ANC alliance members accuse AMCU of being vigilantes and liars

Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Mail and Guardian

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union is clearly the National Union of Mineworkers’s worst nightmare.

Amcu needs to move quickly to consolidate the support it wrenched from the NUM at Lonmin. (Madelene Cronjé, M&G)

 

      Click here    

Take last Sunday’s political-school meeting by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), attended by about 1000 workers in Carletonville. Not one speaker completed their speech without a reference to this upstart union, which has been winning over membership from the NUM in the platinum, coal and mining sectors.

During their speeches the president of the NUM, Senzeni Zokwana, and the general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Blade Nzimande, devoted a great deal  of time to lamenting that Amcu was not a trade union, but a group of “vigilantes and liars”.

Leaders of the NUM feel under attack from Amcu, not only physically, but also in terms of representation in mining structures.

Their response is to warn their members against abaxhoki (those who mislead) and to encourage their shop stewards to do a better job of providing a service to their workers.

Zokwana, who delivered his entire address in isiXhosa, was particularly pronounced on the dangers of Amcu, accusing it of lacking its own programmes.

“What they do, instead of raising problems with employers, is just run to workers and instruct them not to go to work,” he said. “And when members are fired, they are nowhere to be found. Miners are then left on their own.”

Zokwana also accused Amcu of “business unionism”, saying Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa owned five companies, a statement greeted with expressions of shock and disbelief in the crowd.

Violent union? He went on to accuse the media of being dishonest in its characterisation of Amcu. “The media says Amcu is a militant union. Why can’t they say it’s a violent union?”

But Zokwana conceded that some of his union’s wounds were self-inflicted: “Before our last congress, we had people making allegations that R6-million had disappeared and we were publicising people’s salaries.”

The members even decried Amcu in their singing: “Asiyazi lento le ifunwa ngu Mathunjwa [We don't know what it is that Mathunjwa wants"].

When Nzimande took to the floor, he did not mince his words, speaking out against Mathunjwa’s union: “Comrades, we need to distinguish between a trade union and a group of vigilantes. Amcu is not a union and has never been a union. The best way to describe it is a vigilante union.”

Nzimande said Amcu had coerced many to join it. “Some workers are in Amcu because of intimidation. We are asking law enforcement to act on this situation. We must be careful, but you can’t keep attacking people without them retaliating. It’s dangerous.”

But he took the attack beyond Amcu, characterising it as only part of forces such as fellow Cosatu leaders, the media and mining houses that represent a threat to workers’ interests and the ANC. He urged mineworkers not to be misled and to close ranks against these forces.

Independence in the alliance Nzimande said some trade union leaders were attempting to drive a wedge between Cosatu and the ANC by continually criticising the ruling party.

“These habits of recklessly attacking the ANC are irresponsible. Those who say they do so because they are independent are wrong. There is no independence in the alliance.”

Nzimande described the phenomenon of casting doubt about the ANC among workers as “Kadalism”, referring to the leader of the previous century’s powerful Industrial and Commercial Union, Clements Kadalie, who Nzimande said had tried to divide workers and the liberation movement and had been expelled from the union.

He told workers that in fighting corruption in the NUM and the ANC they must be careful not to project the organisations as corrupt themselves.

“Why is the media celebrating anyone who criticises the organisation? They praise everyone else in order to condemn the ANC. We are not paper heroes.”

But Nzimande wants unionists to face up to their problems. “We will not defeat vigilantism if we do not improve our service to workers. The most serious threat to Cosatu is poor service to workers.”     m&g

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S Africa – battle over Mandela companies and role of Mandela children

Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sowetan

Former president Nelson Mandela did not want his children to be involved in the management of his money and artworks.

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    • –>

    The revelation was contained in a replying affidavit submitted by Mandela’s lawyer Bally Chuene in the High Court in Johannesburg.

    Chuene reportedly argued that Mandela’s former lawyer Ismail Ayob had influenced Mandela’s daughters Makaziwe and Zenani to file court papers against him and his co-directors, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale and George Bizos SC.

    According to The Star, he submitted that the motive for the women’s application was to gain access to Mandela’s money and to sell his artworks.

    He said Mandela instructed him in 2004 to write several letters to Ayob requesting all information related to the artworks. Chuene contended that Ayob had failed to comply with Mandela’s wishes.

