinois missionary nuns who were killed 25 years ago in Liberia, the Sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ will hold a celebration Saturday at the order’s motherhouse in Ruma, Ill.
On Oct. 20, Sisters Barbara Ann Muttra and Mary Joel Kolmer were ambushed while driving an employee to his home. Three days later, the three remaining Adorers sisters serving in Liberia at that time, Shirley Kolmer, Agnes Mueller and Kathleen McGuire, were killed outside their homes by rebel forces.
Map of Liberia
The five nuns were working as missionaries in Liberia, which had been involved in a civil war since 1989. No one was ever identified or prosecuted for the murders.
The event will open at 9 a.m, followed by a prayer service at 10 a.m. Ruma is about 40 miles south of St. Louis; the motherhouse is at 2 Pioneer Lane.
Then at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. a program that discusses the lives of the nuns — all proclaimed martyrs by Pope John Paul II — and a 22-minute documentary about the incident will be shown. The film was directed and produced by Bill Streeter.
Liberians in an out of the country have become disillusioned with the field of potential candidates and the process in the upcoming run-off elections.
Liberian Voters
According to the West African Times correspondent in Monrovia, shock and disappointment have gripped thousands of Liberians who say the country may have missed an opportunity this election to disconnect from the failed past and into a bright future with credible and new leadership.
In interviews, Liberians across the country said they were greatly disappointed with the incompetence of the National Elections Commission (NEC), the body charged with conducting the elections which will see the replacement of President Ellen John-Sirleaf.
They also questioned the governance ability of some candidates contesting the Presidency, adding that lack of national development and economic stagnation have been hampered by poor planning, lack of national vision and and vices in every sector of Liberia.
Reports say at polling centers in several areas across the country, voters were not allowed to cast their ballot because of incomplete or missing registration rolls in particular precincts, lack of trained poll workers and geographic inaccessibility. Some voters complained that a lack of an aggressive voter education program may have also contributed to the confusion and disenfranchisement of voters.
Major political parties including Liberty (LP) and the Alternative National Congress (ANC) have expressed reservations about the acceptance of the outcome of the elections due to ‘irregularities”. In its reaction, the LP, through its National Chairman Ben Sanvee said, ” there is absolutely no excuse for hindering Liberians from exercising their democratic rights.”
His statement came shortly after the NEC gave notification that it would begin the release of preliminary vote tallies of the October 10th voting process.
The ANC, in a statement, called on the NEC to address issues of the very late opening of voting centers, missing voter rolls and refusal to allow voters to cast their ballots in several sub-political subdivisions of the country including Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, Margibi and Bong Counties.
In Gbarlata, Bong County in central Liberia, protesters who claimed they were denied their voting rights resorted to burning tires and blocking streets on election day until local police intervened to quiet the situation.
The NEC has invalidated over 84,000 ballots.
Flag of Liberia
Liberians interviewed say that the country cannot expect to make any progress with the election of the same failed leaders. Already, some have indicated that they will not vote in the run-off elections.
In a survey of Liberians in the Diaspora, many expressed disappointment with their compatriots back in Liberia who are choosing to maintain the “status quo” through their vote preferences. Some told the West African Times that they have “checked out” of any further meaningful engagement with the homeland and blamed the lack of education, critical evaluation, corruption and patriotism as some reasons for the perpetuation of poor individual and national progress.
Asked if they support any of the potential run off candidates, scores of Diaspora Liberians said no. “We are focused on taking care of our careers and families here abroad now. Liberians will have to live with the choices they are making,” one Bartee Johnson from Ohio said.
A Liberian national named Miatta Knoh based in Australia said she was unsure of how Liberia will progress in the coming years. “No one cares about our people. And even the same Liberian people have settled for mediocrity and do-nothing politicians who got them suffering like this. I’m done with them,” she angrily said.
NEC Liberia
Two Liberians residing in South Africa, Jacob Dahn and Alfred Woyee blasted past administrations for failing to elevate the education of Liberians and blamed past leaders for the current lack of national progress and ability of Liberians to move beyond tribal and sectarian election.
An announcement is expected shortly on the names of the two candidates who will contest in the run-off elections for the Presidency.
Reporting by Timbo Ngozi in Lagos Bureau and James Paye in Monrovia
A 30-year-old Wilmington woman, who called city police early Monday worried about her immigration status after her boyfriend was detained by federal authorities, has been charged in the deaths of her infant son and a 5-year-old boy in her care.
Kula Pelina
Police were called later that morning by the same woman and found the children drowned in a bathtub in a Trinity Vicinity-area apartment located in the 800 block of W. Ninth St. in Wilmington.
Kula Pelima was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. She was being held at Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution after failing to post $2 million cash bail, Chief Robert Tracy said at a Tuesday press briefing.
“She was concerned about her immigration status,” Tracy said of Pelima’s initial call to police at about 3:45 a.m.Monday. “She’s a Liberian immigrant that came to the country in 1997, and she was worried about what could happen to her because her boyfriend … [the father of both boys] was picked up also by the feds on some immigration issues on Oct. 6.”
Pelima called 911 again, at about 8:30 a.m.Monday, telling the operator that she had drowned the children, Tracy said. She met responding officers at the door of her first-floor apartment and directed them to the bathroom tub where they found the two boys’ bodies.
“At the same time, there was a strong smell (of natural gas) in the apartment,” Tracy said.
Investigators have not determined why the stove’s gas had been left on.
A city police official said Pelima is in the country legally. Wilmington police did not know why her boyfriend, identified as Victor Epelle, originally from Nigeria, had been detained in Pennsylvania by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Delaware Police Crime Unit
An officer who went to her home after the 3:45 call told Pelima that they were not interested in arresting her and gave her the Delaware Helpline phone number so she could get answers from the state. The officer saw the 5-year-old boy during that early morning visit and did not see anything indicating distress in the home, Tracy said.
While documents obtained from Justice of the Peace Court 20 stated the children were hers, Tracy said the older boy, Alex Epelle, 5, was not her biological son. The younger child, Solomon Epelle, 3 months, was.
Police contacted Victor Epelle, who is the father of both boys and is being held in York, Pennsylvania, Tracy said.
A federal court database shows no deportation records for Epelle.
The mother of the older boy has not yet been located, Tracy said. She hasn’t been part of his life for “several years,” he said.
Ruling Unity Party Presidential Candidate Joseph Boakai
Monrovia – Former international footballer George Weah and Liberia’s Vice President Joseph Boakai will face a run-off for the presidency on November 7, the national election commission announced on Sunday.
With tallies in from 95.6% of polling stations, Weah took 39.0% of the votes and Boakai 29.1%, both well short of the 50% barrier required to win outright from the first round of voting held on Tuesday.
National Elections Commission chair Jerome Korkoya told journalists that 1 550 923 votes had been counted and turnout was at 74.52%.
Senator George Weah-CDC
Three other candidates took a significant share of votes with veteran opposition leader Charles Brumskine at 9.8%, former Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings at 7.1% and former warlord turned preacher Prince Johnson at 7%.
Harare – President Robert Mugabe will be confirmed as the ruling Zanu-PF’s candidate in next year’s Presidential election during an extraordinary congress slated for December after the party’s 10 provinces passed the resolution over the weekend, the state-owned Herald reported on Monday.
The extraordinary congress comes before the regular congress that was due in 2019.
Zim First Lady Grace Mugabe
In an interview with The Herald after the Harare Provincial Executive Council (PEC) meeting, provincial spokesperson Abicia Ushewokunze said the resolution to hold an extraordinary congress to affirm President Mugabe as the party’s sole candidate was unanimous.
He said the PEC also resolved to amend the 2014 party constitution “to accommodate issues to do with the Youth and Women’s Leagues”, with the resolution to have a female Vice President taking centre stage.
All the party wings unanimously endorsed the motion, with Manicaland Women’s League chairperson, Estry Mlambo-Madhuku, saying the special congress would put the succession issue to rest.
“We want to reaffirm our position… of being solidly behind President Mugabe. We have been advocating having one of the Vice Presidents being a women and the December special conference will help us to resolve this issue,” she said.
Youth League chairperson Mubuso Chinguno said: “President Mugabe is our Moses and he will take us to the Promised Land.
Map of Biafra-NigeriaMap of NigeriaBiafra Secessionist Leader Nnamdi Kanu
Lagos – The leader of a pro-Biafran separatist group in Nigeria has apparently gone missing, prompting speculation as to his whereabouts on the eve of his trial on treason charges.
Nnamdi Kanu, who heads the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, has not been seen in public since troops were deployed to the southeastern city of Umuahia last month.
Kanu, who wants a separate state for the Igbo people who dominated the country’s southeast, has been on bail since April.
He is scheduled to appear in court in Abuja on Tuesday.
His lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, told AFP: “Only the army can tell us where he is. Either they arrested him or they killed him.
“If he is alive, they should bring him to the court on Tuesday.”
Justice ministry spokesperson Salihu Othman Isah said whether the trial goes ahead depends on Kanu’s appearance and the judge.
“I can’t tell you specifically what will happen,” he added.
Bullet holes
Kanu’s disappearance has prompted renewed fears of violence in the restive southeast, which remains tense 50 years after a declaration of independence sparked a brutal civil war.
He was first arrested in October 2015 and held in custody until April this year, despite repeated court rulings that he should be released.
In Umuahia, which was once the capital of the self-styled republic of Biafra and where Kanu spent his childhood, the windows of the family home have been blown out.
The ochre walls and the cars parked in front of the building are pitted with bullet holes, according to an AFP correspondent in the city.
Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, maintains he was at the compound when soldiers attacked it on September 14.
He said 28 people were killed but the army has denied the claim. Neither claim has been verified independently.
“They were so numerous. They started to shoot from 200 metres (650 feet) away,” Prince Emmanuel told AFP by telephone. “People were running for their lives. We had no guns with us.”
Prince Emmanuel said the military was holding his brother in secret. The government has dismissed the claim and said he was “hiding” somewhere.
Long-standing resentment
Nigeria officially declared IPOB a “terrorist organisation” in mid-September after violent clashes between the security forces and IPOB supporters.
Map of Biafra-Nigeria
Members of the group were accused of attacking military checkpoints in Umuahia, which is the capital of Abia state, and the state’s commercial hub, Aba.
There was also violence in Port Harcourt, which is the capital of the neighbouring state of Rivers and Nigeria’s main oil hub.
Officially, the military said the troop deployment was part of its Operation Python Dance against crime in the region. IPOB said it was designed to curb its activities.
Human rights organisations and analysts believe the authorities’ response has exacerbated tensions in a region where separatist sentiment has never really disappeared.
Many in the southeast say the region’s lack of basic infrastructure and extreme poverty is a “punishment” for what happened in 1967.
The charismatic Kanu, who is in his 50s, knew how to exploit those frustrations. He revived Radio Biafra and used to broadcast calls for independence from his home in London.
Those calls increased after his arrest and sparked repeated demonstrations. Even after his release on bail, he rarely passed up a chance to whip up his crowds of supporters.
Kanu wants a referendum on self-determination and has called for a boycott all forthcoming elections.
High-risk strategy
Security consultant Don Okereke believes the army overstepped the mark by conducting law enforcement operations in the southeast that were normally the remit of the police.
“(The) Python Dance exercise is an aberration. There’s a high sentiment of distrust,” he said.
The federal government in Abuja has meanwhile opened itself up to the charge of “double standards” with the Biafra question, he added.
On the one hand it is prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast and militants in the Niger delta in the south but not IPOB, Okereke added.
That was a high-risk strategy, he said, adding: “If anything happens to him (Kanu), the reactions are likely to be very violent in the southeast.”
In 2009, a military crackdown on Boko Haram led to the death in custody of its leader, Muhammad Yusuf.
For now, rumours abound about Kanu’s whereabouts. The British mission in Abuja has denied one claim from a former Abia state governor that Kanu was back in London.
A letter purported to confirm the illness of Liberia’s incumbent Vice President and Presidential candidate of the ruling Unity Party Joseph Boakai is circulating even as Liberians are voting for a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
UP Candidate Joseph Boakai
West African Times is in possession of a copy of the purported letter written on the letterhead of the ruling party and signed by the party’s National Chairman Wilmot Paye and entitled: A Statement to the Liberian Public on the Health Condition of His Excellency Vice President Joseph N. Boakai
The purported letter cited international news reports of the illness of the Vice President and a news conference by the party’s campaign spokesperson Mo Ali who has denied the condition of Vice President Boakai.
