Category: General

A well-aimed kick. A strong shove, body checks, shouting and a fight for dominance.

This isn’t a rowdy football (soccer) match. This is the latest session of the Pan African Parliament.

The continental body brings together African legislators to implement the policy of the African Union. And its latest session, this week, was suspended amid a physical scuffle over leadership that prompted this Portuguese-speaking delegate to call for help as a literal fight happened on the floor:

“Please call the police,” he pleaded, through a translator, over the official feed provided by South Africa’s government, as delegates in suits and traditional regalia shoved, kicked and wrestled with each other at the venue in Johannesburg.

“Please call the police, put an order here. It is urgent, it is urgent. You should call the police. Please call the police. Please call the police. This is urgent. This is urgent, please call the police, please call the police. Please. Please, call the police.”

Let’s go to the replay

VOA watched the two-hour ordeal. In the style of Africa’s favorite sport, football (soccer), here’s how the action unfolded:

We start on May 31 with all 229 MPs, taking to the field at this venue near Johannesburg. The goal: elect a new president.

The Southern African bloc, led by feisty, far-left striker Julius Malema of South Africa — the sharp-tongued leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party — strode out onto the field with strong support of their region’s candidate, Zimbabwe’s Fortune Charumbira.

But they were met by a strong defense from their West and East African opponents, who each back a different candidate. The Southern side pushed their offensive, arguing that the leadership should rotate by region — a West African currently holds the top spot.

About 28 minutes into the first half, things got loud, with one faction chanting for elections. And then, a few minutes later, it got physical. In the five minutes of chaos that unfolded, members committed most of the classic red-card fouls: kicking, tripping, jumping, charging, striking, holding and pushing — basically, everything but touching the ball, though some members did try to grab the plastic ballot box. MPs also rushed the podium several more times before the speaker called things off.

And the post-match analysis

Here’s the Southern African take on it, from South African parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mothapo. The Pan African Parliament is not supposed to be a blood sport, he said.

“The two caucuses’ attempts to continue with electing the new president and ignoring advice from the AU that the well-established principle of geographical rotation within the union be observed is a sign that they do not value unity in the continent,” he told VOA.

From Nairobi, pan-African activist Daniel Mwambonu was quick to pin the blame on not just West Africa, but on the country that he believes taught them to play rough.

“The Francophone region is putting personal interests first,” he told VOA “… So basically, they are trying to reduce the African parliament into a dictatorship of some sort. What we witnessed in countries that are controlled by France, there’s actually coups every time we have a new leader, he or she has removed from power by the military. This situation we are witnessing in Mali is because these countries that were colonized by France and they actually behave like colonizers themselves because of the French assimilation policy.”

And from Ghana, Pan-African activist Sarfo Abebrese notes that no Southern African has held the presidency, which bolsters Southern Africa’s case for a change of leadership. But Abebrese, a lawyer, said the Southern team didn’t exactly play by the complex rules of the game.

“I do not think that I have much time to go into the nitty-gritty of the rotation argument,” he said.

“But suffice it to say that if you have a situation where South Africa thinks that they really, really need to have a candidate at the helm of affairs for the first time, they have to go by the rules, that is all that I can say. Get amendments done and Article 93 and then let’s get back and get the right thing to be done for the sake of Africa and for African unity and pan Africanism that the parliament is supposed to stand for.”

Mwambonu, who heads the Global Pan-Africanism Network, says a possible solution is to bring in more referees from civil society. Here’s the call he would have made.

“We’d have issued them a red card,” he said. “And if we were there, actually, we would not have allowed that chaos to happen. Because we are really passionate about Africa, and that’s what pan-Africanism is all about: putting the interests of Africa first.”

And that is one thing that all of the parties here seem to agree on: Africa, as a continent, was not helped by this. Nor, apparently, was this important legislative body: the parliament called off its presidential election, leaving the organization without a clear leader until they meet on the field again.