    At a meeting in April 2005, Mandela told the women he did not want them involved in his business, the newspaper reported.

    Chuene, Bizos and Sexwale have asked the court to dismiss the women’s application with costs. sowetan

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    Kenya – reports on Tana River violence and human rights due soon

    Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

    Nation

    Tana, Truth reports set for  release, says Githu, President Kenyatta,

    In Summary

    • In a presentation to the Committee Against Torture, Prof Muigai, who is heading  the government delegation in Geneva, said the commission which investigated the Tana clashes were formed to examine crucial issues.
    • The truth commission was expected to submit the report to the President two weeks ago failing to meet the constitutional deadline of submitting the report. Parliament had given the team up to May 5 to submit the report.

    Two crucial reports on violence and human rights will be released in two weeks, the Attorney-General has said.

                    

    Speaking in Geneva Friday, Prof Githu Muigai said the Tana Delta clashes and the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission reports would be handed over to President Kenyatta in less than two weeks.

                    

    The Tana clashes left close to 200 people dead.

                    

    Speaking at the 50th session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Prof Muigai said the two commissions could not submit the reports to the President within the deadline because Kenya was in transition.                

    “The report was prepared and it is ready, we were in a transition and the former President could not receive it because he was leaving office and we had to wait for the new Head of State,” he said, in reference to the truth and justice report.

                    

    In a presentation to the Committee Against Torture, Prof Muigai, who is heading  the government delegation in Geneva, said the commission which investigated the Tana clashes were formed to examine crucial issues.

                    

    He said that witnesses who appeared before the commissions spoke freely without coercion or intimidation.

                    

    “The reports are ready and in less than 14 days they will be handed to the President together with all the recommendations,” the AG said.

                    

    The truth commission was expected to submit the report to the President two weeks ago failing to meet the constitutional deadline of submitting the report. Parliament had given the team up to May 5 to submit the report.

                    

    The AG said the government took the Tana River clashes seriously and that high level government delegations made personal visits to the region.

                    

    “What is happening in Tana River is tragic, we went there and we spent time with the affected people and talked with the community there,” he said.

                    

    He said he advised formation of the judicial commission that investigated the violence for six months before compiling a report.  nation

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    Burkina Faso’s water woes – only half have access to clean water

    Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

    IRIN

    Making WASH work in Burkina Faso’s cities

     

    A man pushes his “barrique’ or water barrel on wheels in Ouagadougou

    OUAGADOUGOU, 17 May 2013 (IRIN) – Earlier this year Denis Ouedraogo, a tailor living in the Tampouy neighbourhood just north of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, connected his mud-walled home to the water network for the first time. “Even without electricity, having enough water can make you happy,” he said.
    He is among 1.9 million people to have connected to the government water grid since 2001, thanks to major changes in how the National Office for Water and Sanitation (ONEA) delivers water to urban Burkinabés.
    In 2001 just 73,000 Burkinabés could access clean water, according to research by Peter Newborne at the Overseas Development Institute, which is trying to track and communicate examples of progress on development.
    In 2002 just half of Burkina Faso residents had access to clean water. In 2008 (the latest statistics available) this had risen to 76 percent – 95 percent in urban areas. The plan was to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to double the number of those with access to clean water, in this case to 87 percent, by 2015. Those tracking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) progress in Burkina Faso, say the goal will be surpassed.
    How?
    A number of factors made this possible: ONEA was nationalized and restructured in 1994 following a period in which it had become unprofitable and poorly functioning. The new national company ran along commercial lines, instilling a culture of performance and efficiency, said Newborne.
    The second priority was to find a bulk water supply, in this case by building the Ziga dam 45km from the capital.
    A mixture of government grant funds (from France and other European donors) and concessionary loans at low interest rates (predominantly from the World Bank), provided the required finances. This helped them bring costs down: for instance, connecting to the grid now costs a household US$61, down from on average $400 in the 1990s, according to ONEA’s chief operating officer, Moumouni Sawadogo.
    Next came the work: building a network of pipes throughout Ouagadougou, including in the city’s unzoned [unplanned]  suburbs, which house one third of the capital’s residents and had hitherto been overlooked in terms of household water supply.
    “Even in non-zoned areas, people can pay their water bills,” said Halidou Kouanda, head of NGO Wateraid in Burkina Faso, citing a 2011 ONEA study noting that financial recovery rates in unzoned neighbourhoods were 95 percent.
    Now, with a steady income and an 18 percent leakage rate, ONEA is one of the best-performing water utility companies in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. Targeting the poor
    While targeting unzoned areas upped the percentage of urban dwellers who could access clean water (thus helping to meet the MDG), it did not ensure that water was affordable.
    Now ONEA needs to try to target the poor, as it pledged to do in an initial equity strategy agreed with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation.
    As part of its strategy, ONEA built 17,290 wells and standpipes for some areas without household-level connections. Water from a standpipe costs 60 CFA (11 US cents) for a 220 litre barrel (transported on wheels). But the very poor cannot afford such barrels, turning instead to water vendors who sell the same amount for 200-500 CFA (40-98 cents) depending on the season.
    Thus paradoxically, the poorest families pay up to eight times more than others for their water.
    ODI is discussing different pro-poor targeting methods that might work, including: subsidizing part of the water supply for certain households; targeting poor areas; allocation by housing type; means-testing; community-based targeting; or self-targeting.

