Continued…. Sources:

https://www.aujourd8.net/burkina-faso-1-010-136-deplaces-sont-retournes-dans-697-localites/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C96QQ28PJNc

https://www.un.int/mali/sites/www.un.int/files/Mali/rev_allocution_mali_agnu_24_septembre_2022_2.pdf

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/burkina-faso-mali-niger-accuse-ukraine-of-supporting-terrorism-in-sahel/3308995

https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GTI-2022-web-09062022.pdf

DRC QUESTIONS RWANDA’S ROLE IN UN AFTER
PEACEKEEPERS KILLED

Asked whether Kinshasa now regrets demanding the (still incomplete) withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO) - in light of the advances being made by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo - DRC’s foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner responded by saying that areas no longer under UN jurisdiction have seen greater stability than MONUSCO-administered areas.

If she is right, what was one of the UN’s biggest and best funded ($1 billion annually) missions really about?

She accuses the international community of complicity in destabilising the DRC. M23 would not be able to wage war so successfully if not for Kigali’s backing, and Rwanda itself would likely not possess the capacity to back the M23 without international support.

Continued…. Despite issuing condemnation, the West - in particular, the US, UK and France - have refrained from taking concrete measures against Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.

Rwanda is heavily reliant on external funding. According to the World Bank, Kigali received $1.25 billion in official development assistance in 2021 - equivalent to 74% of central government spending. The EU in 2022 announced it would fund a Rwandan military campaign in Mozambique at $20 million. In 2024, Paris announced $400 million in funding for health, the environment and education. The UK also agreed a deal with Rwanda to host deported migrants worth $310 million in 2022.

All these initiatives have been undertaken with the full knowledge of Rwanda’s involvement in DRC’s destabilisation. Might economic interests be a consideration, especially considering how crucial Congolese minerals such as cobalt and gold are to global markets, and the role Kigali plays in acquiring them from the DRC?

Sources:

News:
https://x.com/sherwiebp/status/1883580216188301772

Rwanda and Int’l community
https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf

M23 economic interests
https://apnews.com/article/congo-mining-m23-un-security-council-b11207ba887b352d702c3e4603d0c891

Continued….. 6.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xpqvz0e88o

7.https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/sudan-situation-sudanese-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-libya-19-jan-2025

8.https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/7/10/sudanese-refugees-dwell-in-ethiopian-forest-away-from-bandits-and-militias

9.https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/17/ethiopia-fighting-abuses-putting-sudanese-refugees-risk#:~:text=Ethiopia%20currently%20hosts%20over%2090%2C000,also%20fled%20Sudan%20into%20Ethiopia.

10.https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.darfurwomenaction.org/press_release/over-120-civilians-killed-and-over-130-women-committed-suicide-to-escape-rape-by-rsf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1737631498285360&usg=AOvVaw1Q3WOTa1I5_vfADEa-Nhdi

On 14 January, Niger’s students took to the streets in a mass mobilisation with a clear message of support for their government, known as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), in the face of imperialist threats. 

‘We are committed to fighting relentlessly against imperialism, a historic fight to which we devote ourselves, body and soul,’ said Effred Mouloul Al Hassane, secretary-general of the Union of Nigerien Students.

Recently, Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tiani said France was threatening his country.

Continued……‘Unfortunately, the enemy we face is not terrorism, but above all, France.’ Pan-Africanists in Niger and worldwide have celebrated Niger’s new government for nationalising uranium mines, ending its French military occupation, and becoming the first country in Africa to break ties with US Africa Command (AFRICOM). However, the country is still under attack by what many believe to be Western-backed death squads. Nigerien officials have also caught French spies working to destabilise their territory.

‘It’s only after we emerge [as a powerful nation] that we can move towards development, and that’s only if we remain united,’ said Brigadier General Abdou Harouna, the governor of Niamey, who attended this rally. ‘It’s essential that we work together, that we stand shoulder to shoulder to achieve this goal.’