Source: Voice of America

Danakali Ltd’s (ASX:DNK) (LON:DNK) (OTCMKTS:SBMSF) (FRA:SO3) Colluli Sulphate of Potash (SOP) Project in Eritrea is set to be a global game-changer with the potential to become the world’s first zero-carbon producer of SOP.

The company, which has one of the world’s largest solid salt, near-surface high-grade SOP reserve of 1.1 billion tonnes or 200 years of life of mine, is fully permitted.

Colluli is the only resource in the world that is ideal for SOP production that can be extracted in solid form.

It also has access to solar, wind and one of the world’s greatest geothermal energy systems – the East African rift.

Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC), is a 50:50 joint venture between Danakali and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO).

High potential for zero carbon

Colluli can disrupt incumbents in the market, with the capacity to displace all carbon-intensive Mannheim SOP production globally.

The company plans to transition to renewable energy, as it has options to access solar, wind and geothermal energy.

Danakil Basin has predictable sunlight, with African rift system is well-endowed with geothermal energy potential and there is predictable wind resource.

In May 2021, the company demonstrated economic, construction, operational and environmental optimisations at the Water Intake Treatment Area (WITA) using filtered seawater during extensive test-work in the pre-development process for SOP.

It will now rely on a combination of beach well intake, smaller pumping station and greater renewable energy to pump filtered seawater to the SOP processing plant at the Colluli mine site.

Lower costs and higher volumes

Its open cut costs are lower and volumes are higher than underground mining, making it one of the lowest-cost SOP producers in the world.

With a depth of 16 metres, its capital expenditure, including working capital is US$320 million, with a production target of about 1 million tons per annum.

The first two strategic growth phases will produce 944,000 tons per annum (tpa).

It also has robust returns with a net present value (NPV) of US$439 million and an internal rate of return of 31%.

The company has secured US$221 million of senior debt and equity project financing.

Market potential

SOP is currently under-applied in the areas expecting the highest rate of population growth, the majority of which are near to Colluli.

It is close to the established SOP markets of Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and developing markets in Africa.

Demand is driven by the rapidly growing middle class in developing nations, changing dietary preferences and global population growth.

It has a 10-year take-or-pay offtake agreement with EuroChem for up to 100% of its production.

SOP demand and supply dynamics support a robust pricing environment, offering attractive margins for low-cost primary producers like Danakali.

Since 2014, the average SOP price premium to Muriate of Potash (MOP) is US$221 per tonne.

Transport links

Further, no other SOP project is located closer to port infrastructure with the port capacity at Massawa.

The future Anfile Bay port development, about 87 kilometres from site, will create “unrivalled global port advantage.”

Multi-commodity potential

Colluli can readily expand to become a multi-commodity premium fertilizer producer.

Once the Anfile Bay is developed, a number of its products can be commercialised, the company said.

COVID-19 impact

The company said no major impact on its operational costs was expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access to the Colluli site is secured and the company can get people into the country with the one-week quarantine period.

It is power-ready to go, with its renewables integration being investigated by Aggreko.

Its reverse osmosis plant is near completion and final geotechnical investigations are required.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

An NHS worker who has spent the pandemic helping save lives on a coronavirus ward says Home Secretary Priti Patel’s immigration plans will see refugees like her turned away from the UK.

Mariam, from Eritrea, has been working exhausting 12-hour shifts in a Leeds hospital assisting Covid-19 patients – sometimes four days in a row.

The Leeds hospital worker, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was granted asylum after her arrival in the UK and works as a clinical support worker, battling on the front line of the health crisis.

Mariam said: “The UK gave me an opportunity and now I’m working. I don’t want to be dependent on the government. I’m working and if I’m asked to help, I will help.”

Home Office plans to overhaul the immigration system may well have seen her asylum application rejected because of her method of arrival, Mariam said.

Mariam joined the health service after coming to Britain in the back of a lorry in 2009, fleeing persecution and imprisonment in Eritrea.

Mariam said: “When I left Eritrea, I didn’t know if I was going to live or die. I just knew I had to get out. Every day, I thank God for bringing me here, and secondly I thank the people of the UK who saved me.”