    A stand-pipe on the outskirts of Burkina Faso’s capital, Ougadougou

    At the moment, all households are charged the same connection tariff. “Is this equitable? We think not,” said Newborne. “You could means-test it; you could waive the connection charge for some; or charge the first X cubic metres at a different rate,” he suggested, adding that lower-income households could pay bills weekly or on a pay-as-you-go basis, to keep track of costs. “Think of how mobile phone companies have fixed their pricing plans to be accessible,” he said.
    The concern is that households who experience running water for the first time may use more than they can afford, then falling behind  and drop off the grid, said WaterAid’s Kouanda. This happened to 6.8 percent of Ouagadougou’s ONEA customers in 2009.
    Families must be made aware of this risk, said Kouanda. But many customers are so nervous of this happening, that they practice their own careful monitoring.
    Ami Sidibé, who lives in Somgandé neighbourhood, which was connected to the water mains three months ago, said she continues to fill jerry cans – using tap water – to monitor her household’s use. “I’ll do anything to avoid returning to the situation before,” she told IRIN.
    Reduced disease risk?
    No studies have yet been published linking the spread of the water network with the incidence of disease, but some Somgandé residents who were recently connected to the grid said their children were falling sick less frequently. Water-borne illnesses are among the top five reasons for children’ health visits, according to the Health Ministry.
    Future challenges will include how to extend such networks to rural areas, which are currently under-serviced in terms of clean water: 72 percent of rural Burkinabés access clean water, versus 95 percent of city residents.
    The local authorities are responsible for rural water supply under Burkina Faso’s decentralized governance system.
    According to a just-published report Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water 2013 Update by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, striking disparities remain between rural and urban water access, with rural communities making up 83 percent of the global population without access to an improved water source.
    bo/aj/cb  irin

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    Nigerian security forces cut cellphone services in Borno and Yobe

    Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

     

    Daily Trust

     

       

     
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A convoy of military vehicles heading out of Abuja as thousands of troops deploy to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states where state of emergency has been declared

    . Curfew imposed on Adamawa

    . House-to-house search in Maiduguri

    . US warns FG on use of excessive force

    Mobile phone service was turned off yesterday in Borno and Yobe, stifling social life and business activities in two of the three states affected by the proclamation of state of emergency on Tuesday.

    Daily Trust’s correspondents reported that services of all the GSM networks—Airtel, MTN, Glo and Etisalat—were unavailable since early morning yesterday, obviously turned off as part of the military operation aimed at ridding the areas of insurgents.

    There was no official statement on why the cell phone services were turned off, but insurgents were believed to have used mobile phones to remotely detonate bombs in the past.

    Fighter jets and thousands of troops have been deployed to Borno and Yobe, as well as to Adamawa State which is also under emergency rule, to try to dislodge insurgents whose uprising caused the death of thousands since 2009.

    “I think the cell phone service cut was taken in order to give way for soldiers to launch unhindered onslaught on suspects in targeted areas,” a Maiduguri resident said.

    Cell phone service disruption is not new to some parts of northern Borno, as many towns in Gubio and Monguno local government areas have been without service since last year when insurgents destroyed cell towers there.

    But for the first time, southern Borno including Biu, Hawul and Bayo local government areas have been affected following yesterday’s cut of mobile phone services.

