Djibouti News Gazette

The president of Ecuador dismissed the legislature Wednesday in a move that promised more turmoil around a conservative leader who has been unable to enact a business-friendly agenda as the South American country experiences an alarming rise in crime.

In disbanding the National Assembly, Guillermo Lasso made the first use of the Ecuador presidency’s nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch. His first move was to push a package of tax cuts, but criticism was swift and an appeal to stop him was filed hours after he announced his decision in a televised message in which he accused lawmakers of focusing ‘on destabilizing the government.’

‘This is the best possible decision,’ he said after describing his move as a way to give Ecuadorians ‘the power to decide their future in the next elections.’

Armed soldiers then surrounded the National Assembly in the capital. Lasso had been locked in a showdown with legislators who wanted to impeach him for not stopping a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company, accusations he denies.

Hours later, the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, said that its office will set the date for the next elections in no more than seven days. She anticipated that Ecuadorians would go to the polls to elect a new president and a new Assembly in no more than 90 days.

Lasso’s Wednesday decision prompted Ecuador’s top military leader to warn that the armed forces would crack down on any violence.

The president appeared to have the support of the armed forces but faced opposition from Indigenous Ecuadorians. Protests by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities have nearly paralyzed the country in recent years, and the group’s leader appeared outraged.

Lasso ‘launched a cowardly self-coup with the help of the police and the armed forces, without citizen support,’ Leonidas Iza Salazar said.

Source: Somali National News Agency

The European Union has bolstered Kenya’s efforts to enhance maritime security through the development of the first interagency curriculum on Maritime Security Governance in conjunction with Bandari Maritime Academy (BMA). Expertise France, the French Public Agency for International Cooperation, is tasked with the implementation of the EU-funded Go Blue component dedicated to the improvement of maritime security and safety in Kenya. The curriculum is aimed at improving cooperation and interoperability between Kenya’s maritime security agencies. To ensure the comprehensive safety and security of Kenyan territorial waters, the Kenya Navy, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Maritime Authority, Kenya Coast Guard, and National Environment Management Authority are developing a common core of knowledge on Maritime Pollution and the Search of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The EU Ambassador to Kenya, Henriette Geiger, led a delegation of ambassadors on a tour of the BMA to highlight the importance of the Blue Economy for Kenya. Geiger said that they are very hopeful that the curriculum will lay the groundwork for very ambitious maritime security cooperation in Kenya. Geiger added that the Go Blue project is the EU flagship project that seeks to develop all aspects of the Blue Economy. ‘We are here at this academy to highlight how important the training on maritime security is to develop a sustainable Blue Economy,’ said Ambassador Geiger, adding that they are impressed with the implementation of projects at the academy and will support future projects on the training of maritime security. Bandari Maritime Academy’s acting CEO, Francis Muraya, extolled the EU for funding the curriculum. He appealed to the high-level EU delegation to assist the academy in implementing its Sh19 billion master plan. ‘There are many facilities that we need, like simulators, a fire station, a ship, and a survival Centre,” said the Ag. CEO. France’s Ambassador Arnaud Suquet noted that BMA is an important institution providing skills to Kenyans, and France will deepen cooperation in skill enhancement in the maritime sector. CMA-CGM, a leading shipping company, has partnered with BMA to support the training of seafaring cadets. Since the signing of the MoU in 2021 with the Kenyan government, the shipping line has offered training and sea internships to 12 students. ‘As France, we want to partner with this institution through the Go Blue project, which is focusing on safety and security at sea, which is critical when you get to the maritime world. We also want to leverage the private sector and industry, and we are also proud that CMA-CGM has established a partnership with Bandari while providing sea time to seafarer cadets,” said Ambassador Suquet. Chairman of the Blue Economy Committee in the Council of Governors, Issa Timamy, thanked the EU for supporting the Blue Economy sector which has the potential to employ many youths. Timamy Said BMA is a premier maritime institution that is churning out skilled and competitive youth.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Mango farmers in Makueni County will benefit from a cold storage facility that will be constructed by the Agricultural Food Authority (AFA), the Board’s Chairman Cornelly Serem has said. Serem said this on Tuesday at the Police Grounds in Wote town during the First National Mango Conference that was officially opened by Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr. and attended by participants drawn from mango-growing counties in the country. ‘The Governor has assured us that there is half an acre of land to construct the cold facility to avert exploitation of our farmers from middlemen. We are going to set monies aside from the next financial year,’ said Serem. While noting that they will help counties build capacity for extension officers, he added that his organization will also help the counties in the value-added chain and get markets for the mangoes. Mango-growing counties represented included Machakos, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, West Pokot, Machakos, Embu, Meru, Murang’a, and also the United States Agency for International Development, among other participants. ‘I assure you that we will partner with you and farmers. I have a team of knowledgeable officers who are ready to work with county governments in order to promote the horticultural sector,’ he said. Also, the chairman disclosed that his organization will work closely to increase the land under mango cultivation in the country, besides ensuring the mangoes meet the set standards internally, in a bid to reap maximum benefits for the farmers in the country. Addressing the same event, Mutula lamented that mango farmers have been forgotten by the national government, saying only coffee, sugarcane, avocado, and tea farmers have been given preference by the government in the country. He added that this had led to rampant exploitation of mango farmers by unscrupulous middlemen who benefited more, saying this was a mockery to the farmers. ‘For far too long, mango farmers have suffered, been ignored, and been exploited. The national government has only preferred sugarcane, coffee, and avocado farmers in the country. Freedom is coming to mango farmers now,’ Mutula posed. ‘We want mango farmers to be given a table at the national desk,’ he added. The theme of the conference was ‘Winning Markets for Kenyan Mangoes by Building a Resilient and Competitive Mango Value Chain.’ The governor also urged the national government to put more resources into the mango sector to especially empower the cooperative movement. The Governor thanked the partners and the national government who helped in ensuring the conference was held saying the resolutions would be taken to the National Assembly and Senate for discussion. The main objectives were to explore opportunities in the mango value chain, provide a platform for business linkage, and enhance market access, to name a few. The expected output from the conference included increased opportunities among mango value chain actors, increased market access for Kenyan mangoes, more business linkages, and information sharing among value chain actors’ solutions to mango value chain challenges and responsible institutions.

