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South Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar has been ousted as head of his party and its armed forces, say rival leaders who accused the rebel-turned-politician of no longer representing their interests.

Machar, a pivotal figure in South Sudan’s bloody road to independence and subsequent civil war, was deposed following a three-day gathering of senior SPLM/A-IO leaders in the country’s far north, the party’s military wing said.

Its chief of staff, First Lieutenant General Simon Gatwech Dual, was declared interim leader of the opposition movement that governs the troubled country in a shaky alliance with former enemies.

It is unclear what the putsch means for Machar, a wily leader who survived years of bush warfare, close attempts on his life and stretches in exile.

The military wing said Machar had “completely failed” to show leadership and greatly weakened the party’s position in the post-war coalition government formed between the warring sides in early 2020.

Machar had engaged in a years-long “policy of divide and rule” and favoured nepotism over unity or advancing their cause, according to a statement signed by the SPLM/A-IO military leadership and dated August 3.

“As a result, the meeting saw there was no option rather than to come up with the decision and finally prompted to declare the denouncement of Dr Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon from the chairmanship of the SPLM/A-IO,” the statement said.

Political disunity

AFP has sought comment from Machar’s spokesman in Juba.

He served as vice president in South Sudan’s first post-independence government alongside his old rival, President Salva Kiir.

But the pair fell out and Machar was sacked two years later. Troops loyal to each man turned their guns on each other, and South Sudan descended into five years of horrific bloodshed.

In 2018 — after a string of failed peace accords and violated ceasefires — a fresh truce paused the fighting that left nearly 400,000 South Sudanese dead.

Under that arrangement, Machar entered another unity government as deputy to Kiir in February 2020.

But distrust lingered and cracks soon appeared, as key provisions of the peace accords went unfulfilled.

As the process drifted Machar faced growing opposition within his own ranks, with top cadres complaining they had lost out under the power-sharing arrangement struck with the ruling party.

The political disunity comes as South Sudan faces economic disaster and its worst hunger crisis since independence, with tens of thousands of people enduring famine-like conditions in the world’s youngest nation.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Ghanaian lawmakers are facing backlash over a bill before Ghana’s parliament that aims to make gay rights advocacy illegal.

Eight lawmakers are sponsoring the bill, which was introduced in parliament Monday. The bill would impose a maximum 10-year prison sentence on people who support and advocate for same-sex and gay rights. Individuals or groups would also not be allowed to provide social or medical support to LGBTQ+ people.

Word of the bill had spread in recent weeks even before it was officially presented, prompting outrage among many Ghanaians.

Kwasi Prempeh, the head of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, which defends gay rights, told VOA the bill is a distraction.

“We’re in almost a post-COVID situation and there are a lot of challenges to deal with,” Prempeh said. “This is not the kind of distraction we need at this time. And unfortunately, it is being foisted on us by these crusaders who really will not stop.”

Prempeh added that even if the bill is passed, it will be legally challenged.

“In parliament it may well pass, but I doubt very much it will survive executive scrutiny, hopefully not,” Prempeh said. “If it does get presidential assent, I’m almost certain that it will be challenged judicially.”

But opposition lawmaker Sam George, who is leading the effort to pass the bill, said it is not aimed at infringing on the sexual preference of individuals as long as they do not force it on others.

“I don’t care what you do in the confines of your room or the privacy of your home,” George said. “But when you want to make that a way of life, when you then want to demand that the rest of us accept your perversion and when you want to demand that the rest of us accept to your way of life and target our children, then we’re not going to allow you to do that.”

In January, police raided Ghana’s first LGBTQ+ community center in Accra. Twenty-one gay rights advocates are now on trial after having been arrested at a workshop for allegedly championing LGBTQ+ rights.

The head of LGBTQ+ Rights Ghana, Alex Kofi Donkor, described the bill as backward and wants the international community to pressure the government to withdraw it.

“This is simply absurd and simply unacceptable in the 21st century,” Donkor said. “I think this is the time that organizations and countries that believe in human rights begin to speak out about this hate bill that is being introduced in Ghana. Ghana needs to be called out on the international level.”

In coming weeks, the Constitutional and Legal Committee of Ghana’s parliament plans to consult the general public for possible amendments.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

KAYA, BURKINA FASO – The COVID-19 pandemic has led to cuts in foreign aid from donor nations such as Britain, which this month slashed its aid budget by $5.5 billion. The funding loss is being felt in Burkina Faso, where it could shut down a group that helps thousands of survivors of gender-based violence and rape.