    Grema Babagoni, who came into Maiduguri from Biu, said the cell phone service shut down affected social and economic lives of the people.

    Motorists who came to Maiduguri from the border towns of Gamboru Ngala and Marte said Cameroonian authorities also turned off telecommunication signals that reach those communities.

    “We relied on Cameroon (for network services) for a very long period of time but we woke up today (yesterday) and found out that all the signals are gone,” a motorist said.

    Bus drivers who came to Damaturu motor park from various locations in Yobe State also told our correspondent that GSM services were turned off across the 17 local government areas.

    Malam Samaila Sule, a bus driver from Gaidam, said he noticed the service failure around 3am when he intended calling home to know the condition of his sick child. “I was worried when I discovered the shutting down of GSM services, because I left my child terribly ill,” he said.

    Some recharge card sellers in Maiduguri said their source of livelihood has been affected and so most of them were forced to remain at home. “This is a big problem as I have not sold a single recharge card since morning,” Mohammed Gobir said.

    But internet facilities not reliant on cell phone companies were running yesterday in the two states.

    Telecoms operators told Daily Trust they were aware of the services cut but declined to say if this was caused by military activities. Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr Gbenga Adebayo, said members of the organisation were working on the problem.

    An official at telephony regulator Nigerian Communications Commission confirmed to our reporter that military operations led to the cutting off of cell phone services.

    But spokesman for the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, denied this.

    “You should know that even before now there were difficulties in telephone services in the area because the insurgents have destroyed several telecommunication facilities. As soon as you leave Maiduguri, you will be experiencing network problems until you get to Chad,” he said.

    Curfew in Adamawa

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army yesterday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Adamawa State following the presidential declaration of the state of emergency.

    It is the first major change witnessed in the state since the declaration of the state of emergency on Tuesday.

    A statement signed by the army public relations officer in Yola Lt. Jaaru Mohammed Nuhu said the decision followed the imposition of the state of emergency in the state and neighbouring Borno and Yobe.

    The full statement reads: “Sequel to the Presidential Declaration of a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States by the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, a 6pm to 6am curfew has been imposed on Adamawa State with effect from 16 May 2013. All law abiding citizens are advised to abide by the curfew”.

    Lt. Nuhu later told Daily Trust that even before declaration of the state of emergency, the army has been actively involved in security operation in the state, and that the same operation would just continue.

    There has not been any visible change in troops’ deployment in Yola yet since the declaration of the state of emergency.

    At the 23 Brigade headquarters in Yola, our correspondent did not see any obvious increase of troops.

    The army spokesman declined to say whether some have been sent to other parts of the state after the declaration. He said troops’ movement has been going on in the state even before the declaration.

    In the state capital, Yola, people are still going about their businesses as usual, but many expressed worries over the imposition of the curfew, saying it was unnecessary.

    House-to-house search in Maiduguri

    In Maiduguri, residents said security operatives have stepped up house- to-house search throughout Wednesday night and yesterday.

    Baba Musa of Kula Gumna area said soldiers had surrounded the area in the early hours of yesterday and searched houses. Similar activities took place in Tashar Gwoza, Lawan Bukar, Mairi, Gomari airport and Bulunkutu areas, Daily Trust learnt.

    Travellers coming into Maiduguri had to pass through thorough screening at Jimtilo, the main entrance for motorists from Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and southern part of Nigeria.

    Vehicles had to wait for hours in gridlocks along the Bauchi-Maiduguri road before they got screened.

    A bus driver who took off from Bauchi around 6am yesterday said it took him over ten hours to get to Maiduguri, a journey that would normally have lasted about five hours.

    “This is a new phase of difficulty for us. All the passengers in my vehicle were asked to go out from the vehicle at the entrance of Potiskum, Damaturu and Maiduguri. They were asked to identify themselves while their luggage was searched,” he said.

    But the Yobe State capital Damaturu remained calm, even though the cell phone service cut has caused hardship for the people.

    Elsewhere, the sight of troops scared locals, said Malam Baa Aji Geidam who came to Damaturu from Gaidam. “The soldiers were staying calm in their camp, and did not harass anybody,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the United States yesterday reiterated its call on Nigerian authorities to avoid high-handedness in the military operation against insurgents.