According to the purported letter authored by Chairman Paye, “…The news reported by the international news agencies this morning is accurate in that H.E. Vice President Joseph N. Boakai was recently diagnosed with an early stage of cancer. However, the treatment should be fully completed within six month and H.E. Joseph Boakai will be back to full health at that time. If so elected, Hon James Emmanuel Nuquay will carry out his constitutional duties as as Acting President of Liberia and also appoint a person of his choosing his Acting Vice President (not necessarily Mr. Varney Sherman as the new agencies reported.), while His Excellency Joseph Boakai undergoes treatment and recovery.” the purported letter said.
The purported letter dated October 9th, ended by condemning what is referred to as the “..the actions of opposition politicians that have sought to use this for political advantage over the last 24 hours.”
West African Times attempted to contact the Unity Party (UP) to ascertain the veracity of the letter and was told by a party representative at a polling station that the letter is simply not true and referred our Monrovia correspondent to the party headquarters for an official response later.
West African Times cannot independently verify the authenticity of the letter.
There have been rumors of the illness of Vice President Boakai. None of the candidates have released medical reports.
Meantime, Liberians have been filing into polling stations around the country to cast their ballots. In some precincts in political sub-divisions of Grand Bassa, Nimba and Montserrado Counties, there are reports of a slow start as poll workers try to straighten out minor logistical and organizational issues.
Poll Workers
Voters have been patiently waiting in long lines. Official announcement of the elections results is expected to me bade by the National Elections Commission on October 25th.
Political observers predict a run-off since no one party stands to gain an outright majority.
Brussels – Rwanda’s military has routinely unlawfully detained and tortured detainees with beatings, asphyxiations, mock executions, and electric shocks, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Tuesday.
The organisation found that judges and prosecutors ignored complaints from current and former detainees about the unlawful detention and ill-treatment, creating an environment of total impunity. It called on Rwandan authorities and UN to investigate immediately.
“Research over a number of years demonstrates that military officials in Rwanda can use torture whenever they please,” said Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director at HRW.
“Impunity for unlawful detention and the systematic use of torture has led many victims to give up all hope for justice.”
The group’s research found that most victims were detained on suspicion of being members of the FDLR – a predominantly Hutu rebel group based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – with some of its members suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide.
The Rwandan government did not reply to numerous letters from Human Rights Watch presenting the findings and requesting a response to specific questions.
Many of the detainees, including civilians, were arrested in Rwanda by Rwandan soldiers, sometimes assisted by police, intelligence, or local government officials.
Answers soldiers wanted
Others were arrested and ill-treated in neighbouring Burundi or the Democratic Republic of Congo, some while being processed through the demobilisation and repatriation programme supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC. They were then illegally transferred to Rwanda, where they were abused, the report said.
Many said that torture sessions began immediately after they arrived at a military detention centre.
If the suspect failed to give the soldiers the answers they wanted, the were beaten, sometimes several times a day. Other detainees described asphyxiation, electric shocks, mock executions, and tying objects to men’s genitals.
Some detainees’ hands were reportedly handcuffed to their legs for months on end, with soldiers only taking the handcuffs off so the men could use the toilet.
Many former detainees said they had signed false statements because they could not stand the torture or believed they would die, the HRW report said
On June 30, 2015, Rwanda ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which requires governments set up a national mechanism to prevent torture at the domestic level.
In the small West African nation of Liberia, the Presidential candidate of the Alternative National Congress Mr. Alexander B. Cummings Jr. over the weekend asked Liberians to give him a clear mandate in order to begin the process of changing the trajectory of the country.
ANC Rally Crowd
He told a massive crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters who have travelled from far and wide to a local sports stadium that he has heard their cry for a new and better country and he is ready to deliver.
As a public service, West African Times brings you verbatim, the speech of Mr. Cummings.
“I ran complex organizations holding people accountable and consistently delivering results. I got there by working hard, making the right choices, smart decisions, and never letting anyone tell me I can’t do it. My fellow Liberians, I have traveled to every corner of the country.
The first and only candidate to visit every district, and I, have heard you! You want to work. You want jobs. You want your children to learn at school with free primary education, to have access to healthcare, good roads, water and electricity.
I have heard you. And I was listening even before starting this campaign.My family foundation has invested over 1 million U.S. dollars in Liberia, building schools, giving scholarships, renovating clinics and giving women micro-credit loans.
But I know that that is not enough to transform Liberia for all four million of our citizens.Indeed, I have been blessed with great opportunities and I want to make that a possibility for every Liberian.
I want to give every Liberian child the same opportunity I enjoyed. It’s not good enough for me to have my stomach full and everyone else around me is hungry.
I have a nickname now. Mr. Talk and Do! Everywhere I go people call me, Talk and Do.
Thank you for that. Thank you for letting me earn your confidence. And thank you for letting me show you who I am and what I can do. I will not let you down. I have always put actions to my words. And I always say the best predictor of future performance and behavior is past performance and behavior. I have the business experience and know-how to jump start the Liberian economy; I know how to create jobs and I have managed budgets many times the size of Liberia’s national budget.
My sole purpose in running in this race is to bring my experience to transform Liberia for future generations and give our children the same opportunities I had. I care for you and I care passionately for the Liberian people. Now I know, some people want to say I don’t know Liberian politics, that I’m new. I say yes! I do not know Liberian politics, I don’t know corruption, I have never chopped money from people I serve, and I don’t intend to learn those bad habits that our politicians here have.
But I will tell you what I know. I will tell you that I have Clean Hands. I have had Clean Hands throughout my career. And I will bring these same clean hands to government. I have no political scores to settle, I am free from any debts or political favors to anyone. I am free from any corruption charges or allegations. As you go to the polls on Tuesday, I ask you to ask yourselves, who can transform Liberia?
Who can deliver on the change you can trust? Who is here working and fighting for the Liberian people? Liberians have proved the world wrong before. We’ve found peace amid a war that they said would never end.
We conquered a disease that was supposed to destroy us. And after 73 years, we are going to vote in a new government, from one elected president to another. We are about to turn this country around and bring in the change we can trust.
We are going to do it with our children in mind, and we are going to show the world that we can make history again and do so peacefully. I am confident that we can transform this country, but this change that we want so desperately for Liberia, the change the Liberian people want to believe in, begins with you. Vote peacefully, embrace your neighbors. Even with our different views, we are one people.
On election day, I, Alexander B. Cummings ask you to trust me with your vote, and give Amb. Jeremiah C. Sulunteh and I the privilege to represent you, give us the mandate to change our country for the better, and allow me the honor to be called President of the Republic of Liberia.”
ANC Rally
According to the West African Times Monrovia correspondent, the crowd of ANC supporters at the ATS sports facility shocked the other political parties and political observers outside the country. Over a hundred ANC supporters who displayed their voter registration cards and confirmed that they will be voting for Cummings on Tuesday, said that they made the decision made on his personal character and achievements and his message of change that he brought.
ANC Political Rally – Monrovia
Amos Yallah, a political rally attendee who said he and 200 others were from the Brewerville area said, “Liberians will do the right thing. We will give Cummings the mandate. No more support for the same corrupt political class in Capitol Building and Executive Mansion. We believe in what Cummings stands for,” he said.
In a telephone interview, a high ranking UP executive told West African Times, that the UP did not plan for the massive show of force by Cummings and supporters on Saturday.
Asked if this was a sign of the difficult road ahead for the ruling party candidate Vice President Mr. Joseph Boakai, the source said it is still a huge challenge for them to overcome the perception that Boakai is ineffective and ill. Pressed to explain the illness of Vice President Boakai, the UP executive clarified that he did not mean to say that.
This was the first confirmation by an insider of the frail condition of Presidential candidate Boakai.
A Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Montserrado County District Chairperson who was at the ANC’s political rally over the weekend and appeared shocked at the attendance number refused to comment on the crowd size and message that Cummings delivered. He referred our reporter to the CDC party headquarters.
ANC Supporters
All sea and airports and land borders in Liberia have been sealed a day before Presidential and General Elections on Tuesday.
Local and international elections observers are in place and are dispersing to various parts of the country on Monday. Campaigning ended overnight to allow a one day cooling off period as stipulated by the country’s National Elections Commission (NEC)
Cummings is tipped as the favorite to win the Presidential elections. A little over 2 million Liberians are registered to vote on Tuesday in General and Presidential elections.
Terekeka – War-torn South Sudan “should serve as an example” for other countries in the progress it is making in eradicating Guinea worm, said former United States President Jimmy Carter.
Map of South Sudan
Speaking to the Associated Press, Carter praised the world’s youngest nation for making steady progress in ridding itself of the debilitating parasite despite the “tremendous problems.”
Contracted and spread by drinking infected water, Guinea worm affects some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
In 2006, when the Guinea worm program launched in South Sudan, the country had more than 20 500 cases in over 3 000 endemic villages. At the time it was one of nine affected countries. Today, it remains one of three still tackling the disease, with Chad and Ethiopia.
This year South Sudan reported zero cases. If this continues, the country will be on track to becoming certified Guinea worm free in the next couple of years.
This feat is being touted as one of the few successes to emerge from the young nation, while it battles a 4-year civil war, starvation and grave human rights atrocities being committed against its own people.
Former President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter has been at the helm of the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm for more than 30 years. From 1986, when there were an estimated 3.5 million people infected annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia, the number has dwindled to 10 confirmed cases all of which are in Chad.
Unlike other diseases which are controlled by medicines or vaccines, Guinea worm can be eradicated by educating people how to filter and drink clean water.
An excruciating affliction, the meter-long worm is asymptomatic and incubates in people for up to a year before painfully emerging, often through extremely sensitive parts of the body.
“It was more painful than giving birth,” said Rejina Bodi, tracing the stump of her deformed toe with her finger. “Childbirth ends but this pain persists.”
In 2009, the 48-year-old mother of six was one of South Sudan’s most severe Guinea worm cases. Seated on a mat outside her small hut in the rural village of Terekeka, Bodi yanks down her shirt to expose her chest and frantically point to the many scars covering her narrow frame.
Eight years ago more than 10 worms were pulled out from her breasts, legs, feet and arms over a seven month period. Three worms forced their way out of one hole in her small toe, leaving it misshapen and a permanent reminder of the agony she endured.
“It’s a disease of those who basically have nothing,” says Makoy Samuel Yibi, director for South Sudan’s Guinea worm eradication program.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir
Due to its low literacy rates and remote location, Yibi says Terekeka was one of the worst hit areas.
He attributes the success of South Sudan’s Guinea worm project to more than 17 000 community volunteers who go door-to-door providing preventative information and acting as surveillance systems in some of the most hard to reach areas across the country.
“The worst thing is a missed case,” said Yibi. Due the mass displacement of people since the onset of the war, his team is working closer with neighbouring countries to increase cross border surveillance.
Looking back, Jimmy Carter said this local network is something he wished he had implemented sooner.
“At the beginning we underestimated the importance of local leaders,” said Carter, who admitted that he initially thought Guinea worm would be eradicated within five to 10 years of launching the campaign.
Much of South Sudan’s success is due to the large strides taken before the war erupted in 2013, although experts say the conflict hasn’t greatly harmed the program’s progress. Between 2006 and 2012 the country’s cases reduced by 93%.
Globally, the Guinea worm program is entering the final stretch, however, according to the World Health Organisation, the last remaining cases can be the most difficult to control as they usually occur in remote and often inaccessible areas. Guinea worm has been on the verge of being eradicated for a few years.
Although fighting between President Salva Kiir’s government forces and troops loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar show no signs of ending, those battling Guinea worm refuse to let the war stand in their way.
“We’re pretty stubborn,” said Carter. “We don’t ever give up.”
The speaker of Ethiopia’s lower house of parliament submitted his resignation on Sunday, one of the highest-ranking officials to do so since the ruling EPRDF coalition came to power in 1991.
Speaker Abadula Gemeda
Abadula Gemeda did not disclose reasons behind his decision, but said he would disclose the factors once his move was approved by parliament.
Analysts in the Horn of Africa country said Abadula, an ethnic Oromo, may have decided to step down owing to disapproval of the government’s response to unrest that roiled Ethiopia’s Oromiya region in 2015 and 2016.
The violence there forced the government to impose a nine-month state of emergency that was only lifted in August.
“Given the existence of circumstances that do not enable me to continue in this position, I have submitted my resignation to my political party and the House of People’s Representatives,” he said in a short speech on national television.
“I will disclose the reasons behind my decision once my request is reviewed by the House of People’s Representatives,” the former defense minister added.
