Day: November 6, 2021

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Paul Biya, Cameroon’s 88-Year-Old President, Marks 39 Years in Power

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Supporters of Africa’s second-longest serving leader, Cameroon’s 88-year-old President Paul Biya, are celebrating his 39 years in office November 6. Biya, who has been Cameroon’s president since 1982, is rarely seen in public these days. Meanwhile Biya’s opponents are saying renewed calls for the octogenarian to run for president in 2025 cannot be taken seriously.

Supporters of Cameroon’s ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, sang that Biya can still rule the central African state for another seven-year term, starting in 2025.

Biya was declared the winner of the country’s 2018 election garnering over 80% of the votes.

The song was sung in towns and villages across Cameroon during celebrations of Biya’s 39 years in office.

One event was held in Monatele, capital of Lekie, a department near Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé. Henri Eyebe Ayissi, Cameroon’s state property, survey and land tenure minister, and Biya’s close ally led the CPDM party delegation to Lekie and delivered what he called a special message for Biya supporters.

Ayissi said the CPDM is appealing for a national consensus for Biya to seek a new term in 2025. He said the Lekie Division is making an appeal to Biya to accept the call to run for president in 2025 and continue the good works he is doing for Cameroon.

Ayissi said Biya has maintained unity despite Boko Haram terrorism on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria and the separatist crisis that has killed at least 3,000 people in the English-speaking western regions.

Ayissi said several million Cameroonian children have access to education because Biya has built schools and universities in many towns and villages of the central African state.

The call for Biya to run for president again when his current seven-year term ends in 2025 was echoed in several towns and villages, sparking criticism from Biya’s opponents.

Christopher Ndong, secretary general of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement — a party that claims its candidate, Maurice Kamto, won the 2018 election and that Biya stole his victory — Ndong says an invitation for Biya to be a candidate in 2025 means the CPDM wants the octogenarian to die in office.

“It is a slap in the face of Cameroonians and democracy in this country. Given his age, what will he do with power? Right now, he is not active. Honestly, this is a provocation of the first order. Look at the chaos all over the place. The country is in debts. In fact, it shows you that there is nobody at the head. That 2025 call should not be taken seriously because we know the state and health of the head of state cannot permit him to rule this country in 2025,” Ndong said.

Ngole Ngole Elvis, head of the CPDM party academy and Biya’s close aide, says calls for Biya to run are democratic. He says instead of complaining that Biya has been in power for long, the opposition should prepare to democratically vote for who they think should be their president in 2025.

“Wait for the next election and make sure that you prepare for it in such a way that with your freedom, you should have put in place the right campaign strategies, the right campaign messages, the right manifestos, the right candidates,” Elvis said.

Biya served as prime minister for seven years before becoming president. In 2008, he removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely.

He is now the second-longest serving leader in sub-Saharan Africa after his neighbor, Thedoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power since 1979.

Source: Voice of America

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Moroccan King’s Speech on Western Sahara Ignores Algeria Accusation

RABAT, MOROCCO — Morocco’s King Mohammed gave a speech Saturday about Western Sahara but made no mention of an Algerian accusation that Morocco targeted Algerian civilians in an incident last week that the United Nations said took place in the disputed territory.

Algeria’s accusation has raised fears of further escalation between the North African rivals after Algeria cut off diplomatic relations, stopped supplying gas to Morocco and blocked Algerian airspace to Moroccan flights.

Ties between the countries have been fractious for years, but have deteriorated since last year after the Algeria-backed Polisario Front said it was resuming its armed struggle for the independence of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco sees as its own.

King Mohammed’s silence on the dispute with Algeria in his annual speech on Western Sahara is in line with Morocco’s practice since soon after Algeria broke off ties in August in ignoring all statements coming from Algiers.

However, Algeria’s accusation Wednesday that Morocco had killed three civilians driving in the Sahara on Monday has sharply raised the stakes.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vowed in a statement that the death of the three men “would not go unpunished.”