Almost two in three people currently free to make asylum claims in the UK under current rules could be turned away under proposed new Home Office reforms.

The group – a coalition of more than 200 organisations, founded by Asylum Matters, British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council – is calling for a more fair and humane approach to the UK’s asylum system.

The government has claimed that for the year ending September 2019, more than 60 per cent of asylum claims were from people who are deemed to have entered the UK “illegally”.

Ms Patel has made clear that under government proposals, the way people enter the UK will have an impact on their asylum claim and their status in the UK.

“We will deem their claim as inadmissible, and make every effort to remove those who enter the UK illegally having travelled through a safe country first in which they could and should have claimed asylum,” she said.

When plans were unveiled in March, a group of more than 450 immigration experts argued that the government was creating an artificial divide between “legal” and “illegal” arrival in the UK to seek asylum.

The experts described the the Home Office plan as “deeply troubling” and claiming it vilified people who have no option but to travel by irregular means to seek safety.

Sabir Zazai, Together With Refugees spokesperson and a refugee himself, said: “Abandoning people fleeing war and persecution, including women and children, is not who we are in the UK.”

Shabnam Nasimi, the executive director of Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, said the home secretary’s plans risks punishing refugees.

Ms Nasimi said: “I think putting refugees in the same box as European economic migrants punishes refugees, people who are fleeing war torn countries such as Afghanistan for security and a safe life.

“If we close our doors what does it say about Britain, particularly global Britain after Brexit?”

A Home Office spokesperson said the current asylum system is “broken” and the new plan would help people based on need.

“We make no apology for seeking to fix a system which is being exploited by human traffickers, who are encouraging women and children to risk their lives crossing the Channel.”

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Tiffany Haddish was lined up to replace Ellen DeGeneres as host of NBC’s coveted daytime talk show. But in the end the network plumped for Texas-born former singer Kelly Clarkson.

American actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish has enraged social media users for her opinions on the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

The 41-year-old performer, who recently lost out on the coveted job of replacing Ellen DeGeneres as an NBC talk show host, has been described as a “disgusting human being” because she supports Eritrea, which is fighting alongside the Ethiopians.

In recent months the Eritreans have been accused of carrying out mass rapes and murdering Tigrayan civilians.

But because the area is a war zone foreign journalists have been unable to reach the area to confirm claims made on social media.

The patriarch of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church, Abune Matthias, recently accused the Ethiopian government and its Eritrean allies of “genocide”.

He said: “I am not clear why they want to declare genocide on the people of Tigray. It is not the fault of the Tigray people. The whole world should know it.”

Haddish, who voices one of the characters in the Netflix sitcom Tuca and Bertie, has denied the Tigrayan people were the victims of “genocide.”

United States President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in Tigray last week but Abiy Ahmed’s government has refused until the TPLF is militarily defeated.

Haddish was born in Los Angeles in 1979 and her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was a refugee who had fled Eritrea, which was then part of Ethiopia.

In the last few years Tiffany Haddish has become increasingly enamoured with Eritrea and its controversial leader, Isaias Afwerki, who has been the country’s President since it became independent in 1993.

She first visited the country in 2018 to bury her father and the following year she became a naturalised Eritrean citizen.

Last year she was criticised for defending Afwerki and his government by some of the thousands of Eritreans who have fled the country and claim it is run like a jail with no elections, indefinite national service and a complex of underground prisons.

Although Buzzfeed ran an article which suggested Haddish was very naive, she has not wavered and continues to support Afwerki and his government’s policies on Tigray.

On Wednesday, 2 June, Haddish tweeted: “Awet N’ Hafash!!!”

“Awet N’ Hafash” is an Eritrean phrase, roughly translated as “Victory to the Masses”, which was used by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front during the war of independence and remains a common slogan with Afwerki’s Eritrean government.

Later the same day Haddish retweeted an article headlined: “A Morally Bankrupt Institution: How the UN is Betraying Ethiopia.”