Britain has cut its annual aid budget, and so have other countries, such as Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The largest international nonprofits say the shockwaves of the cuts will be felt by people across Africa in all kinds of situations and will result in deaths.

“For countries like the U.K. and others to be cutting their aid budgets in a global pandemic is extremely shortsighted, and we know it will put the fight back against poverty by many decades. So, the U.N. secretary general, for example, has called these cuts a death sentence, and it really is that stark for many people,” said Sam Nadel, Oxfam government relations chief.

MSI Reproductive Choices, a group offering family planning to countries in crisis, such as Burkina Faso, where over 1.3 million people have been displaced by conflict, is primarily supported by British aid money.

The cuts will affect large numbers of women, says the head of MSI-Burkina Faso, Dr. Toumbi Sissoko.

Overall, MSI has been able to assist more than 500,000 beneficiaries over two years, she says. She points to Burkina Faso’s context of insecurity, which she says makes women even more vulnerable.

“Alice,” whose name has been changed to protect her identity, received help from MSI after she fled her village in northern Burkina Faso when gunmen attacked.  She trekked through the bush for three days, seeking refuge, but then was seized by a group of terrorists.

Alice says they told her to put her daughter down before one of them hit her with the butt of his gun, knocking her to the ground. Six of them raped her, then discussed whether they should kill her but, she says, they concluded it was useless to kill a woman. They got on their motorbikes and left.

When she reached the relative safety of Kaya the next day, she was directed to MSI-Burkina Faso.

Alice OK? says a woman from MSI immediately gave her morning-after pills and advice. She was still traumatized and could neither eat nor breast-feed her daughter. She said that the woman at MSI encouraged her to eat and told her that her life was still worth living.

Flora Guibere works for MSI. She thinks that with the aid cuts, beneficiaries will be left on their own, and the funding to support them won’t exist, and many of her organization’s workers will be out of a job.

For women who fall victim to gang rape, like Alice,OK? it will mean they may no longer receive emergency birth control or support.

 

Source: Voice of America

Rights groups have condemned Eswatini’s arrest of two lawmakers this week and the use of force against pro-democracy protesters.  The southern African kingdom, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, has been rocked by protests since June.

Protests re-ignited Thursday in Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland, as two pro-democracy members of parliament appeared in court.

Mthandeni Dube and Mduduzi Mabuza were arrested earlier this week on charges of terrorism for inciting unrest and violating COVID-19 regulations.

The unrest began over a month ago with protests calling for political reform.

Twenty-five-year-old Vuysiwa Maseko is a member of the Swaziland National Union of Students, which is among the central groups leading the demonstrations.

He says the arrests exemplify the lack of freedom in the country.

“Indeed, it’s angering and raging because these are the people’s representatives in parliament,” said Maseko. “They are the voices of the voiceless and arresting them means government is shutting 1.1 million voices – the population of Swaziland.”

Weeks of demonstrations have cost the landlocked country’s economy at least $200 million.

They’ve also cost lives. Local police have confirmed over 30 people have been killed and many more arrested.

International organizations and governments have condemned the response by authorities, calling the use of force excessive.

Amnesty International spokesperson Robert Shivambu says the lawmakers should be released immediately.

“They have committed no crime and have been targeted by the government solely for for their political views,” said Shivambu. “We believe that both MPs are victims of political witch hunt, which is designed to silence any critical voice that is demanding political reforms and human rights.”

Government spokesperson Sabelo Dlamani declined to comment in response to the condemnation.

Instead, he deferred to Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini’s parliamentary address on Wednesday, in which he vehemently denied political motivation for the lawmakers’ arrest.

But the prime minister also said the rule of law would be upheld and applied to anyone who incited violence under the guise of free expression.

Until the government meets with the public for peaceful negotiations, Amnesty International spokesperson Robert Shivambu says more episodes of violence are feared.

“The government thinks that the only way to respond to these protests is crackdown that we have seen, they have deployed the police and the army to crack down on dissent. So we are we are concerned that things could escalate,” said Shivambu.

The international support is welcome by student protesters like Maseko.

But members of the United Eswatini Diaspora say they want to see more than just talk from the international community.

Qhawekazi Khumalo says they want countries, from neighboring South Africa to other global powerhouses, to halt business with the government.

“We’re calling for sanctions of all Swaziland products, particularly those that Emaswati are business shareholder in, and those are some of the things that the world has authority, you know to do,” Khumalo said.

The jailed members of parliament remain behind bars after a judge deferred a decision to grant them bail at a Thursday hearing.   A new date for a ruling has yet to be announced.

 

 

Source: Voice of America