The unrest was provoked by a development scheme for the capital Addis Ababa that dissidents said amounted to land grabs and turned into broader anti-government demonstrations over politics and human rights abuses.
It included attacks on businesses, many of them foreign-owned, including farms growing flowers for export.
In April, a government-sanctioned investigation said 669 people had been killed during one period in the violence and more than 29,000 people arrested.
Liberians are expressing strong resentment and outrage against the ticket of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) for their association with convicted war criminal and former President Charles Taylor.
Senator George Weah-CDC
In numerous interviews in a survey poll completed a day before elections in the four political quadrants of Liberia, citizens recounted individual and harrowing stories of how the Taylor led rebel carnage killed and maimed family members, relative and friends.
Survey pollsters of the West African Times who tabulated results from eastern, western, northern and southeast Liberia say Liberians are vehemently opposed to Senators George Weah, Jewel Howard Taylor and CDC and their open connection to Taylor who is accused of interfering in the elections in Liberia.
Senator Jewel Howard Taylor-CDC
The sample of 2700 registered voters from all parts of the country were asked if they would vote for any candidate who is prepared to carry out the agenda of Taylor, if elected.
An overwhelming majority of 96.4 percent rejected the notion of Weah and Taylor even associating with Taylor. 1.6 percent declined to answer or said “I don’t know.”
The margin of error is 2 percent.
There has been widespread condemnation of Presidential contender George Weah and his running mate Jewel Howard Taylor who is also the ex-wife of Charles Taylor.
The U.S. Senate, in an unprecedented resolution in the last 2 weeks, resolved to condemn any external interference in the election, including any communication or action by former armed faction leader and convicted warlord Charles Taylor to influence the elections from prison cell in the UK where he is serving a 50 year jail term.
Senator Weah has refused to outrightly condemn or reject Charles Taylor and his crimes.
The international community recently warned Senator Weah that it will not tolerate his dalliance with Taylor or any threat to the relative peace of Liberia and the sub-region.
This latest backlash from Liberians is another major setback for Weah who has seen massive erosion in his support due to his lack of articulation of his programs or attend two Presidential debates.
Charles G. Taylor
Reports have indicated on-going back channel communication and contact between Senators George Weah and his running mate Jewel Howard Taylor and Charles Taylor and provision of huge financial support from Taylor.
The former ruling National Patriotic Party(NPP) of Taylor threw its support behind Senator Weah’s Presidential bid in 2011 on instructions of Taylor who, at the time, was facing an international trial for commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia and the West African sub region.
Weah lost that election to 2 term incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Reporting by Michael Teflon in Darkar Bureau and James Paye in Monrovia
Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday he had not given any thought on contesting the country’s next presidential election in 2019 and had no timeline for when he may make such a decision.
Nigeria VP Yemi Osinbajo and President Mohammadu Buhari
Asked if he considered running for the presidency in the election scheduled for February 2019, Osinbajo said he hadn’t thought about it.
“None of that is on the cards,” he said.
The country has faced heighten uncertainty over whether President Muhammadu Buhari plans to contest the next election. Buhari took power in 2015 but has been absent for much of this year due to illness.
Osinbajo also said that militants in the oil producing Niger Delta region posed no longer a significant threat to oil production anymore.
“We don’t have all the time in the world with oil,” he said, speaking during the FT Africa conference in London. “We have to use oil while it makes sense to do so.”
The U.S. Government has expressed concern over the situation in Cameroon.
Cameroon Protesters
Washington like the United Nations and United Kingdom called for restraint and dialogue to be employed by both parties in a press statement issued on October 4, 2017.
The statement issued by the State Department spokesperson, Heather Nauert, whiles expressing concern about the situation said Washington found the use of force in handling protesters grievances as ‘unacceptable.’
The Cameroonian government’s use of force to restrict free expression and peaceful assembly, and violence by protestors, are unacceptable.
The full statement read as follows:
“The United States is deeply concerned about violence and the loss of human life in protests that have taken place in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon since October 1. The Cameroonian government’s use of force to restrict free expression and peaceful assembly, and violence by protestors, are unacceptable.
“We urge the Government of Cameroon to respect human rights and freedom of expression, including access to the internet. We call on all sides to exercise restraint from further violence, and engage in dialogue for a peaceful, durable resolution.
The embassy in Yaounde has since late September issued a series of security messages warning citizens of unrest in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. They cautioned citizens to defer all but essential travel to the North West and South West regions.
They cited running battles between security forces and protesters demanding independence from the Central African country. The regions which have long complained of marginalization on October 1 intended to declare its freedom under the name, Ambazonia republic.
A heavy security deployment to the area clashed with protesters leading to deaths. The official toll was put at eight even though Amnesty International put it at 17 and the main opposition said 30 people had died. Dozens were injured whiles hundreds were detained by authorities.
In Liberia, partisans of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) abandoned a political rally on Friday when they failed to amass in areas around the capital.
The West African Times reporter who visited the Paynesville suburb saw just a handful of CDC supporters but no crowd as was expected.
Commercial business was happening at the various gathering points. At the local sportts stadium, the ATS, a few hundred supporters gathered for the rally which was billed as an all-nighter to show a force of numbers.
CDC Supporters at ATS
The CDC has in recent days faced massive loss of support among its initial followers who have now begun to assess the chances of the party against more viable and attractive candidates in the Presidential race.
Several individuals who were interviewed said they were not interested in the CDC political rally and were focused on trying to earn a living.
It is unclear why the CDC did not bus in supporters from various communities as is common in situations where attendees fall far less then the expected number. When contacted, a source at near the CDC head office, who identified herself as a party “recruiter” said that the failure of partisans to attend the Friday political rally was being discussed and another strategy was being pursued. Asked what that strategy was, she said she was not authorized to discuss it.
While interviewing the CDC “recruiter”, the West African Times reporter was threatened by an individual who claimed that he was a security guard and asked to leave the area.
Liberia holds Presidential and General Elections on Tuesday, October 10th. About 2 million are registered to vote for a crowded field of Presidential and Representative hopefuls.
Antananarivo – Authorities in Madagascar on Friday announced a ban on prison visits to prevent the spread of a plague epidemic that has killed 36 people in the Indian Ocean island.
Map of Madasgascar
“In order to protect prisoners from the plague that is spreading outside the prison, we have decided to suspend family visits,” said prisons administrator Arsen Ralisaona.
Flea bites
The ban covers seven jails in the country’s two worst affected regions.
The risk of contamination is high in overcrowded prisons, where conditions are usually unhygienic.
The outbreak includes bubonic plague, which is spread by infected rats via flea bites and pneumonic plague, which spreads from person to person.
It has also resulted in a ban on public gatherings and forced the closure of two universities – putting pressure on the country’s health facilities.
According to local media, Ambohimiandra, a specialised hospital in the capital Antananarivo, was failing to cope with the influx of infected patients. Long queues had formed outside, as people flocked to buy face masks and medicine.
Antibiotics
Madagascar suffers annual plague outbreaks, but this year the disease has affected urban areas, triggering concern from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The latest official toll from the plague stood at 36 on Friday, out of 258 people who have contracted the disease since August.
WHO has announced a delivery of 1.2 million doses of antibiotics to assist the country.
Khartoum – The United States on Friday brought to an end a raft sanctions imposed against Sudan in 1997 over Khartoum’s alleged support to Islamist militant groups.
What does the lifting of the trade embargo actually mean?
Sudan Map
With the removing of the sanctions, all international banking transactions will be permitted with Sudan and American individuals and companies can now process transactions involving counterparts in Sudan.
US individuals can engage in imports and exports that were previously prohibited under the sanctions.
– US people can engage in transactions involving property in which the government of Sudan has an interest.
As a result of the lifting of the embargo, all property and interests in property blocked pursuant to the sanctions regulations will be unblocked.
All trade between the United States and Sudan that was previously prohibited will be authorised.
All transactions by US persons relating to the petroleum or petrochemical industries in Sudan that were previously prohibited will be authorised, including oilfield services and oil and gas pipelines.
US individuals will no longer be prohibited from facilitating transactions between Sudan and third countries, to the extent previously prohibited by the embargo.
The lifting of the embargo does not mean that Sudan will be taken out of US Department of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
A separate set of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council related to the conflict in Darfur also continues.
That embargo primarily prevents the supply of arms and related materials to actors operating in Darfur.
The Vice Standard Bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in Liberia Senator Jewel Howard Taylor has doubled down on her statement that, if elected, the CDC will implement the agenda of the former ruling party the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of former Liberian President Charles Taylor who was convicted in April, 2012 and is serving a 50 jail sentence for aiding and abetting war crimes in Liberia and the West Africa sub-region.
Charles and Jewel Howard Taylor Marraige
Ms. Jewel Howard Taylor, an ex-wife of Taylor, when asked by journalists about her statement tried to clarify it somehow but in so doing confirmed that the NPP agenda will be pursued, a clear indication that Taylor is manipulating his ex-wife to gain influence.
Our Monrovia correspondent reports that this development happened shortly after the CDC Presidential candidate Senator George Weah returned to the capital Monrovia on Friday afternoon from a campaign stop when he also tried to deny speaking to Taylor a few months ago.
Senator Weah, the political leader of the (CDC) admitted on March 16, 2017 to having had recent telephone conversations with Taylor.
“I was in a gathering and one of Mr. Taylor’s relative was in conversation with him (Taylor), and the guy walk up to me and gave me the phone saying President Taylor wants to talk to you; so I held the phone and spoke to him,” Weah admitted then.
Charles G. Taylor
Shortly after the call, Senator Weah engineered the selection of Taylor’s ex-wife Jewel Howard Taylor as his running mate in elections scheduled for next Tuesday.
The international community has warned the CDC leader Senator Weah about his on-going contacts with Taylor who is reportedly heavily engaged in interfering in the elections in Liberia, even from behind bars in the UK.
Taylor still has loyalists and confidantes in Liberia and has been working to insert them in areas of influence to carry out his agenda.
The CDC has a history of providing support for Taylor’s supporters and in 2011, while Taylor was facing international prosecution for his war crimes, the NPP threw its support behind Mr. Weah in his bid to unseat President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
CDC Leader Senator George Weah
The West African Times Monrovia correspondent say Liberians who have learned of the association between CDC and Taylor are terrified and wondering why the CDC is allowing itself to be used for Taylor’s meddling in the elections. ” We will totally reject anything like this.
“We do not want Charles Taylor or is ex-wife or George Weah running this country with that kind of agenda. We know where we came from,” a member of Liberia’s House of Representatives told our reporter.
Presidential and General Elections are slated to be held on Tuesday, October 10th. An estimated 2 million Liberian are eligible to vote.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is barred from a third term.
The international community is expressing serious concern over the troubling engagement between jailed war criminal Charles Taylor and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) led by Senator George Weah and the ex-wife of Taylor Senator Jewel Howard Taylor.
CDC Logo
Taylor is serving a 50 year jail sentence in a UK jail following his conviction in April, 2012 for aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes.
Taylor is accused of interfering in the Liberian elections and positioning his associates and confidantes in the CDC. The ex-wife of Taylor Jewel admittedly told partisans that CDC, if elected, will promote Taylor’s agenda, although she tried to walk back the statement later.
Charles Taylor in 1990 war
Senator Weah told the BBC that he received a phone call from Taylor but denied that the convicted war criminal was using him. It is clear that Weah and his CDC are being used by Taylor to implement whatever agenda he has.
A diplomatic source in the Liberian capital reached by phone confirmed that the international community was highly concerned about the CDC’s association with Taylor and warned Liberians to avoid coddling and providing support to individuals and politicians who are associated with Taylor, an apparent reference to Senator George Weah.
“The international community has spoken and held Taylor accountable for his heinous crimes. Millions of dollars in treasury and blood were expended to ensure the return of peace and protection of civilians and we will not tolerate anyone that is associating with Taylor and threating Liberia and the sub-region,” the diplomatic source warned.
The U.S. Congress, in a show of resolve, recently passed a resolution which condemned any “external interference” in the Liberian elections, again an apparent hint to Weah that the major super power is watching his every move.
Some Liberians have told our local correspondent that due to the lack of strategic and critical thinking, Senator George Weah was incapable of exercising the judgment to know that Taylor was using him in a dangerous manner to destabilize Liberia again.
Taylor still enjoys support among some Liberians who are calling on Weah to help free and return Taylor back to Liberia.
The CDC has in recent times seen massive erosion of support among its supporters due to lack of a message and explanation of its programs. Senator Weah has avoided every opportunity to clearly articulate his platform and programs to Liberians and his supporters. .