    At a daily briefing in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, acting deputy spokesman of the State Department, Mr. Patrick Ventrell, said: “Nigeria’s security forces must protect civilians in any security response in a way that respects human rights and the rule of law…. we have made clear to the Nigerian government that its heavy-handed response to insecurity in northern Nigeria and the failure to address human rights violations will potentially affect our ability to provide security assistance going forward. So we’ve made that message clear to the Nigerians.” DT

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    Nigeria – attack on Boko Haram camp kills at least 21

    Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

    Mail and Guardian

    Nigeria military attack on camp leaves 21 dead

     

    Soldiers in Nigeria have shelled suspected camps of extremists in the first military action of a new offensive against insurgents, says an official.
    Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan’s emergency decree, declared on Tuesday, allowed civilian governments to remain in place. (AFP)

           Click here      

    Soldiers in north-east of the West African country shelled suspected camps of Islamic extremists, killing at least 21 people, a security official said Friday.

    The fighting was in the Sambisa Forest Reserve, just south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which soldiers previously raided on the hunt for fighters belonging to the extremist network known as Boko Haram. Meanwhile, gunmen launched an assault on the hometown of one of Nigeria’s former military rulers hundreds of kilometres away, attacking a police station and banks.

    Soldiers started the attack on Sambisa Forest Reserve on Thursday, having previously converged in the area in advance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s state of emergency decree affecting three states in the nation’s north-east, a security official said. The shelling killed at least 21 suspected Islamic extremists, the official said. There was no independent confirmation of the assault or casualties.

    “We are not going to leave the forest until it’s over,” the official said, referring to the emergency rule.

    The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly about the ongoing military operation. Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, a military spokesperson based in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

    In a related development, mobile phone service returned on Friday morning to parts of north-east Nigeria after being cut on Thursday. The security official told the AP that the service cut came on the orders of Nigeria’s government and security forces as soldiers moved into the north-east to begin operations. The official said service likely would be shut off again.

    Mobile phones Mobile phones have become the only real communication device in Nigeria for both voice calls and the internet, as the state-run telephone company collapsed years ago. By cutting off service at towers, the military could stop extremists from receiving warnings or intelligence ahead of their operations. Authorities said on Thursday they had no information about the service cut-off or refused to comment.

    Nigeria’s military and security forces have tracked fighters by their mobile phone signals in the past as well, prompting extremists from Boko Haram to attack mobile phone towers in the region.

    Under the president’s directive, soldiers have ultimate control over security matters in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. Over the last few days, witnesses and AP journalists have seen convoys of soldiers in trucks and buses moving through the region, as well as trucks carrying armoured personnel carriers. Jet fighters also have been seen flying low over Yola, the capital of Adamawa state.

    This new military campaign comes on top of a previous massive deployment of soldiers and police to the region. That deployment failed to stop violence by Islamic extremists, who have killed more than 1 600 people since 2010, according to an AP count.

    Jonathan’s emergency decree, declared on Tuesday, allows civilian governments to remain in place. Adamawa state governor Murtala Nyako, who belongs to Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party, criticised the president’s decision in a radio address on Thursday night.

    “I believe that the declaration has been a shock to the people of the state and others,” Nyako said. “True, this state has witnessed a few criminal activities by armed hoodlums in the last few years, but so [have] other states in the federation.”

    That could be seen on Thursday night in Daura, a rural town in Katsina state that’s the home of former military ruler and perennial presidential candidate general Muhammadu Buhari. There, far from the states under emergency rule, gunmen attacked a police station and at least two banks, witnesses said. Police officials declined to immediately comment about the attack on Friday. – Sapa-AP  M&G

    BBC

    Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria air raids ‘kill militants’

    The BBC’s Will Ross said Nigerian troops will have difficulty flushing out Boko Haram militants in urban areas

    At least 30 militants have been killed during air raids on their training camps in north-eastern Nigeria, officials say.

    An army spokesman said jets and helicopter gunships had been used to attack several camps.

    He told the BBC that a plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire but had managed to return to base.

    States of emergency were declared this week in three north-eastern states hit by Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency.

    Nigerian forces are trying to regain control in the states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno.

    Meanwhile, explosions and gunfire have been heard overnight in Katsina state.

    Residents have told the BBC’s Hausa service that banks, police stations and prisons were destroyed in the town of Daura, near the border with Niger.