Morocco has not formally responded to the accusation.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Western Sahara, MINURSO, visited the site of the incident in territory outside Moroccan control and found two badly damaged Algerian-plated trucks, a U.N. spokesperson said on Friday. The spokesperson said MINURSO was looking into the incident.

Last year the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of a deal that also included Rabat bolstering ties with Israel.

Morocco has been more assertive since then in pushing European countries to follow suit. However, they have not done so, and in September a European Union court said some European trade deals with Morocco were invalid because they included products originating in Western Sahara territory.

King Mohammed said on Saturday that Morocco would not agree to “any economic or commercial step that excludes the Moroccan Sahara.”

Source: Voice of America

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Why US Is Suspending Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea From Free-Trade Deal

In response to human rights violations, the United States announced this week that it plans to suspend Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from duty-free access to American markets as of January 1.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement to Congress, released Tuesday, that these nations were no longer in compliance with the eligibility requirements for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He cited various examples of their failure to defend internationally recognized human rights.

What is the AGOA?

The AGOA was enacted by Congress in May 2000 with the intention of enhancing sub-Saharan African countries’ access to the U.S. market.

Nations that qualify under the act are afforded several key benefits, most importantly preferential access to the U.S. market for more than 6,000 products. Through the removal of import duties on these products, beneficiaries obtain competitive advantages over other nations.

To qualify for the AGOA, nations must meet eligibility requirements, outlined in section 104 of the act, including working toward improving their rule of law, defending human rights and respecting international labor standards.

Each year, the U.S. determines which nations qualify for the AGOA benefits, and the president grants or withdraws beneficiary status at his or her discretion.

Why did the administration cut off access for Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea?

The Biden administration said that unconstitutional developments in Mali and Guinea threatened their eligibility for the program.

According to the president’s statement, Mali has not established or made “continual progress toward establishing the protection of the rule of law, political pluralism, and internationally recognized worker rights.” It also has not addressed “gross violations” of “internationally recognized human rights,” Biden said.

In Guinea, the government failed to establish protections for the rule of law and political pluralism, the statement said.

The Biden administration also withdrew Ethiopia’s benefits under the AGOA for “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” the president said.

Ethiopia’s suspension was the result of the ongoing civil war in the northern Tigray region that has spurred a serious human rights crisis. Since the conflict started a year ago, international concern has grown over human rights abuses including mass killings of citizens and widespread sexual violence.

How are these countries reacting?

Following President Biden’s announcement, Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said that the government had already commented on the issue, Reuters reported.

Legesse stated on Twitter on October 3 that suspension from AGOA would cost the country 1 million jobs.

The governments of Mali and Guinea have not released statements on Biden’s decision.

How significant is the deal to each country’s economy?

Given the benefits posed by the AGOA, suspension from the act may have important implications for each country’s economy.

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a low-income, highly undiversified economy, according to the World Bank.

In 2020, amid the pandemic, the country fell into a recession.

According to the World Bank, Guinea is another of the world’s poorest countries. The pandemic significantly slowed economic growth in the country, causing it to contract by 1.4% in 2020.

Neither Mali nor Guinea have been major exporting nations under AGOA.

But Ethiopia was the fifth top exporting nation under the act, according to U.S. International Trade Commission data.

Under AGOA, the Horn of Africa nation exported $245 million worth of goods to the United States last year, representing half of its total shipments to the American market, Bloomberg reported.

While Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with a per capita income of $850, it has the fastest-growing economy in the region, according to the World Bank.

In a statement Tuesday, top U.S. trade negotiator Ambassador Katherine Tai said that the U.S. “urges these governments to take necessary actions to meet the statutory criteria so we can resume our valued trading partnerships.”

Tai also stated that she will provide each country with benchmarks for a path toward the reinstatement of their AGOA benefits.

Source: Voice of America

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