Haddish, who has starred in Hollywood movies like Girls’ Trip, Night School and Like A Boss, tweeted: “While people trying to make me look like the bad Guy pay attention to who is really behind all this. This is a Great read.”

The political and military situation in the Horn of Africa is extremely complex.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 after settling a border dispute with Eritrea and the two countries have become allies against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia until the death of its leader Meles Zenawi in 2012.

In November last year Eritrean troops crossed into Tigray in support of a military offensive by the Ethiopian government against the TPLF.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

At least 23 migrants were missing and two bodies recovered from the sea off Tunisia, the Red Crescent reported Wednesday, after the military said more than 100 migrants were intercepted.

The Tunisian navy said a boat headed for Europe from Zuwara in Libya was intercepted on Tuesday near Miskar oil platform, some 67 kilometres (52 miles) off the coast.

The migrants — 37 Eritreans, 32 Sudanese and an Egyptian, aged between 15 and 40 — were handed over to the Red Crescent and International Organization for Migration in the southern port Of Zarzis.

Apart from 23 people missing, two bodies were recovered from the water, according to the Red Crescent.

The Tunisian army, for its part, said 39 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were intercepted at sea off the eastern port city of Sfax on Monday night.

Tunisia and Libya are key departure points for migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from the North African coast to Europe, particularly Italy.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Bicycling enthusiasts around the globe are celebrating World Bicycle Day Thursday, including in Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation still struggling for stability after years of conflict. Somalia’s cycling federation was just recognized last year and with poor roads and equipment, it’s an uphill battle to prepare for upcoming international competition.

The Somali cycling federation has just 20 professional bicycles accepted in the International Cyclist’s Union (UCI), the world governing body for sports cycling based in Switzerland that oversees competition.

Poor equipment and closed roads due to security threats from the armed militant group Al-Shabab, mainly in the capital, Mogadishu, are a couple of challenges facing young cyclists training for international competition.

The secretary-general of the Somali cycling federation, Saed Ahmed Abukar, said despite the challenges, they are committed to building the sport at a grassroots level.

He said most roads used by cyclist for training in Mogadishu are either dilapidated or closed for security purposes, and therefore it has become a great challenge to achieve a smooth training schedule.

He added they also lack enough equipment, such as helmets, to protect the riders from injuries during accidents, and instead cyclist use football gear as an option.

In April 2018, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 3 International World Bicycle Day.

One of the up-and-coming Somali cyclists, Hassan Bare Ugas, emerged in the second position during Somalia’s cross-country cycling championships held last year.

Bare, who practices in the gym most of his time to avoid poor lanes, said he dreams of flying the flag of his country in upcoming regional and international cycling competition.

He said he is practicing very hard in the gym and sometimes on city streets, wishing to represent his nation in upcoming international competition, such as the African championships and the Olympic Games.

According to the United Nations, apart from its sporting activities, the use of bicycles makes education, health care and other social services more accessible to the most vulnerable populations in Africa and contribute to cleaner air and less congestion on roads.

Source: Voice of America

Protests banned and political activists and journalists detained. Lawyers and judges reprimanded or otherwise targeted, ostensibly for their ties to a grassroots protest movement demanding profound political change.

As Algeria readies for legislative elections this month, the government is tightening its grip, rights groups and others say, with a raft of detentions and even prison sentences against its rainbow of critics. In the capital, Algiers, and other cities, authorities have effectively banned weekly demonstrations organized by the two-year-old Hirak protest movement, largely by placing administrative hurdles.

If today the government crackdown gives its leaders a tenuous upper hand, it risks backfiring in the longer term, experts warn, further dampening an anticipated low voter turnout in the June 12 parliamentary vote, deepening the country’s social and economic crisis and fueling new support for the Hirak movement.

“There’s a fundamental contradiction,” said Brahim Oumansour, North Africa specialist at the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations think tank. “Authorities are searching for political legitimacy through the elections, but paradoxically this repressive policy contributes to perpetuating the crisis.”

Rights concerns

Rights groups say Algerian authorities have arrested thousands of peaceful demonstrators since February, when members of the Hirak movement returned to the streets after months of coronavirus-imposed restrictions. Reports say many protesters were released, but others were held for questioning or faced legal action.

