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New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Congo's Former President Returns Home, Accused of Treason
A former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned to the Central African country after years in self-imposed exile, according to one of his advisers, days after the country's Senate accused him of treason. The Senate said the former president, Joseph Kabila, had supported a militia that has captured swaths of Congolese territory this year — an allegation that could lead to his prosecution. Yet he remains beyond the government's reach, even after returning to his country. The senate voted to prosecute Mr. Kabila, who led Congo for 18 years, in Kinshasa, the capital. For his re-entry into Congo, Mr. Kabila chose Goma, a city 1,000 miles to the east, where the government is powerless. Goma was captured in January by M23, a militia backed by Rwanda, Congo's neighbor. M23 is the militia Mr. Kabila is accused of supporting. Mr. Kabila's return to Congo, which leaders of M23 also confirmed, comes as the United States is trying to broker a peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo, and simultaneous minerals deals with both countries. The presence in the country of Mr. Kabila, who still wields considerable influence, could complicate these efforts. In a video address posted on his social media last week, Mr. Kabila accused his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, of being a dictator. In Congo's 2018 presidential election, Mr. Kabila's chosen candidate to replace him decisively lost, and it appeared as if a prominent critic of the president and opposition politician, Martin Fayulu, had won. But amid allegations of widespread fraud, another opposition candidate was declared the winner — Mr. Tshisekedi, who proceeded to enter into a power-sharing agreement with Mr. Kabila's party. That alliance came to an abrupt halt a year later when Mr. Tshisekedi said sharing power was blocking his agenda for reform. Since then, Mr. Kabila has mostly maintained silence — until this year, when he began signaling his desire to re-enter Congolese politics. His motivation for returning to Congo at this moment is not known, and a spokesman traveling with him did not respond to a request for comment. On his arrival in Goma, Mr. Kabila was given an effusive welcome by M23's political leader, Corneille Nangaa. Mr. Nangaa, a politician turned rebel who lately dresses in military fatigues and regularly excoriates Mr. Tshisekedi, is the same man who, in a previous political life, was president of Congo's Independent National Electoral Commission when it first declared Mr. Tshisekedi president.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In Tanzania, Samia's Facade of Reform Is Crumbling
At the height of her reform ambitions, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan proudly championed the 'Four Rs' of reconciliation, resilience, reforms, and rebuilding, a program that marked a radical departure from her predecessor, John Magufuli. She reversed a number of retrograde and repressive policies implemented by Magufuli and initiated reconciliatory dialogue with the opposition. She also skillfully consolidated power within her party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, or CCM, which has held the presidency in Tanzania since independence in 1961. However, Samia's reforms have quickly stalled as the 2025 general elections draw nearer. The government's recent arrest of Tundu Lissu, the chair of Tanzania's main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, or CHADEMA, and his subsequent indictment on treason charges related to his advocacy for electoral reform, clearly indicates that the façade of progressive change that had been constructed under Samia is crumbling and could presage a return to authoritarian rule in Tanzania. In the wake of Lissu's arrest, CHADEMA was disqualified from the election after it refused to sign a code of conduct mandated by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Disillusioned by the government's intransigence on electoral reforms, CHADEMA passed a 'No Reforms, No Elections' resolution in December 2024. The resolution is at the center of the party's campaign strategy to expose the government's reluctance to institutionalize these reforms. In 2022, following dialogue with opposition parties, Samia had formed a special task force on democracy and political parties, which issued a list of reform recommendations. The opposition's demands of establishing an independent electoral commission, lifting the ban on political parties, and revising various laws that govern political activity were incorporated into the task force's recommendations. The government subsequently introduced reform legislation that was presented as institutionalizing the needed reforms but which in reality largely maintained the status quo. To get more in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs from WPR, sign up for our free Daily Review newsletter. For example, the opposition had demanded measures to ensure an independent electoral commission, but the president still has executive powers to appoint its members, despite a cosmetic name change from the National Electoral Commission to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Additionally, an election reform bill that became law in 2024 still allows government-appointed district executive directors to oversee election returns during elections. Finally, the task force had recommended that the results of presidential elections should be subject to challenge in a court of law, preferably a higher court, but there is still no mechanism for this to occur. In 2020, the African Court on Human and People's Rights ruled that