Kenya

President Ruto’s doublespeak on opposition

President William Ruto’s move to woo Jubilee Party MPs as he seeks an absolute majority in Parliament has exposed his doublespeak in regard to his calls for a vibrant opposition.

Kenya Kwanza has gone on a charm offensive against former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee MPs in a move that could further destabilize Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition. This is even as the Head of State whips his troops in Parliament to support the establishment of the Office of the Official Leader of Opposition.

(Source: The Daily Nation)

Tanzania

Tundu Lissu returns to Tanzania after five years in exile

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu has arrived home after five years in exile, three weeks after the country’s president lifted a ban on opposition rallies.

He arrived at the main Julius Nyerere International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and was received by opposition party officials and greeted by supporters who lined the road outside the airport. Lissu was shot at several times by gunmen in 2017, leading him to depart for Belgium. He returned to the country in 2020 to vie for the presidency, challenging President John Magufuli, but went into exile again soon after the contested election, citing threats to his life.

He said Wednesday that living in exile was hard for him, his family and his political party, which champions democracy. “I’m happy to be back home, and now there is work to be done,” Lissu said, listing a rising cost of living, high taxes and the need for a new constitution as his first agenda items.

(Source: The Citizen)

Uganda

Parliament red flags Kasese’s same-sex by-law

In a statutory instrument dated September 16, 2022, the municipal council moved to pass by-laws to provide for enforcement of the human rights and freedoms of the marginalised population as well as increasing access to HIV/TB services in Kasese Municipality.

Deputy House Speaker Thomas Tayebwa yesterday slammed officials from the Rwenzori district, saying the “malicious by-laws” they were attempting to enact to re-organise homosexuals and transgender people as minorities contravenes the national laws.

(Source: The Daily Monitor)

Rwanda

Rwanda ready to protect its sovereignty – Foreign Minister

Rwanda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Vincent Biruta, on Thursday, January 26, told Parliament that the country is ready to defend its territorial integrity against any invasion.

Biruta’s remarks came two days after a warplane from DR Congo violated Rwanda’s airspace – for the third time in three months – forcing the Rwanda Defence Force to shoot at it. He also said that DR Congo had, for months, tried to drag Rwanda into the ongoing conflict, pitting Congolese armed forces against M23 rebels in North Kivu province.

(Source: The New Times)

Ethiopia

PM Abiy holds talks with Vice President of Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who is on a working visit to Sudan discussed with Vice President of Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

In the second meeting held during the visit to the Republic of Sudan, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed encouraged Vice President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to tap into the abundant capacity of the Sudanese people in solving their own challenges. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his delegation have arrived in Khartoum, Sudan today for a one day working visit, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

(Source: ENA)

Eritrea

President Isaias holds talks with FM Sergey Lavrov

President Isaias Afwerki, received at the State House a Russian delegation led by Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the meeting, President Isaias indicated that the illusion to generate a global uni-polar system has totally failed and called for an integrated effort to resist and combat the hegemonic and colonial history that had put the world into jeopardy.

President Isaias also said that the war in Ukraine is vivid evidence and the ultimate attempt of their erroneous hegemonic and dominance policy. Foreign Minister Lavrov on his part said that the war in Ukraine is between groups of western countries led by the US and the Russian Federation. Underlining that the western countries including leaders of Germany and France have confirmed that they have been preparing for the war since 2014, Mr. Lavrov said that the peace initiative that Russia took was not in conformity with their strategic interest and as a result, they resorted to escalate the war.

(Source: Shabait)

Somalia

Somalia federal government urges El-dheer citizens to rebuild district after its liberation

The Somalia federal government has begun clearing landmines and rebuilding efforts in the newly liberated El-dher District, Galguduud region. The successes have led some officials to claim al-Shabab is on its last legs. However, experts have cautioned that the group has been pushed out of major towns before only to regroup and reclaim areas the army does not have the capacity to hold. El Dher residents who had initially deserted the town during the tussle are now once again coming back home.

Regional leaders held a consultative meeting on how to improve welfare of the inhabitants and bring normalcy to region that had been the militias leadership for the last decade.

(Source: Radio Dalsan)

Sudan

FCC: Conference on Juba Peace Agreement to begin on Tuesday

The arrangements for the launch of the conference on the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) have been completed, and that the dialogue will start in the South Sudanese capital on Tuesday, according to Mohamed Abdelhakam, leading member of Sudan’s Federal Association and the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC).

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Abdelhakam says that “111 seats have been allocated to displaced people, in addition to 80 seats for representatives of the conflict regions Darfur, Blue Nile, and South and West Kordofan. 43 seats are reserved for nomads, 20 for women groups, and 30 for members of the resistance committees.”

“The conference, in which about 400 people will participate, aims to review the JPA in line with its signatories and stakeholders,” he said.

(Source: Dabanga)