Liberians are scheduled to vote next Tuesday.
Reporting by Grace Roberts in Darkar Bureau and James Paye in Monrovia
Harare – Zimbabwe’s ailing opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who has returned to Harare after being rushed to South Africa for medical treatment, remains in “isolation” because doctors fear he could contract new infections.
Sources close to the Movement for Democratic Change leader say that doctors have strictly instructed him to steer clear of public places and have limited contact with people, reported NewsDay.
“He is at his Highlands home and has been contact with just a select few people, because he is under doctors’ instructions to avoid the public as he recovers. The [MDC] president is at the moment fragile and prone to opportunistic infections,” an unnamed source was quoted as saying.
Tsvangirai was expected to make another trip to South Africa this weekend for further treatment before he resumes duties around Thursday next week.
Tsvangirai announced last year that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and that he had begun chemotherapy.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, has been quoted as saying the MDC leader was out of danger and would be back at work soon.
“But he will not be working for some days to come as he fully recharges his batteries.”
The long-time opposition leader was airlifted to South Africa last month after he fell ill.
West African Times is getting reports of preparation by the War Crimes Court in the Hague, the Netherlands to indict more Liberians for their active participation and support for the war that destroyed the small West African nation between 1989 and 2003.
ALP Political Party Leader Benoni Urey
A confidential source at the Court in the Hague mentioned the current Presidential contender Mr. Benoni Urey, a former close confidante of jailed former President Charles Taylor. Also mentioned is Senator Prince Johnson, Presidential candidate of the Movement for Democratic Reconstruction (MDR). Secret indictments have been drawn up, the source said.
Johnson is a former rebel commander who is responsible for the capture , torture and killing of former Liberian President Samuel K. Doe in September, 9, 1990 during the country’s civil war.
According to the source, their investigators have uncovered a flurry of contacts between couriers for Taylor and his former associates and the Congress for Democractic Change (CDC). Taylor’s ex-wife is the Vice Presidential candidate of the CDC of George Weah.
The West African Times in a prior investigation of the international and local profile of Mr. Urey noted recently that the world’s super power, the United States, through its Treasury and Justice Departments found, without any doubt, that Urey, who, under the Taylor Administration, presided over the country’s lucrative Maritime program openly shifted government resources to his boss and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor for the purchase of arms and ammunition and training of child soldiers which were used to kill and maim Liberians including the export of terrorism to neighboring countries.
The U.S. government at the time found enough solid evidence to unequivocally impose Executive Sanctions in 2004 to curb the illicit and murderous support that now Presidential candidate Urey was providing at the expense of the lives of ordinary Liberians, the United Nations and country’s neighbors.
Charles Taylor
TRC testimony and sanctions evidence reveal that Urey’s “wealth” accrued are proceeds siphoned directly from Liberia’s Maritime program and profits from arms deals. Mr. Urey is using his wealth today for his business ventures and to contest the country’s Presidential elections.
A primary Witness who appeared before Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) testified to the following as noted in a TRC press release of a transcript issued on Day Nine of hearings; “…Mr Urey operated the Liberian Rubber Company. Exported thousands of tons of rubber, who can account for that, nobody…”
In a Wikileaks trove of data released in the last two years, the US Embassy in Monrovia had told the State Department in Washington DC that it held the view that “Benoni Urey, was so effective in siphoning off funds for Charles Taylor and himself.”
The source at the ICC said investigators were able directly tie Urey and other principal war players to overseeing the purchase of arms and supplies for Taylor using third parties and black market arm traders. ” The resulting abuse and killing of innocent civilians in Liberia by Taylor and his cohorts will not go without impunity and no matter how long it takes, we will bring Urey to book for his role,” the source said.
The U.S. Executive Sanction Order was lifted a few years ago in November 2015 against Urey.
During a farewell press interview on the Truth Breakfast show in December 2015, former U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Debra Malac disclosed that individuals who had been delisted from the U.S. Government sanction list could still be denied a visa to enter the country.
Former Ghana President John Mahama left Accra Thursday for Monrovia to lead the Observer Mission of ECOWAS to the October 10, 2017, Liberian general elections.
Ghana Former President John Mahama
Since leaving Office in January, President Mahama has been helping to entrench democracy and stability in Africa.
In August this year, Mr Mahama was in Kenya as part of Commonwealth Observer Mission to monitor the East African country’s August 8 elections.
According to Myjoyonline website, he will head an Observer Mission which includes journalists and former diplomats from Commonwealth member countries.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
In landmark elections slated for next week Tuesday, Liberians will vote in the country’s third postwar presidential and legislative races.
Incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president, is ineligible to run because of constitutionally mandated term limits.
So January 2018 will mark the first time in recent memory that a democratically elected Liberian president will hand power to a similarly elected head of state.
As former Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Mahama has been celebrated for his commitment to ensuring the stability of the sub-region and the continent generally.
His tenure as Chair saw the quick handling of various sub-regional crisis including the Burkinabe Political turmoil, the election dispute in Togo and the outbreak of Ebola in three West African countries including Liberia.
He has also been working with the African Development Bank to help improve agriculture.
Harare – Africa is losing an estimated $60bn annually due to illicit financial outflows mainly of minerals and there is a need to implement strategic policies to curb the leakages, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa adviser, Dr Vanessa Ushie, revealed this in an interview with the Chronicle on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba in Bulawayo.
She said the continent was failing to secure maximum benefits from its vast natural resources due to illicit financial outflows particularly in the mining sector.
“This is due to revenue losses and leakages,” Ushie said.
Zimbabwe has not been spared from the leakages with President Robert Mugabe saying the country has lost billions of dollars of diamond revenue from Manicaland mining fields in the past few years.
Ushie said African countries had to be more strategic in the way they managed their resources, especially minerals, to promote sustainable development.
“I think they are signs of progress towards addressing the challenges of illicit financial outflows and the fact that this type of space [ the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba] is in existence and we have seen 11 countries from Southern Africa now hold the alternative mining indaba, shows Africa’s commitment to managing its resources,” she said.
Tripoli – Libyan authorities on Thursday demanded an explanation from Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson over his remark on the need to “clear dead bodies” away in the strife-torn North African country.
Map of Libya
The foreign secretary has already come under fire at home over his assessment of an August visit to Libya that the country could attract foreign investment and tourists after the corpses from fighting were cleared.
Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord, met the British ambassador Peter Millett to demand an explanation of the “unacceptable” comment, according to the GNA’s Facebook page.
It quoted Millett as saying that Johnson was referring to the dead of the Islamic State jihadist group who had killed hundreds of Libyans.
Libya’s rival authorities in the east of the country, through parliament’s foreign affairs committee, condemned Johnson’s “irresponsible” comment that was “an affront to the dignity” of the Libyan people, demanding an official apology.
Many ordinary Libyans went on social media to express their anger over the comment.
In South Africa, the race to watch is the competition to select the next head of the African National Congress.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa
The new leader is selected at the ANC conference in December. Since the ANC has won every national election since white-only rule ended in South Africa in 1994, its next leader will be in a good position to replace current party chief Jacob Zuma as president when his second and final term ends in 2019.
There are two top candidates: Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Zuma’s ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former cabinet minister and chairwoman of the African Union Commission.
Each has strong support in the party, but both carry significant political baggage.
Although they’ve been divorced 20 years, Zuma backs his ex-wife. And that could be a hindrance in her campaign.
“I know she made an appeal to say that she is her own person and should be president in her own right,” said Sara Gon, a policy fellow at the South African Institute for Race Relations. “[But] I still think Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s suffered too much from being her ex-husband’s candidate.”
Madam Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
A key problem for Dlamini-Zuma, a former cabinet minister and African Union chairperson, is the series of government corruption scandals during Jacob Zuma’s years in office.
Gon said Ramaphosa has credibility as an anti-apartheid activist, as the lawyer who led the drafting of South Africa’s first post-apartheid constitution, and as a businessman.
But there’s one big stumbling block.
“I think that he does have a Marikana problem,” said Steven Friedman, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy.
In 2012, Ramaphosa was executive director of the company that owned the Marikana mine. He asked police to take action against striking workers. Soon afterward, police opened fire, killing 34 strikers.
Ramaphosa has apologized repeatedly for the massacre, saying he never meant for anyone to be hurt.
Friedman said there are people who would otherwise support him who are uncomfortable about Marikana. “But I’m not clear to what extent that will make a difference,” he added, “because fundamentally, this is about a battle between two factions.”
For the faction endorsing Ramaphosa, Friedman said opposition to the Zumas outweighs anything their candidate may be guilty of regarding Marikana and in his private life.
Ramaphosa’s business dealings have made him one of the richest people in South Africa. His opponents attribute his net worth of $450 million largely to him being a major beneficiary of the ANC’s policy of Black Economic Empowerment.
Criticized for lifestyle
The deputy vice president has championed the poor, but has been criticized for a luxurious lifestyle that includes expensive cars and vintage wine.
Gon said people are so unhappy with Jacob Zuma that they’re ignoring Ramaphosa’s flaws, including allegations he’s had many affairs with younger women.
“Even [among] conservative South Africans, I don’t think it will be held that much against Ramaphosa,” she said.
Ramaphosa said he wants to create an ANC free of corruption. Yet his his critics say he’s been a “loyal servant” to Zuma for five years without saying anything against graft.
But Friedman said Ramaphosa’s usual style is one of quiet opposition to things he disagrees with.
“Really what we’re seeing within the ANC is trench warfare between the faction which supports the president and the faction which opposes the president,” he said. “So when one says he [Ramaphosa] is a loyal servant, I think that the more accurate description would be [for Ramaphosa] to say, ‘Well, there’s a factional battle in which you win some and you lose some.'”
Map of Southern Africa
In the campaigning, Ramaphosa has focused on an anti-corruption platform, while Dlamini-Zuma said she’ll give more black citizens access to South Africa’s wealth, which she says is still mostly controlled by white capitalists.
Gon is convinced that whoever wins ANC leadership in December will inherit an organization that’s greatly diminished, mainly because of President Zuma.
“There’s very likely to be a split [in the ANC] if either side won,” she said.
Reports from the camp of the Movement for Economic Emancipation (MOVEE) political party in Liberia say there is discussion currently underway on the way forward for Presidential contender Dr. Joseph Mills Jones and running mate Dr. Samuel Reeves.
MOVEE Dr Mills Jones and Rev Samuel Reeves
According to a source in the party with knowledge of the discussions, the MOVEE executive leadership has begun preliminary discussions on pulling out of the elections next week due to sluggish support and lack of penetration among the electorates.
The party which was formed by a former National Bank Governor Dr. Jones has struggled to gain traction or compete with other major political parties or get national recognition on its message.
Dr. Jones, has practically disappeared from public appearance in the last few months.
His running mate, a Baptist prelate Dr. Reeves has also failed to connect in the political theater. At a recent and only appearance at the second Presidential debate, Dr. Jones tried to attack his opponents platform but offered no specifics about his and has since withdrawn from public discussion of the issues.
The MOVEE source told the Monrovia correspondent of West African Times that there is some initial discussion about approaching a major political player to offer support in order to guarantee some inclusion in a new Liberian administration after the post election.
Map of Liberia
If MOVEE pulls out of the race, it will narrow the field of contenders and political observers predict that its logical support will be thrown behind the ANC based on their style and platform and approach to providing practical solutions.
Partisans and supporters have been leaving MOVEE in droves for other political parties.
According to its website, MOVEE says, “as a political party, it believes in the Economic Empowerment of the Liberian People.”
Liberians go to national Presidential and General Elections on next Tuesday.
Reporting by Timbo Ngozi in Lagos Bureau and James Pay in Monrovia
South African President Jacob Zuma has faced criticism over a new silver monument he unveiled on Wednesday at the Groot Marico Heritage Site in the North West province of the country.
Zuma Monument
The monument named The Site of Arrest is reported to cost 1.8 million South African Rand (US$132,080) and the main opposition Democratic Alliance party says the money can be used to develop the area.
The monument was erected at the site on the Liberation Heritage Route where the president and 51 others were arrested in 1963 by the apartheid police as they headed to Botswana for military training against the regime.
While the unveiling was ongoing, the opposition supporters in the province demonstrated carrying placards expressing their displeasure with the monument’s cost. They described it as the monument of corruption.
There is an unfounded narrative among some ill-informed in the Liberian electorate that contesting the Presidency is only reserved for those who have remained in the country all this time and are known politically. That mindset of some Liberians needs to be examined and illuminated by facts,.