Source: Kenya News Agency

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced his country will be leading five other African countries to Moscow and Kiev to meet with Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky respectively in an effort to end the war between both nations.

Speaking on March 16 while hosting the Prime Minister of Singapore, Ramaphosa stated that “…Representing various heads of government, I presented the initiative on behalf of these countries: Zambia, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa as well. The two leaders that I had occasion to speak to, that is President Putin and President Zelensky agreed that they will be willing to receive the mission of the African heads of state in both Moscow and Kiev…

“I agreed with both of them that we will commence with the preparations for their engagements with these African heads of state. The SG of the UN was also briefed and so was the African Union office…”.

The announcement comes several days after the US ambassador to South Africa accused South Africa of “not in fact being neutral” as the ambassador claimed that South Africa was supplying arms to Russia.

Nonetheless, the news is very much celebrated in Africa because it would appear that America and its Western allies are not interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict. America has not called for peace but has been busy arming Ukraine to the teeth, as have their counterparts in the European Union.

This is one of the rare occasions in which Africa is taking a global leadership position in one of the biggest wars since the start of this century and if the six African countries representing the entire African continent are able to broker a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war, this would be a big win not only for Russia and Ukraine but also for the entire African continent and people of African descent.

For far too long, Africa’s image has been one of civil war, corruption and underdevelopment though countries like Botswana, Namibia and Rwanda are doing great things in terms of governance in the case of the first two and innovation in the case of Rwanda.

Brokering a successful peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war will also be beneficial for African economies because one of the fallouts from the war has been the levels of inflation that have gone over the roof in several African countries. Protests erupted in Ghana months ago over high costs of living and there were also protests in Uganda and Kenya and reports of increased prices for commodities in Cameroon as well – all with some links to the war in Ukraine.

While Ramaphosa’s country is dealing with an energy crisis that sometimes sees power being cut for up to 4 hours a day, this is more to do with outdated infrastructure and corruption than the war in Ukraine.

Ramaphosa understands that his country has its own internal issues to grapple with but that does not make South Africa less of a credible partner in leading the talks between Moscow and Kiev. After all, America has been pushing for Pretoria to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but Ramaphosa’s government chose a more neutral tone, rather calling for both sides to engage in dialogue to resolve the conflict. Therefore this is being seen as an opportunity for South Africa to prove itself as non-aligned.

It is not clear how the talks will go but although the African delegation will be meeting both Putin and Zelensky separately, there are those who would have preferred to see both leaders sitting in one room. Nonetheless, this is the first time since the war started over a year ago, that both Putin and Zelensky have agreed to both meet leaders that have spoken to Moscow and then Kiev – a remarkable feat for Africa in a European war that has stunned the rest of the world. This is an important time for Africa’s role in global geopolitics and also brings to mind the Biblical quotation in John 1:46 where “Nazareth” can be replaced with Africa in asking “Can anything good come out of Nazareth” and the answer like that of Philip would be “Come and see”.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

A thief has been beaten to death this May 17 at the Amour Mezam, Tongolo branch neighborhood in Yaounde, center region of Cameroon.

According to eye witnesses, the alleged thief attempted to steal a lady’s bag and phone when the agency guard intervened but was quickly stabbed in his neck and side by the robber.

“We were at the agency at about 4:30 AM and passengers who arrived were waiting for their families to come and pick them. The guy walked up to the lady with a long knife on his hand and demanded for her bag and phone. This alerted the guard who was conscious that he had to protect passengers. In an attempt to stop the thief, the thief stabbed the guard more than three times, on the neck and the side. It was on the shouting of the guard that the population was alerted and they started beating him,” a witness stated.

He was said to have a chain on the leg that was supposedly preventing him from feeling any pains or dying at first.

“He was even having a chain on his leg but no one noticed it at first. He was beaten severely from 4:30 am till about 9 am but he did not die. It was a random little girl who indicated to the population that they should cut off the chain on his leg. Immediately after they did, the thief died about 5 minutes after,” the witness indicated.

“I am a mother and will never want my child to end this way. There are several things youths can do instead of stealing, it is bad. You may end up losing your life and life continues here on earth,” a shocked woman stated.

“I am a bike rider and I left the house this morning at 4:30am and as of now I have already made F CFA 3500 and by the end of the day I would have had more. So why steal when you can do something good with your life to earn a leaving?” another witness wondered.

The Guard who was stabbed is said to be receiving treatment at a hospital in the Emana neighborhood.

The population acknowledged that theft in this neighborhood is very frequent as passengers and citizens are harassed frequently.

It is worthy of note that the said thief is said to have just come out of Prison after serving a two-year jail term.

Source: Cameroon News Agency