Sources:

https://www.actuniger.com/societe/20700-niamey-la-jeunesse-scolaire-se-mobilise-massivement-pour-soutenir-le-cnsp-et-appeler-a-lunite-dans-la-lutte-contre-limperialisme.html

https://news.1rj.ru/str/Aesinfosfr/4990

https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20241116/le-niger-annonce-la-detention-dun-espion-presume-de-la-france—1069263671.html

https://news.1rj.ru/str/Aesinfosfr/5544

https://www.africom.mil/pressrelease/35590/us-withdrawal-from-niger-completed

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/niger-seizes-control-of-somair-uranium-mine/

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/french-company-orano-loses-control-of-uranium-mine-to-niger-admin/3414093

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/last-french-troops-leave-niger-military-cooperation-officially-ends-2023-12-22/

WHY S. AFRICA NEEDS LAND EXPROPRIATION

On 23 January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Land Expropriation Bill, introduced in 2022. This will enable the government to expropriate privately owned (in particular, White-owned) land for public purposes or in the public interest.

The final piece of legislation is a watered-down version of what the country’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF) has for years been fighting for. While the EFF had advocated for zero compensation for the expropriated land, the new law states that this will only be applied as a last-resort measure. That prompted the EFF to reject the new law, describing it as an ‘absurdity’ and ‘an attempt to fool our people.’

Continued…. The party argues that the new law will not be able adequately to address the existing land inequalities caused by centuries of racial oppression of Black South Africans. The EFF is particularly opposed to the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ clause in the act, which requires consensus between the expropriating authority and the owner of the property on the amount of compensation. (In the event that the two sides cannot agree on the amount, courts have to determine an amount of compensation that is considered just and equitable.)

The debate around land expropriation has raged on in South Africa for decades. In this video from 2018, African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo explains why land reform is a non-negotiable requirement for South Africa to address the ever-growing economic and social inequality between Black South Africans and the descendants of White colonial settlers. Kaballo made the remarks back in December 2018, shortly after South Africa’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a committee report recommending amending the constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation.

Video credit: Press TV UK

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNoWJxK9QoY

https://mg.co.za/politics/2025-01-24-newly-signed-expropriation-bill-heading-for-court-cabinet-clearing-house/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-25-tensions-rise-in-gnu-john-steenhuisen-calls-for-urgent-dialogue-following-expropriation-act-signing/?dm_source=top_reads_block&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=top_reads&dm_content=maverick_news

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNoWJxK9QoY

https://x.com/EFFSouthAfrica/status/1882484477949337711
________________________

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

BOASTFUL RUTO DISPLAYS IGNORANCE OF FRANCE’S HISTORY

Ever eager to project his importance on the international stage, Kenya’s president William Ruto took to X on Monday to say that he’d had a call with Emmanuel Macron about the war in DR Congo - boasting that his French counterpart had given his blessing to regional efforts to end the fighting. But in his eagerness to be seen as a ‘big-league’ player, Ruto - who is also Chair of the East African Community - seems to have forgotten some basic facts.

France is accused of having had a hand in the ongoing instability of the DRC, due to its complicity in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. It supported the genocidal regime, training and arming its soldiers under the guise of a United Nations Security Council humanitarian intervention, dubbed Operation Turquoise. With France’s support, the perpetrators of the genocide were able to escape into DRC.

Continued……. Former French Colonel Guillaume Ancel - in his book ‘Rwanda: End of Silence’ (2018) - admits that when the Rwandan perpetrators escaped to the DRC, they were provided with arms by France in the refugee camps. “I witnessed one of these deliveries in the second half of July 1994,” he writes, adding that “the commanders explained that we were delivering weapons to those who had carried out massacres to prevent them from turning against the French army. It became clear they were following directives from the highest levels of the State.”

Today, France continues to support Rwanda and - by extension - the Kigali-backed M23 rebels, who have committed atrocities against the people of the DRC. Hence, Ruto’s tone-deaf post on X has rightly drawn heavy criticism from Africans questioning why he is even reaching out to France for support, at a time when Francophone countries are cutting ties with Paris and freeing themselves of its neo-colonial influence.

Sources:

https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240225/what-is-frances-role-in-eastern-drc-conflict--tensions-with-rwanda-1065237633.html

https://thegreatlakeseye.com/post?s=France%27s--stance--on--DRC--crisis--a--big--concern--_1327

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/28/why-is-the-drc-wasting-precious-resources-on-an-outdated-testament-to-french-colonial-power

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/dr-congo-rwandan-backed-m23-rebels-perpetrating-summary-killings-and-rapes/

https://www.theafricareport.com/373043/what-remains-of-the-fdlr-in-eastern-drc/

CIA MADE AFGHANISTAN A NARCO-STATE

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a pivotal role in the creation of the first true narco-state in history, Afghanistan.