Liberia Map
Firstly, every Liberian, regardless of ethnic background, religious belief. sex or political affiliation, once qualified under Constitutional stipulations, is eligible to contest for public office. All candidates in this election are examples of this system as it obtains now in Liberia.
The attempt by some at discounting some candidates to the advantage of others by saying, ” He/She is just coming and is not known by us” is nothing short of outright discrimination and prejudicial; things which are not acceptable in the country’s existence.
Given the over a century of history of denial in the governance space, lack of provision of basic amenities to certain sectors of the population due to location, practice of ethnic supremacy and other divisive tendencies, No Liberian should face the ugly practice of discrimination.
Flag of Liberia
The current state of affairs in Liberia demand that patriotic individuals from every background who have a “Liberia First” mindset step forward, make the case for their national ideas, approach and implementation. Electing the same failed politicians in every election cycle and refusing to be innovative and trying new proven approaches and solutions have doomed the progress of Liberians and the nation.
West African Times believes that the argument, which some forward-thinking Liberians have made is that for those who have been political players in the last half a century, the current state of affairs speak to the lack of new ideas and ability to address a progressive agenda in the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches.
There is nothing new they can offer and must exit left for new ideas and individuals who have a track record of accomplishments.
Monrovia – Liberia’s female politicians profess near-universal respect for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as she steps down after 12 years as president – but many also say the glass ceiling that Africa’s first female leader cracked remains firmly in place.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Sirleaf, 78, will not run in October 10’s presidential election after a constitutionally mandated two terms.
In 2005, she unexpectedly swept the country’s first vote after a brutal civil war, and during her time in office the fragile peace has held.
“We haven’t worked hard enough for parity,” she said in a recent CNN interview.
“It saddens me, because I represented breaking the glass ceiling in Africa.”
Just a tenth of Liberia’s 30 senators and only a sixth of candidates standing in next Tuesday’s elections, which are for the presidency, vice presidency and House of Representatives, are women. Those figures have barely budged since 2005.
Meanwhile levels of teenage pregnancy and sexual violence against girls remain extremely high and less than half of women can read or write.
“Irrespective of how many women win or lose, women have got to stay in the race and women have got to stay on the political landscape,” said MacDella Cooper, a former model turned humanitarian.
She is the sole female presidential candidate, running against 19 men.
Cooper, like several female candidates contacted by AFP, admires Sirleaf’s grit but says the nation needs a different kind of leader who can broaden prosperity as well as keep peace.
“Fifteen percent of our country’s citizens are living so well but the rest are left to fight for themselves,” she said.
Anti-feminist?
Two Liberian feminists have caused a stir by asserting in international media that Sirleaf has “failed” women in the political realm, potentially tarring her legacy.
“I think President Sirleaf is anti-feminist when it comes to politics,” Robtel Neajai Pailey, who co-authored a widely shared article with activist Korto Reeves Williams, told AFP.
Map of Liberia
She accuses Sirleaf of indifference to a call by Liberia’s Women’s Legislative Caucus for women to occupy 30% of political party leadership positions in 2010.
Pailey believes women fall behind in gaining affiliation with larger political parties and often lack their own funding, unlike some of this year’s millionaire male candidates.
Her colleague Williams says the difficulties of building a public profile for women start early, especially in a society where rape was systematically used as a weapon of war.
“The woman who decides that she wants to run for public office at 30 may have been the girl who was a dropout from elementary school because she got raped and had a child,” she says.
Until Liberian politics provides “access to economic resources all the way until the point that this woman wants to be a senator or representative”, women will remain excluded unless they have wealth or connections, Williams believes.
Others point to a gender violence court that only operates in the capital, Monrovia, depriving rural women of justice for sex crimes, as an example of a missed opportunity by Sirleaf to go further.
‘What more do women want?’
Few would place the blame for women’s low levels of participation in politics solely at Sirleaf’s door, however.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The UN’s agency for women warns that “deeply held traditional beliefs about women’s role as home makers make it particularly difficult for women candidates”, as it urges women to run.
Jewel Howard-Taylor, a senator and ex-wife of former warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, believes her candidacy for the vice-presidency is viewed dimly after 12 years of another woman at the top.
“There’s a perception that because we have a female president in Liberia that everything has been handled,” she told AFP in between campaigning for votes with presidential candidate and former football superstar George Weah.
“What more do the women want?” was a common refrain, she said.
“Politics is a game. There are rules, there are regulations, there are dos and don’ts, but we don’t learn it when we are growing up; so you get thrown into the national legislature but the men seem better because they learn all of this when they are growing up,” she said.
In fact, Howard-Taylor contends her gender may be more of a talking point than her role as a former first lady to Taylor, who was president from 1997 to 2003 after leading a rebellion in 1989 that sparked one of Africa’s most brutal civil wars.
Taylor is serving 50 years in a British jail for war crimes over his role in fuelling neighbouring Sierra Leone’s own long civil conflict.
Lagos – Nigeria’s ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s wife has lashed out at the anti-graft agency boss Ibrahim Magu for conducting what she described as an “unjustified witch-hunt” against her, says a report.
Mr and Ms Goodluck Jonathan
According to the Vanguard newspaper, in a statement Patience Jonathan claimed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was following a sinister script to embarrass and browbeat the former first family.
She added that unlike other ex-first ladies her family and charity projects were being subjected to microscopic scrutiny by the [President Muhammadu] Buhari administration.
She said the real intention was to disgrace, intimidate ridicule her and her family, through propaganda, sensational investigation and media trial that have been going on for too long.
Jonathan said she had called on the president to put an end to the alleged harassment.
President Buhari, who was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption ticket, has vowed to stamp out the graft that plagues the oil-rich country.
Map of Nigeria
But critics have accused the ex-military ruler of orchestrating a witch-hunt against former officials of Jonathan’s party.
Johnson’s claims that several bank accounts had been frozen as part of an inquiry into her by the anti-graft agency were vindicated.
She had filed a complaint against the EFCC in September, claiming that she is the rightful owner of $15.6m held in several accounts.
The accounts were frozen last July as part of a money laundering and forgery investigation of some of the ex-president’s former advisers, as well as top officials at four companies.
They are suspected of laundering millions of dollars from public institutions.
The closure follows the institution’s vice chancellor’s decision to call anti-riot police to the campus on Thursday, when students were demonstrating for the release of an imprisoned opposition politician.
Police officers clashed with students and dozens were injured, according to local media.
Kenya Riot Police
On Monday there were new rounds of demonstrations, this time for the resignation of the university’s vice chancellor Professor Peter Mbithi. A few hours later his Twitter account announced the closure of the university, one of the oldest in Kenya.
Leaders of the Kenya Universities Student Organisation (KUSO) “condemned the brutality meted out by police” and “demanded swift investigations of the rogue officers”.
“Freedom of speech and peaceful demonstrations are fundamental and irrevocable rights of every citizen,” Were Were member of KUSO wrote on Facebook.
More than 84 000 students attend the University of Nairobi and more than 2 000 people work there.
Liberians, during this campaign season are looking to their Presidential candidates for meaningful and substantive solutions following the elections.
Map of Liberia
The long term suffering and economic craziness is unbearable in the nation that has failed to move beyond the election of the same politicians and approaches for the last 170 years and in more recent times in the last 30, and 12 years.
The disgusting pattern by some unqualified professional politicians is to use the less educated and economically deprived citizens to get into the corridor of power and then perpetuate their political lives while also at the same time enriching themselves, families and friends.
In Monrovia, the major slum areas like West Point, Slip Way, New Kru Town, Logan Town and Clara Town are some of the worst urban deprived communities that are represented in the Senate and House of Representatives.
For example, Senator George Weah represents areas in the capital Monrovia which have most of these abandoned and forgotten slum areas
Weah has not offered, sponsored or co-sponsored bills or attracted any solutions like local or foreign investors to alleviate the suffering in our slum communities. No one in Capitol Building or Executive Mansion cares anymore and the residents of these areas have become only useful for their votes during election time.
Interestingly, Weah and others have used the “divide and rule mentality” to their advantage when they visit these devastated slum areas during campaign season to tell residents that it is the “educated people” who have brought hardship on them.
The ingredients of less education and economic hardship are enough to whip up untested negative sentiments against “educated Liberians”; Mind you, some of these “educated Liberians” live in these same slum communities and because of the lack of opportunities created by the same Weah and others in government they are condemned to remain there.
Weah’s diatribe against “educated people” is misplaced and nonsensical because even he, himself is educated.
Liberian Electorate
Slum dwellers are Liberians too and they deserve concrete and practical solutions to get them out of they cycle of poverty. They should not be seen only as votes and used disrespectfully by others and against other Liberians for the political gain by savvy politicians like a Weah and others.
Educated people are Liberians too.
Weah, in recent days visited the New Kru Town Community, another destitute slum area on the outskirts of Monrovia and promised to “end the hardships” of the residents. But how, when, where and how? He did not give specifics but used the same rhetoric of being their champion and savior.
A less critical person hearing these words from Weah will easily believe him and swing towards voting for him and others like him.
The real issue is to question Weah and others about their past record of alleviating the hardship of Liberians in every slum community they represent.
Where is the provision of clean water and power? Why is there no paved roads or fully functioning clinics? Where are the jobs or training for young Liberians in these communities.
If, as a slum dweller, you cannot challenge these Capitol building residents like Weah and others, what good is the empty promise that they will get you out of hardship? Walk around your neighborhood and see the living condition of others. Educated and non-educated people are living in a vicious cycle across Liberia. Poverty is real in Liberia!
Flag of Liberia
The protest vote that got Weah elected as Senator has not translated into real solutions in neighborhoods or residents would have a jobs, schools, clinics or safe drinking water.
Are you going to follow the crowd and again make the same mistake of voting for the same people who have kept you in the grip of poverty and because someone told you to vote against “educated people”?
By the way, education drives away poverty because that has been proven over and over again.
Weah and some others have no real record as public officials except to preach divisive politics that “educated people” got you suffering and that it is the “country’s people time.”
No, it is the qualified people’s time and Liberia First time!
Liberians, it is time to think about your own interests, your community and country and vote for the most qualified individual and not necessarily your party candidate. Be you own thinking person and not a blind follower.
Remember, you will live with the same people you vote for the the next 6 years. And the real questions are, will your condition change for the better after October? Are you only voting based on “educated versus uneducated”?
Only you, Liberians, can honestly answer these questions.
The United States Embassy in Togo has issued a security message for its citizens in the country citing the opposition protests called for October 4 and 5.
Map of Togo
The Embassy in a statement issued on the eve of the protests, October 3, said in parts: “The U.S. Embassy has learned that several Togolese opposition political parties have called for nationwide protests on October 4 and 5, beginning at 8:00 a.m.
“Major traffic disruptions are possible in Lomé (the capital) both days, as three scheduled protest routes will affect many areas of northern and eastern Lomé.
Protests in Lomé will also likely affect public bus and private taxi services. The U.S. Embassy will observe normal working hours on October 4 and 5,” they added.
Togolese opposition political parties called for new nationwide protests against the 50-year Gnassingbe dynasty. They are demanding incumbent Faure Gnassingbe to step down immediately.
Today’s protests took off as planned with thousands turning up to protest against the regime. Most of them were dressed in red chanting slogans calling for president Faure Gnassingbe to leave power.
Thousands and thousands of people are rallying the 3 gathering points for the demonstration against FEGnassingbe #Togodebout #Fauremustgo pic.twitter.com/SCcSiHXSL2
— Farida Nabourema (Farida_N) October 4, 2017
Full statement: Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Nationwide Protests on October 4-5
The U.S. Embassy has learned that several Togolese opposition political parties have called for nationwide protests on October 4 and 5, beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Major traffic disruptions are possible in Lomé both days, as three scheduled protest routes will affect many areas of northern and eastern Lomé.Protests in Lomé will also likely affect public bus and private taxi services.The U.S. Embassy will observe normal working hours on October 4 and 5.
The Embassy has also learned that opposition parties have called for protests in Vogan, Tagbligbo, Kpalimé, Atakpamé, Anié, Sokodé, Tchamba, Bafilo, Kara, Mango, Tandjouaré, and Dapaong.While the level of support for this week’s protests remains unknown, upcountry protests have previously caused disruptions to north-south travel along National Route 1.
While these events are normally peaceful, on August 19 in Sokodé and on September 20 in Mango, secondary cities of the interior, clashes related to the protests resulted in at least three fatalities and a number of injuries.Demonstrations that cause traffic disruptions in city centers and along National Route 1 are often dispersed by police with nonlethal measures such as tear gas, and sometimes result in arrests.Authorities have also interrupted internet and cellular data services, making communications difficult and less predictable.
