Politics

Tunisia’s President Saied sacks 57 judges, accuses them of corruption

Published

2 years ago

June 2, 2022

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has sacked 57 high court judges after publicly accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists, in a move his opponents say is to pave the way for him to take control of the North African country’s judiciary.

In a televised address on Wednesday, Saied said he had “given opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning to the judiciary to purify itself” but that the judiciary failed to live up to what was expected of them.

Among those sacked according to an official government gazette, was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members were replaced early this year as Saied moved to take control of the judiciary.

Before dissolving the Judicial Council, the body had acted as the main guarantor of Tunisia’s judicial independence since the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy and Saied’s changes prompted accusations he was interfering in the judicial process.

In sweeping moves meant to perpetuate himself in power since last year, President Saied has suspended the Tunisian parliament, fired the Prime Minister and seized control of the election body.

Late last year, Saied also dismissed the government and seized executive power in a move his opponents called a coup, before setting aside the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dismissing the elected parliament.

He has continued to justify his actions by saying his moves were needed to save Tunisia from crisis and his intervention initially appeared to have widespread public support after years of economic stagnation, political paralysis and corruption.

Saied, who has also replaced the independent electoral Commission with members he personally picked with himself as the head of the Commission, has also said he will introduce a new constitution this month which will be put to a referendum in July.

However, almost all of Tunisia’s political parties have rejected the move along with the powerful UGTT labour union, saying that public sector workers would go on a nationwide strike on June 16, to protest against Saied’s political moves to entrench himself as a dictator amidst high cost of living and loss of jobs.

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Politics

Chad: Interim President Deby begins campaign ahead of election

Published

17 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

With a promise to improve security and the economy, Mahamat Idriss Deby, Chad’s temporary president, started his campaign for president on Monday.

The election is set for next month and will end three years of military rule. Concerns of a democracy backslide have been raised about Deby’s government and others that have taken power in West and Central Africa since 2020.

Chad is one of the countries in Central and West Africa that is run by the military. There is still a push from both inside and outside of Africa for the country to switch to a democratic government.

Mahamat’s father had been in charge for a long time and was killed in rebel fighting in 2021. At first, Deby promised that polls would happen in 18 months. Later, however, his government passed measures that let him run for president and pushed the election date to 2024.

Some countries in the region and around the world have been pressuring Chad to quickly hand power back to people, but the country has been the first to hold elections.

“Today we are at the final turn on the road to constitutional return,” Deby told a large crowd gathered in scorching weather at the high-security event in Chad’s capital N’Djamena.

“You know me, I am a soldier and I hold my promises,” he said, barely visible behind a barrier of bodyguards crowding the podium.

“We will strengthen internal security to guarantee peace and stability in our country,” he said.

Deby made it official that he was going to run at the beginning of March. The news came a few days after Yaya Dillo, an opposition politician, was killed in a gunfight with security forces. This caused worries about the safety of the upcoming election.

Since then, forensic experts have said that Dillo was most likely shot from close range. Among the nine other candidates for president is Succes Masra, who was recently named Prime Minister of Chad and is a strong opponent of the junta.

Politics

Sudan conflict: US plans $100 million aid response

Published

1 day ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The United States is set to announce an extra $100 million in aid for the conflict in Sudan as Washington continues its attempts to get the rest of the world to help before Monday, which is the anniversary of the war.

Samantha Power, who is the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, said in a statement on Sunday that the extra fund would be used for emergency food aid, nutrition support, and other life-saving aid.

The statement says that Power will ask the warring sides to stop making it hard for aid workers to get to areas that need it and to take part in “good faith negotiations to reach a ceasefire” so that there is no more hunger and suffering.

“A year ago tomorrow, the people of Sudan awoke to a nightmare,” Power said.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Army (SAF) went to war on April 15, 2023. More than a million people have fled to nearby countries since the terrible war in Sudan began in April 2023. Of the 48,000 people who had to go back to eastern Chad, about 378,000 are Sudanese refugees.

“The warring sides turned bustling neighbourhoods into battle zones, killing thousands, leaving bodies in the streets, and trapping civilians in their homes without adequate food, water, and medicines.”

On April 15, 2023, war broke out in Sudan between the army and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The infrastructure of the country was badly damaged.

There have been thousands of deaths of civilians, but figures of the exact number are very sketchy. Both sides have been charged with war crimes.

Millions of people are now severely hungry because of the war, which has also caused the world’s biggest migration crisis and waves of killings and sexual violence based on ethnicity in the Darfur area of western Sudan.

The news that Washington will provide more help comes before a humanitarian meeting in France which is set for Monday. At the conference, the US asked partners from around the world to put the war in Sudan at the top of their list of priorities and provide more money.

“We call on others to join us in increasing support to the people of Sudan and urgently mobilizing additional support for the Sudanese response,” Power said.

The United Nations says 25 million people, or half of Sudan’s population, need help and 8 million have left their homes. The United States says that both sides of the war have broken the law.