    Every camp is under attack” Brig Gen Chris Olukolade Military spokesman

    They said they had seen the bodies of five members of the security forces and three militants, but there has been no official confirmation of casualties.

    Mobile phone networks were not functioning in many parts of north-east Nigeria on Thursday.

    A security official told the AP news agency that the mobile phone service had been shut down during the military operation.

    Militants have previously attacked mobile phone masts in the area in an effort to disrupt communications.

    Residents staying inside

    Some of the camps hit by air raids were in the Sambisa Game Reserve, about 70km (45 miles) south of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, where the militants first emerged in 2009, said Nigerian military spokesman Brig Gen Chris Olukolade.

    Boko Haram: Timeline of terror

    • 2002: Founded
    • 2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed; leader Mohammed Yusuf captured and killed
    • Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people; blamed for New Year’s Eve attack on Abuja barracks
    • Jun-Aug 2011: Bomb attacks on Abuja police HQ and UN building
    • Dec 2011: Multiple bomb attacks on Christmas Day kill dozens
    • Jan 2012: Wave of violence across north-east Nigeria
    • April 2012: Deadly Easter church attack in Kaduna; ThisDay newspaper offices bombed
    • February 2013: French family kidnapped in Cameroon
    • May 2013: Heavily armed incursion into Bama town

    He told the BBC that 30 militants had been killed since the latest offensive began on Wednesday.

    There is no independent confirmation of the number of deaths.

    The aim is to “destroy [Boko Haram] bases, apprehend as many of them as possible and bring them to justice”, Brig Gen Olukolade said.

    “It is not just Sambisa, every camp is under attack,” the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

    In January, the military said it had deployed helicopter gunships to destroy Boko Haram camps in the reserve, not far from Bama, where 55 people were killed in militant attacks last week.

    Brig Gen Olukolade said the plane damaged by anti-aircraft fire had returned to base safely, while the “terrorist base” was subsequently “completely destroyed”.

    This is the first time Boko Haram has been reported to have used such heavy weaponry against aircraft.

    A Maiduguri resident told the BBC that the city was unusually quiet on Friday, with most people staying inside.

    Brig Gen Olukolade said “several thousand” troops had been sent to the three north-eastern states to tackle Boko Haram.

    The three semi-desert states, which border Niger, Chad and Cameroon, are roughly the size of England or the US state of Illinois but have a population of just 10 million.

    The BBC’s Will Ross in Abuja says targeting Boko Haram’s rural bases or training camps should pose no great challenge for the military; the hardest part of this campaign will be in urban areas like Maiduguri, where the militants are living among the civilian population.

    The president said the army would take “all necessary action” to “put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists”, saying they had taken down the Nigerian flag and replaced it with a foreign emblem in some parts of the country.

    Human rights organisations have criticised some of the Nigerian military’s previous operations because of the resulting civilian casualties.

    Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden” in the local Hausa language, is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state in the north.

    Although they often attack Christians and government targets, they have also killed many Muslim civilians.

    map

    BBC

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    Posted in West Africa

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    Ethiopia – in or out of Somalia?

    Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

    IPS

    Ethiopia Playing at Being Good Neighbours

    Somali government forces march during an army day parade in Mogadishu, Somalia. The country’s armed forces are not strong enough to control the threat of the Islamism extremist group Al-Shabaab and are propped up by Ethiopian troops and African Union peace-keepers. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh/IPS

    ADDIS ABABA , May 17 2013 (IPS) – Despite comments by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn suggesting the pending withdrawal of his country’s troops from Somalia, many experts have voiced doubts that Ethiopia will pull out of Somalia before it is capable of handling its security without assistance.

    “Ethiopia has a big interest in Somalia and will remain, keeping its eyes wide open there for some time,” Abel Abate, from the state-funded think tank the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, told IPS.

    “One purpose is to avoid the threat posed by the Islamist Al-Shabaab group, which sees Ethiopia as an enemy. And secondly, to show the world that it has made a significant contribution to peace and stability in the region.”

    Somalia is still recovering from nearly two decades of war, and large parts of the Horn of Africa nation have been under siege by the extremist Al-Shabaab. The Somali transitional federal government, which is propped up by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and regional troops, barely has control over the country’s capital Mogadishu.

