Continued……Mahama said he plans to renegotiate IMF debt and seek additional loans to resume repayments. This would seem to be incompatible with closer ties to the AES, which, with its revolutionary, anti-imperialist agenda, is actively seeking to break away from dependency on predatory loans from western institutions such as the IMF.

What do you think Ghana’s course will be under Mahama - in particular, regarding relations with the AES and tackling neo-colonialism? Let us know by taking part in the poll below - and in the comments!

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/live/BRwhqP5gutU?t=5148s

https://www.fact-checkghana.com/this-is-how-much-npp-and-ndc-governments-have-borrowed-in-ghanas-name/

https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/The-GH-742-Billion-National-Debt-How-we-got-here-what-the-data-shows-1942268

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ghanas-mahama-would-renegotiate-imf-deal-if-he-regains-presidency-2024-07-31/

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda will meet during a 15 December summit in Luanda, Angola, following both countries signing a four-point peace deal in November via Angola’s mediation. This agreement came about after the DRC filed a lawsuit in September against Rwanda at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) for violating sovereignty, committing atrocities against civilians and breaking international law. The lawsuit was the first ever filed with the EACJ between partner states of the East African Community.

Kigali stands accused of backing the M23 rebel group, which has carried out atrocities against civilians in North Kivu province in eastern DRC. 

DRC's Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Samuel Mbemba, called the launch of the lawsuit a landmark moment after ‘decades of aggression against [DRC], the pillaging of [Congo's] minerals, the rape of [Congolese] children and women and the massacres of [Congolese] people.’

Continued……A 4 June 2024 UN Security Council report said that in January 2024, at least 1,000 Rwandan troops entered the DRC through various border crossings east of Kibumba, Rutshuru territory, reinforcing M23 positions and helping the group seize territory. The UN experts estimated that Rwanda had sent 3,000 to 4,000 troops in May while the report was in drafts.

A vicious three-decade resource war pitting more than 120 militia groups has k*lled more than 6 million Congolese and resulted in numerous s*xual abuses, with Doctors Without Borders (MSF in French) stating one in ten Congolese women in refugee camps reporting being r*ped between November 2023 and April 2024. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates the DRC holds $24 trillion in untapped minerals, attracting powerful foreign entities keen to extract Congo's wealth to develop their industries.

Sources:

https://www.africanews.com/2024/12/05/drc-launches-case-against-rwanda-to-the-african-court-of-human-and-peoples-rights

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/118/80/pdf/n2411880.pdf

https://www.eacj.org/?news=court-hears-applications-arising-from-case-filed-by-drc-against-rwanda-over-alleged-conflicts-in-north-kivu-region#

https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/30/drc-to-take-rwanda-to-east-african-court-over-alleged-violations

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/4/rwanda-backing-m23-rebels-in-drc-un-experts

https://www.usaid.gov/democratic-republic-congo/fact-sheet/responsible-minerals-trade

AES AFRICANS FIND PAN-AFRICAN CONNECTIONS WITH CUBA, PT. 2

Representatives of revolutionary countries travelled to Cuba between 8-15 November as a delegation from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a confederation of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all of which ousted Western-aligned leaders in recent years. The three African countries have forged their revolutionary path and declared self-determination, but they will need allies, comrades, supporters and guides worldwide to help them.

That is why the delegation aimed to learn about the Cuban socialist model and the island's six-decade-long fight against US imperialism. Cuba may be one of the best states with which the AES can collaborate, not only because it is revolutionary and anti-imperialist, but as the delegates point out in this video, it is also profoundly African! Cuba may not be in Africa, but delegates found many aspects of African culture deeply embedded in Cuba due to its decolonial process.

Continued……In this video, delegates share what they most appreciated during their week-long immersive educational experience. 

The Thomas Sankara Centre in Burkina Faso (@burkinabooks on Instagram) organised the delegation, with participation from the Union of Nigerien Students (USN) based out of Niger (@union_des_scolaires_nigeriens on Instagram) and the Headquarters of the Revolution based out of Mali (Quartier Général de la Révolution on Facebook. @siempreconcuba and @cubamistad hosted the delegation throughout the country.

Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to bury their differences over the breakaway Somaliland region and its port deal with Addis Ababa. It’s a diplomatic coup for Turkey, which hosted the talks between Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The Horn of Africa neighbours’ dispute dates back to January, when Addis Ababa struck a deal with the self-declared republic of Somaliland for a 50-year lease on a 20-kilometre (12-mile) stretch of its coastline for an Ethiopian port and naval base. This enraged Mogadishu, as it still considers Somaliland, which declared its secession from Somalia in 1991, part of its territory.

Egypt, which has a long-standing dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Renaissance Dam, was also drawn into the row. Cairo responded to the port deal by shipping two military weaponry caches, including anti-aircraft guns and artillery, to Mogadishu.

Continued……Landlocked Ethiopia lost access to the sea in 1993, when Eritrea gained independence after 30 years of struggle, taking with it the entire coastline on the Gulf Aden, thereby putting the Indian Ocean out of Addis Ababa’s immediate reach.

Turkey's mediation in the Ethiopia-Somalia dispute suggests Erdogan's policy of fostering diplomatic, commercial and military clout in Africa is paying dividends. In 2017, Ankara opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu. Turkey also provides training to Somali military and police. In February, Ankara and Mogadishu signed a defence pact that was later expanded to include the maritime sector. In September, Bloomberg reported that Turkey wants to build a ballistic-missile testing-range and spacecraft launch-pad in Somalia.

NIGERIEN REVOLUTIONARY FALMATA: 'THEY' CREATED THE TERRORISTS

Last month, people from about 30 countries flocked to Niger's capital, Niamey, for the historic Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel. During the three days, one special Nigerien panellist attracted attention for questioning the West’s role in spreading terrorism in the arid region south of the Sahara Desert. Her name is Falmata Moctar Taya, and she is the treasurer of the Movement M62.

Movement M62's official name is M62: Sacred Union for the Safeguard of the Sovereignty and Dignity of the People. The coalition of civil society organisations formed in 2022 to oppose French military occupation in Niger around the time that anti-imperialist President Assimi Goïta came to power in neighbouring Mali. The coalition is most known for playing its role in the 2023 revolution, which brought to power Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tiani and the revolutionary government, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP). 

Continued…….. Movement M62 was at the forefront of the effort that pushed Niger to expel French and US military bases across the country, making the coalition the civilian face of Niger's anti-imperialist revolution.

Visit Movement 62's website (https://m62.reppad.org) and its Facebook page: facebook.com/mouvement62

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M62_Movement

https://m62.reppad.org/

S. SUDAN TEEN THE NEXT
USAIN BOLT?

Meet the world’s fastest 16-year-old: South Sudanese-Australian Gout Gout (pronounced 'Gwot Gwot').

Hailing from a nation often associated with war and suffering in mainstream media, Gout joins in the ranks of those reshaping the narrative of South Sudan, shining a different spotlight on the world’s youngest country.

At the Australian All-Schools Championships in Brisbane on 7 December, Gout delivered a record-breaking performance, securing two historic noscripts.

Continued……First, he broke Peter Norman's half-century-old national record of 20.06 seconds set at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, becoming the fastest Australian to ever run the 200 m. Second, with an extraordinary time of 20.04 seconds, Gout shattered Usain Bolt's 2003 world record of 20.31 seconds for the under-16 age group, earning him the noscript of fastest 16-year-old in history.

After the race, Gout acknowledged that the world record had been in his sights but came sooner than he had anticipated: “I thought it would come maybe next year, the year after that,” he told reporters, “but I didn’t think it would come this year.”

Sources:

https://x.com/AthsAust/status/1865288461256921562

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/articles/c9vkk7y2ywvo

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/24/sport/olympics-norman-black-power/index.html

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/he-would-have-been-proud-of-you-touching-message-to-gout-gout-from-family-of-peter-norman-20241208-p5kwpb.html