In a covert operation known as ‘Operation Mosquito’ during the 1980s, the US plunged into Afghanistan’s drug trade, seeking to destabilise the Soviet occupation by inundating Russian soldiers with narcotics. Alfred McCoy, in his groundbreaking book, ‘Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade,’ exposes how the CIA funnelled an astonishing $3 billion to the mujahideen leaders battling the Soviets, a strategy that ultimately facilitated the rise of the Taliban.

In this clip, a former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, reveals how, under the eyes of intelligence agents, Afghanistan’s landscape turned into a vast expanse of poppy fields, producing illicit opium that funnelled millions of dollars into the CIA’s shadowy operations, all while evading legal scrutiny.

Continued……. By 1986, the US State Department reported that opium was an ‘ideal crop in a war-torn country since it requires little capital investment, is fast growing and is easily transported and traded.’

As Afghanistan transitioned from a producer of essential food crops to an opium powerhouse, it accounted for a staggering 93 per cent of the global opium supply by 2007 and around 85 per cent in 2020.

Many Afghan farmers, seduced by the low investment and drought resistance of poppy cultivation, abandoned traditional staples like wheat, corn, and rice, causing severe food shortages and a catastrophic rise in heroin addiction, not only within Afghanistan but across Europe, the US, and Asia.

Video credit: @julianddorey (X)

Sources:

https://kabulnow.com/2024/11/un-reports-30-increase-in-opium-production-in-afghanistan-in-2024/

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Afghanistan/Executive_Summary_english.pdf

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237798.shtml

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/4/24/war-with-drugs

https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2024/unisnar1492.html

https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/13640296.pdf

https://history.wisc.edu/publications/the-politics-of-heroin-cia-complicity-in-the-global-drug-trade/#:~:text=The%20first%20book%20to%20prove,the%20Cold%20War%20until%20today.

https://www.transcend.org/tms/2017/08/its-the-opium-stupid-afghan-surge-guarantees-cia-black-ops-budget-boost/

https://news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-money-and-power-drive-afghanistans-opium-production-but-how-will-the-taliban-wean-themselves-off-the-profitable-trade-12385423

https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/1.2_The_global_heroin_market.pdf

https://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/AFG07_ExSum_web.pdf

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Afghanistan/Executive_Summary_english.pdf

https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/340-trouble-afghanistans-opium-fields-taliban-war-drugs

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/21/afghanistan-taliban-opium-climate-change

https://www.dw.com/en/taliban-poppy-ban-leaves-afghan-farmers-angry-jobless/a-70977767

S. AFRICAN TROOP DEATHS IN DRC SPARK ANGER, CONCERN

South Africans are demanding their defence minister’s head roll - after 13 of the country’s soldiers deployed to DRC were killed amid allegations they were ill-equipped for their mission. The men died defending the eastern Congolese city of Goma from the onslaught of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Reports have been swirling that South Africa’s troops are short on ammo, and that their combat vehicles are breaking down. Critics of the government, including the Economic Freedom Fighters party, say the deaths point to government incompetence. On Sunday, South Africa’s ambassador to the UN slammed Kigali for atrocities in the DRC, urging the UN Security Council to take ‘decisive action.’

Continued….. Sources:

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/politics/2025-01-26-call-for-angie-motshekgas-head-over-soldiers-deaths-in-drc/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-27-four-more-dead-sandf-force-in-very-tense-situation-as-m23-overruns-goma/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main
https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/carl-niehaus-insists-defence-minister-angie-motshekga-must-resign-after-sandfs-drc-tragedy-45d5a540-7877-45a6-95d1-eedf7d8712f3

https://www.actionsa.org.za/defence-minister-splurges-r10-4-million-on-travel-while-woefully-underfunded-south-african-soldiers-are-left-to-die-in-drc/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-27-four-more-dead-sandf-force-in-very-tense-situation-as-m23-overruns-goma/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main

KINSHASA: MULTIPLE EMBASSIES ATTACKED

Videos have emerged showing multiple embassies being torched and vandalised by protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa - including the Belgian, French and Rwandan missions. Tires were burned outside the US embassy, with the UN’s headquarters also attacked.

People hit the streets after news that parts of Goma - the capital of North Kivu Province in eastern DRC - fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who have k*lled, r*ped and terrorised civilians.

Despite overwhelming evidence detailing Rwanda’s support for the M23 militia - which is intent on seizing control of mineral-rich regions of the country - Belgium, France, the UK, and the US continue to support Kigali. Western condemnation has largely been performative, with no real punishments.