Ahead of the legislative polls, “the efforts have intensified, including against peaceful protests and protesters,” according to a joint press statement Tuesday by several prominent rights groups, including the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture, in Geneva.

The United Nations’ human rights office has also raised concerns, saying reported attacks on peaceful assembly and free expression were reminiscent of the state’s previous heavy-handed responses.

Algiers is pushing back. In an interview published Wednesday by France’s Le Point magazine, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune suggested the Hirak movement had lost its legitimacy, and that voters were keenly interested in the upcoming vote — despite a chunk of the opposition boycotting it — “especially the young.”

“There’s a minority who refuse the election,” he told Le Point, adding, “I think all Algerians should express themselves, but I refuse the diktat of a minority.”

An old story

In many ways, it seems Algeria is reliving an old narrative, analysts say, despite hopes for change in 2019. As ailing longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika sought a fifth term in office, millions took to the street in protest, giving birth to the Hirak movement. Bouteflika was ousted, as the street movement profoundly unsettled but did not destroy a power system in place since Algeria’s 1962 independence.

The country’s powerful military subsequently jailed and sidelined many in Bouteflika’s government, including his brother. Tebboune, 75, was elected to office in December 2019, but with official voter turnout at just 40%. He promised change, despite being a fixture of the regime, serving as minister of housing and prime minister under Bouteflika.

Eighteen months later, some analysts say there has been little beyond rhetoric and cosmetic tinkering. Ordinary Algerians are underwhelmed and disenfranchised. A referendum on the country’s new constitution last November drew another record low turnout.

For Algeria’s opposition, “the main problem is that the system is the same,” said analyst Michael Ayari at the International Crisis Group. “It’s not because there has been a constitutional change, or reassuring declarations, or democratic language in the Constitution promising more liberties, at least on paper, that the system has changed.”

Adding to the government’s worries are a deepening economic crisis, aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic and shrinking oil revenues. Also, there are broader regional instabilities, with massive Algeria bordering the restive Sahel, Western Sahara and Libya.

“After more than 18 months of Tebboune’s presidency, the results are very mediocre in terms of political, social and economic reforms,” said analyst Oumansour.

Now, he added, “the government faces pressures from the army to organize elections, regardless of the price, to give the appearance of relative stability, to put an end to Hirak and the demonstrations.”

A second wind?

For its part, the Hirak has seen its numbers dwindle from the millions of 2019 to tens of thousands today, with street protests vanishing completely last year, once the coronavirus pandemic struck. Many supporters have taken to the internet instead. But the movement remains unstructured and leaderless.

In recent weeks, they have been increasingly targeted in police crackdowns. Journalists, opposition leaders and civil society members have also been detained and sometimes imprisoned, rights groups say. Among them, journalist Kenza Khatto of Radio M, a media outlet considered close to the Hirak movement, who was given a suspended sentence after covering the protests.

On Sunday, a prominent judge, Saadedine Merzoug, was ousted from the country’s magistrate’s body, Agence France-Presse reported, ostensibly for his pro-Hirak rulings.

Meanwhile, Algeria’s military released a documentary last month suggesting a mix of interests — from independence fighters from its northeastern Kabylia region, to French public television and Morocco — were plotting against the state.

“It’s always the same discourse,” said analyst Ayari, summing up the government’s reaction. “That they’re a power surrounded by agents hostile to the revolution, and foreign agents who want to destroy Algeria.”

Meanwhile, Hirak leaders are calling on voters to boycott the legislative vote, in their demand for a broad political overhaul. Some expect a record number of independent candidates to run, although it’s unclear how independent they will be. A number of leftist opposition parties say they will boycott the vote.

“The specter of abstention really worries the political leaders,” said expert Oumansour. “It helps explain the crackdown. Another major abstention vote in these legislatives will be seen as a failure of the regime’s road map — and it risks breathing new life into the protest movement.”

Source: Voice of America