Tanzania violated the African Charter by refusing challenges to presidential elections in court. In addition to the lack of progress on electoral reform under Samia, continued repression, especially abductions and disappearances of CHADEMA members, have deepened mistrust of the government. CHADEMA's reform campaign seems to have resonated with the Tanzanian public. Lissu is charged with treason because he called for disrupting the upcoming elections if his reform demands were not met. In local elections held in November, many CHADEMA candidates were disqualified, and CCM went on to win 99 percent of the local contests. Samia's perceived outsider status, as a Muslim woman from Tanzania's semi-autonomous state of Zanzibar, was seen as something that would undermine her chances of becoming president. However, she was able to overcome these hurdles through the support of CCM's power brokers, such as former President Jakaya Kikwete. She has also been a shrewd political operator, using both party processes and the power of the presidency to eliminate rivals. The reforms and reconciliation she had begun were quickly reversed when it became evident that the opposition was gaining momentum. After the ban on political parties was lifted, CHADEMA began holding nationwide rallies demanding a new constitution as the best pathway for consolidating reforms. The demand for a new constitution became CHADEMA's main agenda, even as they spoke vehemently against government corruption and controversial government deals such as an agreement with a Dubai-based company, DP World, to manage ports at Dar es Salaam and elsewhere in the country whose terms were unusually generous to the the company. As opposition to the deal grew, the government began employing means to silence it. Critics of the port deal and opposition figures were harassed, arrested, and detained. Accounts of abductions, disappearances, and the killing of opposition voices followed. Then, in January 2025, during a Special CCM convention, Samia was declared the party's presidential candidate for the upcoming election in a political maneuver that went against party traditions. CCM has traditionally held its nominations in June or July of an election year. This unprecedented move demonstrated Samia's intentions of eliminating potential party rivals for the presidential nomination. With the electoral body disbarring CHADEMA from the elections, it appears that she has now eliminated any external challenger as well. This positions Samia and CCM for a landslide victory in the general election. These developments point to a worrying democratic decline in Tanzania. In its latest Freedom in the World report, Freedom House changed the country's rating to 'Not Free' from 'Partly Free,' reflecting the country's poor performance on measures of political rights and civil liberties. At the regional level, Tanzania's democratic backsliding mirrors similar trends in Kenya and Uganda. In November, Uganda's longtime opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, was abducted while in Kenya and later charged with treason. Tanzanian human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who resides in Kenya, was briefly abducted in Nairobi in January, and she has said she believes the Tanzanian government was involved. In Kenya, incidences of abductions and forced disappearances were reported following youth-led protests in June 2024 over the cost of living and a proposed tax hike. These patterns suggest a broader regional shift towards repression and away from democracy. It remains to be seen whether the Tanzanian government's decision to disqualify CHADEMA from the presidential election scheduled for October will be reversed or whether Lissu's treason charges will be dropped. But it seems clear that Samia's brief experiment in progressive reform is now over. Nicodemus Minde is a Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, in Nairobi. He writes on politics, culture and big-power politics in Africa. The post In Tanzania, Samia's Facade of Reform Is Crumbling appeared first on World Politics Review.
BBC News
01-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'Nobody and nothing fit stop me from coming home' - Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
Di suspended senator wey dey represent Kogi Central District for di National Assembly, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan don land Kogi state for one home coming ceremony. Dis dey come despite say Kogi state police ask di organisers of di event to cancel am, citing security concerns. Dis na plus di ban on political gathering and curfew wey authorities put in place for di state, just few hours bifor di senator home coming ceremony. Plenty of senator Natasha supporters troop out to welcome her. Videos wey her media team share on Facebook show as dem gada dey sing and dance, and joy full dia faces. Dem also carry placards wey dem write inscriptions like, "Welcome worthy daughter of Ebira land, di pipo of Okene are solidly behind you, "Welcome Natasha, di pipo of Adavi are solidly behind you, among odas to welcome dia senator and express support for her. Di Kogi central senator as she dey address di crowd tok say she dey happy to come house and nobody fit stop her from coming home, as she be di true daughter of di soil. "Nobody and nothing fit stop me from coming home, I be Ebira girl dis na my land, I no be bastard, I no dey fear anybody, I be di daughter of late Dr Jimoh Akpoti. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan dey di middle of one recall process afta some members of her constituents petition di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) to recall her bicos dem don lose confidence for her representation for di National Assembly. We dey update dis tori