We recommend:
Minimizing travel in affected towns on October 4 and 5;
Having flexible travel plans and reschedule travel along National Route 1 until a later date if possible;
Having alternate communications plans that do not rely solely on cellular data;
Exercising caution and being aware of your surroundings;
Monitoring media and local news;
Reporting specific safety concerns to local law enforcement authorities;
Enrolling in the Smart Traveler-Enrollment Program (STEP).
A cross section of Liberians have expressed serious doubts about their ability to vote for ruling party candidate Joseph Boakai. In interviews with the our West African Times in Monrovia, they pointed to the “kind of people” in the Unity Party and those who have been accused of high corruption in the Sable Mining case.
UP Joseph Boikai
One Mark Twegbe from the Bomi County sub-political division, an undecided but registered voter said he was particularly concerned about the progress of prosecution of those accused. “Since Counselor Varney Sherman of the Unity Party (UP) was indicted by the Justice Ministry, we have not seen any real movement. So what happened to the outcome of the trial? Why?”
Counselor Varney Sherman
In an angry tone, a market woman in the Paynesville Red Light area just outside of the capital Monrovia, Madam Tenneh Sumo, who displayed her voter’s registration card to our reporter accused the UP led government of protecting the accused. “The same Varney Sherman, Alex Tyler them and the other people still trying again to stay in power. UP is protecting these people because Mr. Boakai get Varney Sherman around him,” she said.
Madam Sumo said he had no assurance that Sherman and others will ever face prosecution or go to jail, if Boaikai was elected. Asked if she would vote for Boakai, she shook her head saying no. ‘”Plenty of us here in this market will not vote for corrupt party. We just waiting for election day,” she disclosed.
In the New Kru Town area, a local activist told our reporter that due to the corrupt system, the ruling party was no different from others. “Let it be clear that we will resist any attempt to continue this dynasty of corruption that is in place now. UP is not capable of bringing about the change that we the young people deserve. They are the same people from election to election and we will make a clean disconnect from that corrupt group of people on October 10th,” Moses Tuoplo said.
In the Kakata area, one Ms. Damawa Sheriff questioned why there is not one convicted corrupt official in jail since the last 12 years of the UP led government.
Counselor Sherman, at his trial about 6 months ago, admitted in Court that return checks from the International Bank of Liberia Limited to Sherman and Sherman Law Firm in 2010 were destroyed.
The checks were considered as evidence of alleged bribery payment from Sable Mining to Counselor Sherman who is a high ranking party official of the ruling UP.
Former House Speaker Alex Tyler
Counselor Sherman has so far thrown his support behind UP Presidential candidate Joseph Boakai. Another accused in the Sable bribery scandal, the former House Speaker Mr. Alexander Tyler has joined a coalition with the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
A diplomatic source in the capital told the West African Times that Liberians will get the government they choose and will have to live with the consequences of their election; good or bad.
Freetown – Media in Sierra Leone report that a 709-carat diamond found in the country’s eastern Kono District has been taken by a sales team from the National Minerals Agency to Antwerp, Belgium.
Map of Sierra Leone
The diamond’s discovery in March caused a sensation and is the second-largest ever found in this West African nation. The gem, a bit smaller than a hockey puck, is among the 20 largest diamonds ever found.
Diamond Stone
The sales team, including Pastor Emmanuel Momoh who dug up the stone, arrived in Belgium on Monday and will meet sales agents, auction houses and potential buyers.
The highest bid of $7.7m was turned down in Freetown in May. No other bidders met the government’s undisclosed reserve price, so the diamond will now be sold by international tender in Belgium.
Johannesburg – FIFA have punished numerous African nations for offences during 2018 World Cup qualifiers last month, the world football body said Tuesday.
Map of Africa
Gabon forfeited by a mandatory 3-0 scoreline a match against Ivory Coast in Libreville for fielding suspended midfielder Merlin Tandjigora.
However, the Gabonese lost the match 3-0 so the punishment effectively amounted to a $6,200 fine.
Fielding ineligible players was a major problem in Africa during 2014 World Cup qualifying, but Portugal-based Tandjigora is the first culprit since.
Nigeria were fined $30 000 after spectators invaded the pitch in Uyo during a 4-0 triumph over Cameroon.
The Democratic Republic of Congo must pay FIFA $20 000 after the crowd hurled bottles and let off incendiary devices during a 2-2 draw with Tunisia in Kinshasa.
Mali were fined $15 000 because fans flung bottles and chairs on the pitch in a 0-0 stalemate with Morocco in Bamako.
AFCON Logo
The earlier qualifier between the same countries in Rabat led to a $3 000 fine for Morocco over whistling while the Malian national anthem was being played.
Zambia received a $7 000 fine after the crowd hurled various unspecified objects on the pitch during a 3-1 victory over Algeria in Lusaka.
Senegal and Burkina Faso were warned for late kick-offs in the qualifiers between them in Dakar and Ouagadougou.
The fines are a serious blow as most African national football associations struggle financially with many relying on government bailouts for survival.
Strongly condemning recent violence in south-west and north-west regions of Cameroon, including reported loss of life, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged all stakeholders to refrain from any further acts of violence and called on the authorities to investigate the incidents.
In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, the Mr. Guterres urged “political leaders on both sides to appeal to their followers to refrain from any further acts of violence, and to unequivocally condemn all actions that undermine the peace, stability and unity of the country.”
Map of Cameroon
“[He] takes note of the calls by the authorities for dialogue and encourages representatives of the Anglophone community to seize the opportunity in their quest for solutions to the community’s grievances, within the framework of the Cameroonian constitution,” the statement added.
The Secretary-General reiterates the support of the United Nations for such efforts, through the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the statement noted.
Reports from southeastern Liberia speak of confusion and panic as the country’s ruling Unity Party (UP) is forcing local chiefs and administrators to support the candidacy of its Standard Bearer Mr. Joseph Boakai.
According to our reporter in Monrovia who reached over 20 town and clan chiefs in Maryland County by phone, they have been threatened with dismissal if they support the Presidential bid of Alexander B. Cummings Jr., leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC).
Liberia Internal Affairs Letter
A copy of a letter in the possession of West African Times which originated from the local Internal Affairs office in the capital Harper, specifically addressed to the Acting Chairman of the Council of Chiefs in Maryland Mr. Nelson Neal cited the “unauthorized visit of 38 Chiefs and Elders from Nimba County in northeastern Liberia and other parts of the southeast in Maryland County, which contravened the policies of this Government…”
A local chief who spoke through an interpreter by phone told our correspondent that, “the big UP people in the County sent message to us saying they will fire us if we don’t vote for Boakai. But we don’t want Boakai them anymore because they fool us long time.”
An source at the ANC headquarters when appraised of this development condemned the strong arm tactic of the UP to pressure local administrators to support Boakai. According to her, “the UP is in disarray because they are regretting the poor choice of Boakai as their candidate.”
When contacted for comment on the threat from its local office, an Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs declined comment.
Maryland is a stronghold of Mr. Cummings.
Meantime, reports say there is continued disaffection and loss of support among supporters and some party officials of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC). A source inside the CDC told our reporter that their internal polling continue to show a decline in support among young voters for the CDC, especially in the capital Monrovia and sub-political division of Montserrado County.
CDC Logo
The CDC higher UP who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue said there is high anxiety and distrust now among party officials due to the loss of support. “We have tried to market our man but there’s not much else he can offer in terms of the type of programs and how he will implement them,” an apparent reference to Senator George Weah.
Campaigning continues across Liberia in the last few days to the holding of General and Presidential Elections on October 10th.
By James Paye In Monrovia
West African Times
Featured
HARARE —
A defense lawyer in Zimbabwe says police have detained a journalist for reporting that President Robert Mugabe’s wife allegedly donated used underwear and women’s nightgowns to ruling party supporters.
President and Mrs. Robert Mugabe
Lawyer Passmore Nyakureba said Tuesday that Kenneth Nyangani, a reporter with the NewsDay newspaper, was detained on Monday in the eastern city of Mutare after the story was published.
Nyakureba said police initially indicated that they plan to charge Nyangani with criminal defamation, though the journalist has not yet been formally charged.
In the Newsday story published Monday, Nyangani reported that a ruling party legislator donated the clothing items on behalf of Grace Mugabe. The first lady, whose political profile has risen in the last few years, routinely donates clothing and food items to ruling party supporters at her rallies.
Source: AP
Featured
WASHINGTON —
The family of a former Rwandan presidential candidate is demanding answers a week after she was taken into police custody.
Opposition Leader Diane Rwigara
Officially, Diane Rwigara has been charged with “offenses against state security and forgery” following her arrest on Sept. 23. Her family believes the only crime she committed was challenging the authority of President Paul Kagame by running for president.
“These charges are false; they are totally false, and nobody in Rwanda believes the validity of these charges. Everybody knows it’s all made up,” said Rwigara’s brother Aristide Rwigara, who lives in the United States and spoke to VOA.
“It’s punishment to my sister because she was running for president. You don’t do that in Rwanda. You don’t exercise your constitutional rights.”
Moved to jail cell
Aristide Rwigara said his sisters Diane and Anne, and his mother Adeline, were initially under house arrest and regularly brought into a police station for questioning during early morning hours. In recent days, they’ve been held in a jail cell, he said.
Human rights groups have accused President Kagame’s party of harassing opponents and using intimidation to stifle any dissent to his rule. Kagame has led Rwanda since 2000 and was re-elected to a third term in August. The official results showed him winning nearly 99 percent of the vote.
Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 20, 2017.
Silencing critics?
Diane Rwigara is a women’s rights activist and vocal critic of Kagame. After she announced her candidacy in May, nude photos of her, which she dismissed as fake, circulated online. Later, she was disqualified from appearing on the ballot due to an alleged lack of signatures and has been arrested twice.
This is not her family’s first run-in with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Rwanda’s ruling party. In 2015, her father, Assinapol, died in a car accident. The family believes he was assassinated, possibly by business rivals. His family unsuccessfully petitioned Kagame to investigate the case, citing his large donations to the ruling party.
Aristide Rwigara says his sister’s arrest sends a message to all people in Rwanda who might want to criticize the government.
“It’s an act of silencing critics. It’s a way of making sure that the truth doesn’t get out,” he said. “My sister (is) very outspoken telling the truth about what’s actually going on in Rwanda and tearing apart this false image of this prosperous — this utopian image of Rwanda they are selling, (which) is absolutely false.”
‘Serve my people the best way they can be served’
When confronted with criticism of his human rights record during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last month, Kagame denied any wrongdoing.
“It’s cynical and absurd that anyone would just be there talking about violations,” he said. “You know, me as the leader of my own people, to be accused of violating their rights is just an absurd insult. But my answer is simple — is to do my best to serve my people the best way they can be served.”
Map of Rwanda
Anjan Sundaram, a journalist who has spent years covering Africa’s Great Lakes region and has written a book titled Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship, about reporters in Rwanda, said that human rights and civil liberties have been steadily eroding under Kagame’s rule.
“His hold on power has tightened over the last 25 years,” Sundaram told VOA. “We’ve seen decreasing political space, decreasing space for a free press and the increasing concentration of power in the presidential office headed by Kagame.”
Signs of trouble ahead
Although Kagame won international acclaim for his efforts to promote reconciliation and heal the wounds of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, his authoritarian actions in recent years have left him increasingly isolated.
“Initially, when Kagame took power in 1994, just after Rwanda’s genocide, a lot of observers were willing to make allowances for Kagame’s authoritarian style of leadership believing that it was justified in the aftermath of a genocide. And there may have been truth to that,” Sundaram said.
“Twenty-four years since the genocide, now observers are seeing fewer and fewer justifications for such authoritarian leadership and worrying signs that any transition of power from Kagame in Rwanda will be accompanied by violence.”
Under recent constitutional reforms, Kagame is eligible to run for two additional five-year terms as president after his current seven-year term ends. That means the Rwandan leader, who turns 60 this month, could stay in office until 2034.
Supporters of Liberian Presidential candidate Mr. Alexander B. Cummings Jr. have condemned as weak, the attempts by some individuals to misinform the Liberian electorate about his clean character and position on the issue of same sex marriage.
ANC
In a statement copied to the West African Times Lagos bureau on Friday, supporters said that surrogates of other opposition parties who have no real message or record of delivering development to Liberians are posting fake news and allegations on social media about the most qualified candidate in the Presidential race in order to detract from the real issues of failed leadership in the last 12 years in Liberia.
