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Indonesia defended on Monday its decision to allow Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, a suspected war criminal, into the country for a summit of Muslim nations.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010 because of suspected involvement in crimes against humanity, specific war crimes and genocide. The charges stem from reported atrocities in the conflict in Darfur.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia is not an ICC member state and has no legal mechanism or obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

“It is a matter between him and the ICC, not the question of Indonesia,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said it was “concerned” by al-Bashir's travel to Indonesia for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Like Indonesia, the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute treaty that established the ICC.

The embassy said in a statement that the U.S. strongly supports the ICC's efforts to hold accountable those responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Indonesia has promised to ratify the Rome Statute but there is continuing political opposition, partly because past atrocities by the Indonesian military might lead to ICC cases.

Last year, al-Bashir reportedly canceled a trip to an Asia-Africa conference in Jakarta after protests by rights groups.

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Elangwe Pauline

07.Mar.2016

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Nigeria's former chief of defense staff pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of alleged fraud, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving around 3 billion naira ($15.1 million).

Air Marshall Alex Badeh, who appeared at the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, denied allegations that he used money allocated for Nigeria's air force to buy a mansion and a commercial plot of land, and build a shopping mall.

President Muhammadu Buhari took office last year after vowing to crackdown on corruption and Badeh is the latest in a string of senior figures who served under the head of state's predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, to face graft charges in court.

Badeh was appointed Chief of Air Staff in 2013 and promoted to Chief of Defense Staff in 2014. He was sacked by Buhari, along with the heads of the army, navy and air force, two months after the president was inaugurated.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said Badeh and a company in 2013 "did use dollar equivalent of the sum of 1.1 billion naira removed from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase for yourselves a mansion" in Abuja's upmarket Maitama district.

Among the other nine charges, all of which were denied by Badeh, were allegations that he and the company used the dollar equivalent of 650 million naira from air force funds to buy "a commercial plot" of land, with a further 1.2 billion naira used "for the construction of a shopping mall".

The former defense chief was remanded in custody until his bail application hearing, which will take place on Thursday.

Former defense and finance ministers as well as the ex-National Security Adviser, who all served under Jonathan, have been charged with corruption offences in recent months. Sambo Dasuki, the former security adviser, denies any wrongdoing.

 

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Elangwe Pauline

07.Mar.2016

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Senegal’s President Macky Sall has come under attack ahead of the constitutional referendum set for March 20.  The proposed changes would limit a president to two five-year terms.  But Sall has stirred controversy as saying the limit would not apply to his current term, which runs until 2019.   

Campaigning is on in Senegal to vote “Yes” or “No” to the new constitution March 20.

In the “yes” camp is the Minister of Youth and Employment Mame Mbaye Niang. He met residents in Thiaroye, a low-income suburb of the capital.

He says none of the proposed constitutional changes are to help the president. He says these changes are about strengthening democracy and the rule of law and improving quality of life. He says he just passed through a neighborhood where people were complaining they lost their land. This reform will address those problems, he says, so you need to vote yes.

The 15 proposed changes include giving more power to the National Assembly and local administrations while also expanding on existing laws about land inheritance and local communities’ control of natural resources.

But the proposal is meeting fierce resistance.

A new single by rap group Y En A Marre is calling on people to vote “no” in the referendum.

Y En A Marre played a leading role in demonstrations against ex-president Abdoulaye Wade in 2012 when he ran for a third term at 87 years old.

The group helped Macky Sall beat Wade but now is threatening more protests, this time against Sall.

The group’s coordinator, Fadel Baro, says Macky Sall has failed to bring the big reform he promised and instead just wants to make small changes that have nothing to do with the lives of ordinary Senegalese. He says Macky Sall went back on his word and like all leaders who behave this way, he will pay a heavy price.

The key dispute here is over the shortening of the presidential mandate. Sall has repeatedly promised, even before he was elected, to reduce his term from seven to five years. But now that the provision is up for a vote, Sall says the new rule cannot legally apply to his current seven-year term.

That explanation has not played well with some of his supporters, who say Sall broke his word.

Human rights campaigner Aboubacry Mbodj says we are surprised that Sall changed his tune just a few weeks before the referendum. You know in Africa, he says, promises are very strong and sacred.

But Djibril Balde of the ruling coalition, Benno Bokk Yakaar, says Sall is still making history.  

Balde says this is really quite extraordinary and rare in Africa for an elected president to campaign in favor of reducing his potential time in office.

Over the past two years, presidential term limits have become one of the burning issues on the continent.  Efforts by leaders to extend their stays in office have led to unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, and the ouster of longtime Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore in 2014.

(VOA)

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Elangwe Pauline

07.Mar.2016

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Mrs Reagan had been living in Bel Air, Los Angeles, and had been in failing health in recent years.

Her 52-year marriage to Ronald Reagan was once described as the greatest love affair in the history of the American presidency.

When she became first lady in 1981, Mrs Reagan was criticised for an expensive renovation of the White House, but later became a much-loved figure.

(Reuters)

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Rita Akana

06.Mar.2016

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Between 205 and 208 UN peacekeepers from Cameroon's multidimensional integrated mission in the Central African Republic (minusca) have been told to return home by the new commander. Cameroon Concord learnt that the reductions were made from the 950 Cameroonian soldiers stationed in a camp called Beloko located about eight kilometers, near the border with Cameroon. 

The UN mission has recently returned many Cameroonian servicemen to their country. Some have already been seen in the capital Yaounde where they have joined their families. Created April 10, 2014 by the UN Security Council, the minusca had 11644 men including 9,150 soldiers, 1,530 police officers, 151 military observers, 681 civilian staff including 462 international civilian personnel, 219 local civilian staff and 132 UN volunteers.

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Ebong Peter

06.Mar.2016

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People in Benin have started casting their ballots in elections to replace President Thomas Boni Yayi, who is stepping down after serving two terms in office. Polling stations in the French-speaking tiny West African state opened at 07:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) on Sunday and will close at 04:00 p.m. (1500 GMT). 

The voting was to take place on February 28, but it was rescheduled because of delays in the production and distribution of millions of voters’ cards. Mathieu Boni, an official from a civil society group with thousands of election observers, said “more than half” of the almost 8,000 polling stations across the country opened on time.

A total of 33 candidates are vying in Sunday’s presidential polls. Lionel Zinsou, the Franco-Beninese financier who was a speechwriter for France’s former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius in the 1980s, is widely viewed as Boni Yayi’s chosen successor.

Two of Benin’s leading businessmen, “The King of Cotton” Patrice Talon and “The Chicken King” Sebastien Ajavon, are also seen as front-runners. A witness said the election began slowly in the capital with small lines of voters forming at polling stations.

Farmer Emile Sosa, who also voted in Benin’s business capital Cotonou, said, he expects the next president “to encourage the youth to take to agriculture.” Creating jobs, tackling corruption and improving health, education and economy are among key issues facing the next president in Benin, a major cotton producer.

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Presstv

06.Mar.2016

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