    “Ethiopia wanted … to show the world that it is the maker or breaker of Somalia.” — Abel Abate

     

    While African countries have sent troops to Somalia under AMISOM, Ethiopia’s troops, which have been in the country since 2011, do not operate under the AU mission.

    Last year, with the help of regional forces, the Somali government was able to recapture some key points in the country, including the port of Merca and the city of Jowhar, the biggest town under Al-Shabaab control, situated 70 km and 90 km from Mogadishu respectively.

    However, in mid-March, Ethiopia pulled its troops from the southern town of Hudur without warning AMISOM. Following the withdrawal, Al-Shabaab immediately took control of the town in its first major military success since it retreated from Mogadishu in August 2011.

    “Ethiopia pulled out from certain places in Somalia in order to send a signal to the international community that unless you support us, we will not shoulder all of Somalia’s problems,” Abate said.

    “Ethiopia wanted to put pressure on the agencies and countries which have been supporting AMISOM but not Ethiopia, and to show the world that it is the maker or breaker of Somalia.”

    Meanwhile, an Ethiopian government representative told IPS that the lack of international support for Somalia has made it difficult for this country to withdraw troops.

    “Ever since we intervened in Somalia our initial plan was to hand it over to AMISOM and Somali forces,” Ethiopian government spokesperson Dina Mufti told IPS.

    “However, we feel that international support has been lagging, not only for AMISOM, but for the whole Somali project, which has made it difficult for us to withdraw while these forces are too weak to take over.”

    Dina hoped that a recent conference in London on May 7, where over 50 countries and organisations met to discuss how best to aid Somalia, might change this. However, he stopped short of saying it would be a game changer.

    “One thing is for sure, we remain fully committed to supporting Somalia,” Dina said. But he could not say if Ethiopia would wait until AMISOM and the Somali army took over key strongholds before pulling out. “That I can’t say.”

    Unlike AMISOM forces in Somalia, which are funded by the AU, Ethiopia pays for their operations themselves. This is believed to be one of the biggest contributing factors to Ethiopia’s frustration.

    “Hailemariam has … tried to put pressure on the international community to put more resources into the issue, so Ethiopia can pull out gradually,” Kjetil Tronvoll from the Oslo-based International Law and Policy Institute told IPS.

    “I do not think they will pull out prematurely, I think they might regroup some of their forces, but I don’t think they will just leave it open for Al-Shabaab to regroup and resurface and stay in that area currently controlled by Ethiopia.”

    Tronvoll said he believed that Ethiopia would use its presence in Somalia as a bargaining chip for its agenda.

    “If they feel as though they are losing influence in Mogadishu … or if they feel as though they are being pushed out, or not being consulted enough, they can use a withdrawal as a threat,” said Tronvoll. “They could say, we back you up on the ground, and if our concerns are not listened to in your policy development, then these are the repercussions you can expect.”

    While it is seemingly unlikely that Ethiopia will immediately withdraw its troops, contradictory statements made last month by members of the Ethiopian government did result in confusion.

    On Apr. 23, Hailemariam told parliament that AMISOM was taking too long to replace Ethiopian troops and that the main focus should be to accelerate their withdrawal.

    However, the next day the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ethiopia would not withdraw troops until AMISOM and the Somali army were ready to take over.

    But it is uncertain how much longer this will take.

    According to Hassan Rafiki, an expert consultant at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies working with the government of Somalia, AMISOM is not as aggressive as it was in the initial stages.

    “The troops have now found room to breathe from Al-Shabaab and the mission is, therefore, not encouraged or enthusiastic to replace the Ethiopian troops,” Rafiki told IPS.

    “Somalia is now becoming a money machine for troop-contributing countries in the region, who wish to train new recruits for their armed forces, instead of their initial intention to help the Somali government and people.”

    Another concern is the lack of AMISOM resources. “In its current capacity of little over 17,000 (troops), AMISOM is over-stretched. It won’t be able to fill the vacuum left by Ethiopia unless its troop levels are increased,” Abdi Aynte, director of Mogadishu’s first think-tank the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, told IPS.

    “Ethiopia must understand that it’s in its best interest to shift course and work with the Somali people and their government to reestablish strong state institutions,” said Aynte. “A stable, democratic Somalia is the best possible neighbour that Ethiopia could ask for in the world’s toughest region.” ips

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