Supporters of Mr. Cummings, in their press statement, warned the public to be very aware of “desperate individuals; who have lost the trust and respect of Liberians. Recent unscientific polls have placed Cummings in a favorable lead among a cross section of the electorate because they have come to recognize his programs and plans for implementation as practicable.
The statement said, “This smear attempt is meant to rob Liberians of a future they deserve by electing people that lack the ability and capacity to govern.”
In a recently posted Facebook video, the ANC Standard bearer Mr. Cummings himself clearly disavowed any support for homosexuality in Liberia.
“I am a Christian and I’ve been married for 35 years; that is a lifestyle that I do not support . I’ve made it clear and I’ve been emphatic about it.. The laws in Liberia don’t support that and the culture of our country doesn’t support that and I don’t support it personally and I will uphold the laws of or country and the Constitution of Liberia…” he said.
ANC Platform
Cummings has seen a huge surge of support across Liberia in the few days left to General and Presidential elections. Last Thursday, Cummings, riding the wave of momentum he is enjoying launched the party’s platform in Monrovia.
Mr Cummings told Liberians directly that his platform is a “Liberia First” approach and include:
reduction of the cost of living that keeps rising
reduction of high unemployment
provision of quality health care – preventative and
quality education including vocational
provision of basic amenities like power, clean water, sewer and infrastructure for all Liberians.
strengthening the private sector through micro loans, attraction of foreign investments where Liberians benefit the most and
Fight against corruption through installation of modern technology in government systems, aggressive prosecution and mandatory jail time and seizure of assets f those convicted
Mr. Cummings is contesting the ticket of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) along with former diplomat Ambassador Jeremiah C. Sulunteh in upcoming elections in October.
Eritrea has been hit by new United States (U.S.) sanctions according to a White House statement. Under the new sanctions regime the U.S. said it was constraining Eritreans from engaging in educational or cultural exchange programs with the U.S.
Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki
Eritrea has long been on a U.S. sanctions list for failing to combat human trafficking. The new measure is a further squeeze on Asmara’s relations with Washington. North Korea, Russia and Syria have all been put into the same bracket.
Four other African countries were added to the sanctions list according to the White House. The sanctions are basically based on failure of the countries in the area of checking human trafficking.
A statement issued on Saturday September 30, 2017; said the affected African countries are: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan and Sudan.
Joining the African quartet are Iran and Venezuela – all the listed countries have been added to a list of countries subject to restrictions for the new fiscal year. The U.S. fiscal year kicked off on Sunday, October 1, 2017.
Map of Eritrea
Under a 2000 U.S. law called the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the United States does not provide non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance to any country that fails to comply with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking and is not making efforts to do so.
The latest round of sanctions comes barely weeks after Eritrea and other African countries were slapped with a visa restriction regime. The move was as part of punitive measures towards nations that refused to take back nationals scheduled for deportation from the U.S.
Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia
“As of September 13, the U.S. Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea has discontinued issuing B1, B2 , and B1/B2 visas to citizens, subjects, nationals, and residents of Eritrea, with limited exceptions, in accordance with Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” the U.S. embassy in Asmara wrote on its Facebook wall.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday he would not allow the country to be dismembered as it faces calls for secession in a region formerly known as Biafra and the Niger Delta oil hub along with a separatist insurgency by Boko Haram.
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and has the continent’s largest economy but it has struggled for unity among its 180 million inhabitants who include Christians and Muslims. Its 250 different ethnic groups mostly co-exist peacefully.
In the last few months calls for a separate southeastern state known as Biafra have grown louder, evoking memories of a conflict there that killed around 1 million people in the 1960s. Militants in the restive southern Niger Delta have also called for independence in the last year.
“Highly irresponsible groups” were calling for the “dismemberment of the country,” Buhari said in a televised speech to mark the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. “We cannot and we will not allow such advocacy.”
His comments come against the backdrop of a military deployment to the southeast and a crackdown on the region’s best known secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which was last month labelled a terrorist organisation.
Biafra Secessionist Leader Nnamdi Kanu
The group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has not been seen since Sept. 14 when IPOB says his home was raided by soldiers. The military on Friday said it did not raid Kanu’s home and was not holding the IPOB leader.
Buhari also said the government continued to hold talks with communities in the Niger Delta to maintain a ceasefire which halted attacks on oil installations which last year cut the OPEC member’s crude production by over a third.
“We intend to address genuine grievances of the communities. Government is grateful to the responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in the Niger Delta,” said Buhari, a former military ruler.
Map of Biafra
The broadcast was aired on Sunday shortly before the presidency said Buhari was travelling to the northeastern city of Maiduguri, epicentre of the Islamist militant Boko Haram insurgency, to celebrate the independence anniversary with soldiers fighting Boko Haram.
The jihadist group is seeking a separate state in the northeast adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
More than 20,000 people have been killed in the insurgency since 2009 and at least 10.7 million people in the northeast need some form of assistance, according to the United Nations which says it is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Philadelphia – In Liberia’s first civil war he was known as “Jungle Jabbah,” a rebel commander who witnesses said sliced a baby out of a pregnant woman’s stomach, killed civilians and ordered his soldiers to rape young girls.
Map of Liberia
But for nearly the last two decades, Mohammed Jabbateh has lived a quiet life in the US after being granted asylum by the federal government – a protection that will come into question on Monday as Jabbateh goes on trial on charges that he lied about his past on immigration documents so that he could enter the country.
“This defendant allegedly committed unspeakable crimes in his home country, brutalising numerous innocent victims. He then sought to escape to the United States where he lied about his criminal background on federal immigration forms,” then-US Attorney Zane David Memeger wrote in a statement after Jabbateh was arrested and his indictment unsealed in 2016.
Child Soldiers
Prosecutors have marshalled several witnesses who in court documents recalled their interactions with Jabbateh, 51, when he was a high-ranking member of The United Liberation Movement for Democracy and its splinter faction ULIMO-K, both Liberian rebel groups in the 1990s.
In one 1994 account, a man identified in court documents as “Witness AA” said that he saw Jabbateh order his soldiers to kill a town chief whose heart was then removed, boiled and eaten. Another witness described how rebels put gasoline-doused tires around two prisoners of war and set them ablaze after Jabbateh instructed his men to execute them.
Yet when an immigration official interviewed him about his asylum application in 1999, Jabbateh responded “no” when asked if he had ever committed a crime or if he had ever harmed anyone, according to prosecutors. And when he applied for permanent residence in 2002, he also wrote that he never engaged in genocide or killings rooted in race, religion or political opinion.
Mohammed Jungle Jabbah Jabbateh
Jabbateh’s attorney, Gregory Pagano, did not immediately respond to messages left at his office but a court document filed after his arrest last year states that Jabbateh vehemently denies that he committed or ordered the violent acts described in the indictment.
“He is peaceful, deeply religious and he is intensely loyal to the United States of America,” the court document reads, adding that Jabbateh has a home outside of Philadelphia and owns a business that packs shipping containers. It also said he has no criminal record.
The case is one of a handful of legal efforts to track down people accused of committing atrocities during the civil wars that began in 1989 and devastated Liberia through most of the 1990s and early 2000s, according to Elise Keppler, the associate director of the International Justice Program at the research and advocacy group Human Rights Watch. She cited similar efforts in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In 2008, the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted in a federal court in Florida for torturing or ordering the torture of dozens of his father’s political opponents. Charles McArthur Emmanuel, who is better known as Chuckie Taylor, was sentenced to 97 years in prison. He also was sued by five torture victims who were awarded $22.4m in damages.
“This is obviously a narrow slice of a very large impunity gap in Liberia,” Keppler said of the Jabbateh trial, “but it’s important and heartening to see that states like the US are playing a part in trying to bring some measure of justice to victims.”
Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa: When Presidential aspirant Alexander Cummings envisage Liberia and growing our revenue and Gross National Product (GNP) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stock to over $ 2billion United States (US) dollars, his opponents are crying foul and amazed as to how this can be done.
Map of Liberia
Let’s look at the facts.
When Madame Sirleaf came to power the national budget was $80 million US dollars. But today it is over $600 million dollars; an increase of over 400% in 12 years. Consider if the right controls, processes, people and systems plus mechanisms were put into place to limit corruption and capital outflows out of the country; we could increase our budget even more. Increasing the GNP is not rocket science.
With the right enabling environment that supports the private sector, growing the GNP to over four billion could happen in a very short time. If the GDP increases it is easy to see how we can grow our national budget.
There’s nothing wrong with a leader having (BHAG) “Big Hairy Aggressive Goals.” It makes he or she work harder. BHAG is an idea intellectualized in the book, “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James Collins and Jerry Porras. The authors see it as a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business or a country. There’s nothing wrong with thinking BIG. While these aggressive approaches may be questioned, they are not impossible.
This is the future of Liberia that Mr. Cummings would like to see. One in which our infrastructure is improved with well-constructed road networks that link every sector of our country. Our people expect reliable and safe road infrastructure for traveling from the town and villages, transport of goods and to seek care. Our roads need to be properly planned, built, maintained, and operated to create value for road users (our people).
He has always believed in infrastructure investment such as electricity nationwide by expanding and increasing our hydro-electric capacity and investing in renewable sources of energy (e.g. solar, wind, biomass) which can move our country forward at a rapid speed. We cannot grow the private sector and create good paying jobs for our people unless we have the base to build, run and support our factories.
Mr. Cummings will invest in creating the environment so that companies can do good quality business in Liberia and become successful. When they do that, our people benefit because these companies will provide employment for our people including adults and youths. He has promised to practicalize our “Liberianization Policy” so that Liberians can be in the “driver seat” of moving their country forward. We cannot continue to depend on foreigners.
Future Liberia Road Network
Future Road Network in Liberia
There is a relationship between electricity consumption and developing our country. There is a need to expand on current work done on the Mount Coffee Hydro-Electric dam and strengthen the effectiveness of energy generating agencies by ensuring periodic replacement of worn-out equipment in order to drastically curtail transmission power losses and theft. Poor access to electricity and inadequate power supply in Liberia has been a major setback to growing the country. To make Liberia ready for developmental take-off requires adequate and regular power supply.
Future Liberia Dam
A Future Liberian Dam
The government cannot be the single largest employer if we intend to grow our budget or increase our GDP. In our country where the state and economic structure remain fragile, access to long-term finance and capital must be maintained in order to grow and develop. Without it, the private sector cannot grow and expand.
Our banking system is most instances unsuited to the small entrepreneurs and so income generating activities are limited. So Mr. Cummings will provide support for the private sector in order to drive the development value chain. If we are able to produce more goods and services, local enterprises can help improve living standards, accelerate technological developments and lower prices by stimulating competition and increasing our tax base, which is essential for financing infrastructures, education, health and other services.
Future Liberia Factory floor
A Future Liberian Company Factory Floor I
A Future Liberian Factory Floor II
Education enriches our people understanding of the world. So, investment in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is a cornerstone of Mr. Cummings’ policy. This includes vocational training in technology, nursing, electronics, plumbing, electricity, etc. We cannot be the least in our region so there will be increased focus in improving our education standard to drive the Liberia of the future.
Students in Class
Healthcare is one area that Mr. Cummings cannot talk enough about. It is common knowledge that poverty, infant malnourishment and mortality, and poor health adversely affect life expectancy. We cannot be unprepared for another Ebola crisis. And so investment in healthcare and access to affordable healthcare will take center stage in Mr. Cummings development efforts if we are to move our country forward.
Future Liberia Emergency Hospital Room
Liberia has the potential as an attractive economic power center for major local and international investments.
Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, the experienced and successful business executive who has a record of innovating and expanding ideas that create value can preside over a new Liberia that leapfrog into modernity.
Dakar – Cameroon’s military is heavily deployed in the country’s English-speaking regions and few people are on the streets after several people were killed over the weekend in protests in support of independence for some Anglophone regions.
Cameroon Protests
Scores of thousands of English-speaking Cameroonians hoisted flags on Sunday to show they want independence from the country’s French-speaking majority, defying security forces and bans for gathering in some areas.
Security forces shot dead several people in Cameroon during gatherings on the 56th anniversary of the incorporation of Anglophone regions into Cameroon, according to Amnesty International. The group expressed worry over the government’s “on-going campaign to silence any form of dissent in the West and South-West regions of Cameroon.” The Northwest province on Friday banned meetings and travel for 72 hours.
The rights group called on security forces to cease unnecessary violence and called on protesters to be peaceful.
