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GUINEA’S ruling junta this week ordered prosecutors to take legal action against former president Alpha Conde, whom it overthrew in 2021, and more than 180 other officials and ex-ministers, for alleged corruption. The military has made the fight against corruption one of its key battles. But the announcement marks a new stage in the fight, targeting Conde, as well as many of his senior officials and former ministers. In a letter prosecutors are ordered to pursue the people listed for alleged graft. The list includes 188 names whose bank accounts have been frozen. In May the former president, 84, was indicted for murder, torture, kidnapping and rape. | AFP
KENYA’S President William Ruto said this week that Nairobi was deploying troops to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a joint regional operation against a rebel offensive. The mineral-rich DRC is struggling to contain dozens of armed groups whose advances in the country’s east have led to a surge in tensions with neighbouring Rwanda. Leaders of the seven-nation East African Community bloc agreed to establish a joint force to help restore security in the DRC. Ruto said the troops were “on a mission to protect humanity”. Kenya will command the force, which will also include soldiers from Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda. A Rwandan contingent will be deployed along the border. |
MAASAI pastoralists have filed a court case against Tanzania’s government, challenging its decision to cordon off land for wildlife protection, a lawyer for the community said this week. The nomadic community in Loliondo in the northern district of Ngorongoro has accused the government of trying to force them off their ancestral land to organise safaris and hunting expeditions. But the government claims it wants to “protect” 1 500km2 of the area from human activity. The East African Court of Justice upheld the government’s decision, saying that no compensation was due to the pastoralists. Tensions have soared, with violent clashes breaking out in Loliondo between police and Maasai demonstrators. |
Nigeria
A CRIMINAL gang kidnapped 39 children working on a farm in north-west Nigeria and demanded ransom for their release, police said. Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles stormed a farm outside Mairuwa village in Faskari district of Katsina State recently and rounded up children who were harvesting crops. Katsina is one of several states in north west and central Nigeria that are terrorised by criminal gangs who raid villages, killing and abducting residents and looting and burning homes. Hostages are usually released after payment to gangs, who hide in the Rugu forest. |
AFP