KENYA: IGAD confident of peaceful Kenya elections
The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an association that brings together six countries in the Horn of Africa - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, has expressed confidence that Kenya's March elections will be peaceful and the country will remain stable after the polls. Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday 30th January 2013, Dr Martin Kimani, the director in-charge of Conflict Early Warning Mechanism at the Addis Ababa-based organisation, said Kenya's election is critical for IGAD. Kenya’s economy is the largest in the East Africa region and its plans to build infrastructure that connect countries in the region makes it a strategic partner for economic development in the region.
Kenya goes to the polls on the March 4 in a process that could last till June 2013 should there be a run-off in the presidential contest. A revamped Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and a reformed judiciary have boosted public confidence in the management of the forthcoming elections. The establishment of a more credible electoral body and the new regulations dealing with election disputes diminishes the potential re-occurrence of violence similar to the 2007/2008 post-election violence that left hundreds of people dead and thousands others displaced and businesses looted that tainted Kenya’s image as a beacon of peace and stability within the East African region and momentarily slowed the country's economic growth rate.
MALI: French troops enter Kidal in northern Mali
French troops have taken control of the airport in the northern Malian town of Kidal, the last rebel stronghold in the north, according to the French army and a local official. The French Forces took control of town's airport late Tuesday 29th January 2013, after driving out al-Qaeda-linked fighters from Gao and Timbuktu. Kidal is the last of northern Mali's major towns to be retaken by French forces after they reached Gao and Timbuktu earlier this week in a campaign to drive al-Qaeda-linked fighters from Mali's north.
France began sending in troops, helicopters and warplanes on January 11 to turn the tide after the armed fighters began encroaching on the south, toward the capital. French and Malian troops seized Gao during the weekend and re-captured Timbuktu on Monday. The fighters gave up both cities and retreated into the surrounding desert.
France's President said his country is yet to consider withdrawing its forces from Mali but would develop an exit formula once troops from African nations take the lead in maintaining peace in the country. However, France has already called for a north-south dialogue to prepare the ground for the Malian state to return to the north of the country. According to French officials, after the capture of kidal, the rebel’s last strong hold, it is time for the political process to advance between the Mali government and the legitimate representatives of the northern peoples and non-terrorist armed groups that recognise the integrity of Mali.
NIGERIA: Boko Haram commander declares ceasefire
A commander of Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group blamed for the killings of hundreds of civilians in the West African country, has declared a unilateral ceasefire with the government. Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, who according to local security sources is a Boko Haram member, sent a statement to journalists in the city of Maiduguri on Monday 28th January 2013, saying the truce was made following a series of meetings with government officials. The statement was said to have been made with the consent and approval of the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau and called on all its members to halt hostilities.
Boko Haram, whose attacks have left hundreds dead since it launched an uprising in 2009 to try to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, has continued its attacks unabated. According to International rights group, Human Rights Watch, Boko Haram has killed more than 2,800 people since 2009.
SOMALI: Suicide blast targets Somali security forces
At least six people were killed on Tuesday 29th January 2013 after a suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of security officials outside the Somalian Prime Minister's office in Mogadishu. It is believed that many of those killed or wounded in the Tuesday's bombing were soldiers or police. Abdi Farah Shirdon Said, Somali Prime Minister, was in his office when the attacker struck, officials in his office said, but he was not harmed by the blast. The bomber, suspected to a member of the Al-Shabab militia, detonated himself in the midst of a group of security forces. Al-Shabab has conducted a series of guerrilla-style attacks in the Somali capital.
The fighters have vowed to topple Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the newly elected president who took office in September after being chosen by the country's new parliament, bringing an end to eight years of transitional rule.
Al-Shabab fighters are on the back foot, having fled a string of vital towns ahead of a 17,000-strong African Union force, which is fighting alongside Somali government troops to wrest territory off the armed group. The militia group had taken control over southern Somali where it set up base to launch terror attacks within major cities in the East Africa region that have left many dead and injured.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Central African rebels warn President over peace deal
Barely three weeks into the signing of the peace deal that brought a ceasefire to the military combat between government forces and the rebels, cracks have emerged in the deal with the Central African Republic's main rebel grouping on Wednesday 30th January 2013 accusing the president of not keeping his end of the peace deal that brought an end to their military offensive earlier this month.
The Seleka coalition, which had looked poised to advance on the capital Bangui before a power-sharing deal was struck under regional pressure on January 11, charged President Francois Bozize was clinging to the defence portfolio. The Libreville negotiations that yielded a deal between the regime and the rebels provided for a member of the opposition to be appointed Prime Minister and a Seleka member to be handed the defence portfolio. Subsequently, Opposition leader Nicolas Tiangaye was named Prime Minister but the process appears to have snagged over the defence portfolio.
The Seleka coalition launched its offensive in early December, arguing that Bozize's regime had failed to comply with previous peace deals that should have given demobbed rebels jobs or integrated them in the regular forces.