At least a dozen people were killed in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, some shot by military helicopters, while at least 40 others were arrested, according to local media. Six soldiers were attacked and severely wounded, reports said.
Cameroon Military
No declarations were made by separatists, but protests have been ongoing since late last year with the country’s English-speaking population saying it is discriminated against by the majority French-speaking population.
Social media platforms such as Whatsapp have been blocked in the English-speaking regions and residents express fear about restrictions imposed by the government.
In Yaounde and all major towns in the French-speaking regions, political parties, law makers and the government organized rallies denouncing the separatist groups.
Lawmaker Tabe Tando from Cameroon’s English-speaking southwest region read a declaration in a mass rally organized by Cameroon’s senate and national assembly in Yaounde.
“The members of parliament condemn outright any action aimed at destabilizing our beloved and beautiful country. Reaffirm their attachment to a Cameroon which is one and indivisible as enshrined in the constitution. Express their brotherly solidarity to the populations of the northwest and southwest regions, victims of the unscrupulous acts of enemies of the fatherland and peace,” it said.
Map of Cameroon
Some experts called for dialogue to avoid ongoing tensions.
Schools have been closed in the English-speaking northwest and southwest since November when lawyers and teachers called for a strike to stop what they believe is the overuse of the French language. Violence erupted when separatist joined in and started asking for complete independence.
President Paul Biya has made clear he is not open for any negotiations on separate states.
About 57 per cent of all schools are closed in Nigeria’s Borno state, worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, leaving an estimated 3 million children in need of emergency education support, even as the new school year begins, the United Nations child agency said today.
Map of Nigeria
“Children in northeast Nigeria are living through so much horror,” said Justin Forsyth, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a press release on his three-day visit to Maiduguri, the epicentre of the crisis.
Since 2009, over 2,295 teachers have been killed and 19,000 have been displaced across the northeast. Almost 1,400 schools have been destroyed with the majority unable to open because of extensive damage or because they are in areas that remain unsafe.
The use of children as human bombs has sown a climate of mistrust among communities in the northeast, and a cholera outbreak has affected more than 3,900 people, including over 2,450 children.
“In addition to devastating malnutrition, violence and an outbreak of cholera, the attacks on schools are in danger of creating a lost generation of children, threatening their and the countries future,” Mr. Forsyth added.
However, some displaced children in Borno state are benefiting from education for the first time in their lives. In the Muna Garage camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, an estimated 90 per cent of students are enrolled in school for the first time.
Coat of Arms of Nigeria
In the three most-affected states of northeast Nigeria, UNICEF and partners have enrolled nearly 750,000 children in school this year, establishing over 350 temporary learning spaces, and distributing almost 94,000 packs of learning material that will help children to get an education.
UNICEF is also working with partners to rehabilitate schools and classrooms and training teachers to build a stronger education system for the future.
UNICEF’s life-saving emergency programmes in northeast Nigeria remain underfunded. With only three months left in the year, UNICEF has a 40 per cent finding gap in its needs for 2017.
Cairo – The Egyptian air force said on Thursday that it had destroyed a convoy of 10 all-terrain vehicles in the country’s western desert suspected of smuggling weapons from Libya.
Map of Egypt
The raid was carried out on the basis of information that “criminal elements were preparing to infiltrate” Egypt, said army spokesperson Colonel Tamer el-Refai in a statement.
The officer said that the vehicles were attacked once they entered Egyptian territory, but he did not specify the fate of those in the convoy.
Egypt, which has struck jihadist targets inside Libya, regularly warns of a spillover of instability from its lawless western neighbour, a haven of arms and people trafficking.
The country has been battling an insurgency of its own since the military’ ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Jihadists have killed hundreds of members of Egypt’s security forces, while more than 100 Copts have died in church bombings since December.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday said his victory in Kenya’s boycott-hit election re-run was a “revalidation” of the people’s will after a vote he won in August that was overturned by the courts.
Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta
“On 8th August, 15 million Kenyans came out to vote. Of these, 8.4 million Kenyans voted for me. On October 26th, 90 percent of those same voters came out once again to support my bid,” he said in his victory speech after winning 98.2 percent of the vote following a boycott by rival Raila Odinga.
“This was nothing more than a revalidation of their general will, a statement of their national intent in support of myself and of the Jubilee government.”
Kenyatta also said his August win, in which he took 54 percent of the vote, had never been called into question.
“When my victory was put to the test in the Supreme Court, this was the verdict: the court did not challenge my overwhelming mandate of 54 percent. The numbers were never questioned,” he said.
What the court had queried, Kenyatta argued, was the manner in which the results were transmitted.
“What the court questioned was the process of declaring my victory. Because the court did not question my victory, they, by extension, with their ruling, validated my 54 percent numbers.”
Map of Kenya
But Thursday’s vote was fraught with problems. Polling was prevented by violent demonstrations in four western counties where Odinga supporters had widely observed a boycott.
And with turnout among Kenya’s 19.6 million registered voters standing at just 38.8 percent, there are likely to be questions over the credibility of the election, analysts say.
Kenyatta himself admitted there would likely be fresh legal challenges to Thursday’s result.
“My victory today is just part of a process that is likely to once again be subjected to a constitutional test through our courts,” he said.
“We shall wait for that process and that process’s outcome,” he said. “Nobody shall deny them their consitutional right.”
A Delaware County man accused of hiding his past as a murderous Liberian warlord was convicted Wednesday on federal immigration fraud charges in a historic verdict that resonated from Philadelphia’s sizable community of West African expats to the Liberian capital of Monrovia thousands of miles away.
Convicted – Mohammed Jabbateh
Mohammed Jabateh, a 51-year-old father of five and owner of a Philadelphia-based international shipping company, is the first person convicted of crimes stemming from atrocities during the protracted, multi-factioned civil war that ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 1997.
Though he was not specifically charged with any of the dozens of acts of murder, rape, enslavement, and cannibalism that government witnesses attributed to the rebel soldiers he led under the nom de guerre “Jungle Jabbah,” federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and human rights advocates declared victory in the jury’s decision to find Jabateh guilty of lying about those misdeeds to U.S. immigration authorities.
The jury of eight women and four men took less than five hours over two days to reach their decision on the two counts each of perjury and lying on immigration documents that Jabateh faced.
Jabateh showed no reaction as the verdict was read shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Pursing his lips, he stared at the jurors. The judge had warned against any outbursts in the courtroom.
The verdict came after a three-week trial in which the U.S. Justice Department flew in more than 12 of his former countrymen from Africa to testify against him.
In eight days of testimony, they detailed wartime experiences so horrific that at times jurors were visibly upset by the accounts.
One woman testified she had been captured and turned into a sex slave at 13, only to be raped daily for weeks until she managed to escape. A farmer from Liberia’s northwest mining country detailed how he had been forced into slavery and ordered to dig for diamonds to fund Jabateh’s war effort on threat of death.
And in perhaps the most wrenching testimony of the trial, the wife of a village chieftain alleged that Jabateh’s soldiers killed her husband and then delivered his heart on a platter with orders to cook it for Jabateh and his men.
Jabateh’s defense lawyer, Greg Pagano, asked why they had never before reported any of the war crimes they were now alleging in the two decades since the war – a question that prompted one witness to scoff in response.
“Who am I gonna tell? Nobody,” she said. “I didn’t tell any local official, because they couldn’t do nothing about it.”
US Department of Justice
That sense of unpaid wartime debts hung over Jabateh’s case from the day in March 2016 when U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him at his East Lansdowne home.
In Liberian newspapers and among the handful of demonstrators who showed up outside the federal courthouse in Philadelphia this week, the trial had taken on a totemic meaning far beyond Jabateh himself and any crimes he may have committed.
More than 250,000 people died during the first civil war in their country, smaller than the state of Tennessee. Another four-year conflict erupted shortly after.
But, remarkably, no one has ever been held criminally responsible in Liberia for the documented atrocities committed by factions on all sides.
The nation’s former President Charles Taylor was convicted of war crimes by an international court in 2012 – but for actions tied to a civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. It took a U.S. court to sentence his son – known as “Chuckie” Taylor – to prison in 2009 for his own barbaric behavior in the second civil war between 1999 and 2003.
Map of Liberia
Some former rebel leaders now hold positions of power within the government in Monrovia, and the ethnic divisions that fueled the wars still divide Liberians here and abroad.
“For most of the victims, they are hoping that one day justice will prevail,” said Gregory Stemm, a Liberian photojournalist who covered the wars and testified against Jabateh at trial.
Jabateh maintained throughout his trial that he, too, was a victim – first of Taylor’s autocratic regime that ordered him imprisoned and tortured before he fled to the U.S. in the late 1990s, and later of his 17 accusers, whom Jabateh accused of lying in a misguided effort to secure some form of justice for crimes others committed during the war.
The emotions it stirred up both here and abroad are unlikely to settle soon. Two other Liberians who settled in the Philadelphia area after fleeing the war await similar trials soon for charges related to their conduct during the conflict.
An international rights group is accusing the Ethiopian government of literally blackmailing United States as Congress moves to heighten human rights and political reform calls on Addis Ababa.
According to a statement released by Freedom House dated October 16, 2017 and titled “U.S. Congress Should Call Ethiopia’s Bluff,” Senior Program Officer for Africa, Joseph Badwaza, said Congress should go ahead with its efforts and discard the Ethiopian government’s “bullying tactics.”
A bi-partisan human rights resolution by U.S. lawmakers known as the H. Res 128 has been halted by Addis Ababa with the threat of severing security cooperation with the U.S. if it is pursued any further.
The statement quoted Republican Congressman Mike Coffman as confirming that Ethiopia’s position was relayed by its ambassador in Washington who said the country will “stop counterterrorism cooperation with the United States if Congress went ahead with a planned vote on a resolution calling for human rights protections and inclusive governance in the country (H. Res. 128).”
Freedom House is, however, of the view that any such move by the government would be against its interest hence the need for Congress to box on with its efforts at securing the rights of suppressed Ethiopians and the opening of the country’s political space.
“Passing H. Res. 128 would send a powerful message to Addis Ababa to get serious about undertaking reforms, and the Ethiopian government’s bullying tactics should not derail it. Members of Congress should call the bluff, place the resolution back on the House agenda, and approve it.
“Experience shows that Ethiopia would never follow through on the threat to halt security cooperation. The government fully understands who would be the ultimate loser if it did,” Freedom House said.
What is the H. Res. 128 about?
H. Res. 128 is a human rights centered move with strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress, it has as many as 71 cosponsors.
The resolution passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously in late July 2017 and was scheduled for a vote by the full House on October 2.
One of its authors, Republican Congressman Chris Smith said during the committee mark-up, the resolution is like a mirror held up to the government of Ethiopia, and it is intended to encourage them to recognize how others see them and move forward with reforms.
“While the resolution contains provisions that call for sanctions—under the Global Magnitsky Act—against Ethiopian officials responsible for committing gross human rights violations, the more important reason why the government took the severe step of threatening the U.S. Congress is the damage that this resolution could do to the country’s image,” Freedom House averred.
Ethiopia’s regional and global security capacity and international profile
Flag of Ethiopia
The country is largely seen as a security and political big boy in the restive Horn of Africa region. Aside Eritrea, it is on good terms with all its neighbours.
Ethiopia despite its security headache back home, also plays a huge role in global security circles, as one of the biggest contributors to international peacekeeping.
It is a current member of the UN’s Security and Human Rights Councils. It is engaged in the fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, it is at the forefront of regional diplomacy efforts to restore peace to South Sudan and also hosts the African Union headquarters.
Its legitimacy back home is, however, seen as shaky and highly unsteady. The government employed lethal force against anti-government protesters from late 2015 through the better part of 2016.
A situation that led to deaths and massive detentions even though Addis has refused to allow for an independent probe into the tensions which combine politics and security in a very restive region.
It took a 10 month state of emergency imposed in October 2016 with its draconian rules to quell the protests. There has been recent undercurrents in Oromia region where protests are gaining momentum.
The organisation found that judges and prosecutors ignored complaints from current and former detainees about the unlawful detention and ill-treatment, creating an environment of total impunity. It called on Rwandan authorities and UN to investigate immediately.
The U.S. Congress, in a show of resolve, recently passed a resolution which condemned any “external interference” in the Liberian elections, again an apparent hint to Weah that the major super power is watching his every move.
Sources close to the Movement for Democratic Change leader say that doctors have strictly instructed him to steer clear of public places and have limited contact with people, reported NewsDay.
West African Times 