AFRICA IN BRIEF
SUDAN
Pro-democracy protesters demonstrated in Khartoum against a deal reached between the military leaders who led the 2021 coup and a coalition of political groups to return the country to civilian rule. Under the framework agreement, a transitional civilian government will lead the country for two years, headed by an appointed prime minister, and the military’s role will be limited to a new security and defence council. No timeline was set and the deal largely excluded the issue of transitional justice. Activists want military leaders held accountable for the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy forces and are sceptical of any ongoing role it will play in government.
MOZAMBIQUE
Armando Ndambi Guebuza, the son of former president Armando Guebuza, and two former heads of intelligence were among 11 people sentenced to between 10 and 12 years in prison for their roles in the “hidden debt” corruption scandal. The case, also dubbed “tuna bond”, relates to $2-billion of debt that three companies took on in 2013 and 2014, with the Mozambican government as guarantor, largely without parliament’s knowledge or approval. The government revealed the extent of its borrowing in 2016, triggering an economic crisis as the currency tanked and international donors withdrew support. Judge Efigenio Baptista said the former president’s son showed no remorse and the crime’s consequences “will last generations”.
TANZANIA
President Samia Suluhu Hassan cancelled independence celebrations, scheduled for Friday, and instead allocated the funds to help children with special needs. The $445,000 earmarked for the country’s 61st Independence Day was sent to eight primary schools around the country to build dormitories. In 2015 and 2020, then-president John Magafuli did the same, using the funds to build roads and upgrade clinics. Hassan became president in 2021 after Magafuli’s death and is reforming her predecessor’s policies of isola- tionism and autocracy. DM168