A collage of arrested Malian President , Ibrahim Keïta and Prime Minister, Boubou Cissë
The European Union (EU) has on Tuesday condemned an “attempted coup” in Mali where Soldiers staged a mutiny, capturing the nation’s President, Prime Minister, Military Chiefs and political leaders.
A statement by the bloc’s diplomatic chief, Josep Borrell, read that: “The European Union condemns the attempted coup d’etat underway in Mali and rejects all unconstitutional change
“This can in no way be a response to the profound socio-economic crisis which has been hitting Mali for some months.”
The EU, which has operated a mission training the armed forces in Mali since 2013, joined the UN and regional bloc ECOWAS in calling for dialogue.
“A consensual outcome respecting constitutional principles, international law and human rights is the only way to avoid destabilising not only Mali but the whole region,” Borrell said in his statement
One of the leaders of the mutineering soldiers told AFP that “the president and the prime minister are under our control” after being “arrested” at Keita’s residence in the capital Bamako.
Speaker, Nigeria House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila receives Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), led by its Chairman, Ganiyu Musa; Tuesday, August 18, 2020. Picture- Office of the Speaker.
The House of Representatives says it is willing and ready to partner with the Nigerian insurance industry for improved services to Nigerians.
A statement from the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, stated that the Speaker of the House of Representatives made this commitment when he hosted the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) during a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Speaker noted that the insurance industry is one of the most important sectors in the country hence the need to improve its services.
“The House of Representatives is always happy to collaborate with sectors, businessmen and professions such as yours.
“There’s no gainsaying the importance of insurance in any economy, in any country. Insurance is perhaps one of the most important areas in any business.
“You secure our lives and our property, so you’re very important to us. We are more than ready to always partner with you.”
Speaking on the amendment of the Insurance Act, Gbajabiamila said it is work in progress as a Bill on that has already passed first reading in the House.
“You talked about the amendment to the Insurance Act. I’m aware that it has been long coming. In this 9th Assembly, I think it has gone through first reading before it comes for second reading and then the public hearing.
“You should work with the committee so that you guys can work and agree on what should go in and what should go out of the amendment. I think that’s already in the works. We’re glad to see you. We’re open to discussing further with you.”
The chairman of the association, Ganiyu Musa, who led the delegation, had earlier told the Speaker that the insurance industry needed the support of the House to make the sector better.
While wishing the Speaker a successful tenure, the chairman said: “We share your aspirations for the country; we share your dreams for a better Nigeria; we assure you that we’ll like to collaborate with you and the House to contribute to the overall welfare of the citizens.
“The industry contributed to the fight against COVID-19. Our desire is to improve engagements. We’ve not been as present in the House as we should.
“We want a new start. We need your help. We need the help of the House. We seek appropriate legislative intervention and assistance. We need you to address some of the bottlenecks that militate against the realisation of our work.”
Mali’s President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse, have been arrested by mutinying soldiers, according to several reports.
Al Jazeera Media Network reports that the development on Tuesday came hours after soldiers took up arms and staged an apparent mutiny at a key base in Kati, a town close to the capital, Bamako.
A collage of arrested Malian President , Ibrahim Keïta and Prime Minister, Boubou CissëIt followed a weeks-long political crisis that has seen opposition protesters taking to the streets to demand the departure of Keita, accusing him of allowing the country’s economy to collapse and mishandling a worsening security situation.
Earlier, protesters gathered at a square in Bamako while regional and international powers urged the soldiers to return to the barracks and foreign embassies advised their citizens to stay indoors.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has condemned the arrests of Keita, Cisse and other officials.
Mahamat also condemned any attempt at “anti-constitutional” change and called on the mutinying soldier’s to respect the state’s institutions.
“I energetically condemn the arrest of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the prime minister and other members of the Malian government and call for their immediate liberation,” he wrote on Twitter.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said Russia has received information about the arrests of Mali’s president and prime minister, RIA news agency reported without providing further details.
He also said, according to the media outlet, that Moscow is concerned about the events in Mali.
Developments are moving fast in Mali.
AFP news agency, citing a source identified as a leader of the mutiny, said the soldiers have detained Keita and Cisse.
“We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control,” the leader, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
He added that the pair had been “arrested” at Keita’s residence in Bamako.
Another military official, who also declined to be named, said the president and prime minister were in an armoured vehicle en route to Kati.
Reuters news agency has reported, citing two security sources, that Keita has been arrested by mutinying soldiers in Bamako.
The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials, according to Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the soldiers’ mutiny in Mali on Tuesday with his Malian counterpart and other West African leaders, expressing his support for mediation efforts by the ECOWAS regional bloc, the presidency in Paris said.
Macron discussed the unfolding situation with Keita and the leaders of Niger, Ivory Coast and Senegal, and “condemned the attempted mutiny under way,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The French presidency did not say precisely when Macron’s talks with the African leaders took place.
In Bamako, hundreds of people have poured into the square around the Independence Monument, the site of mass protests since June, calling for Keita to quit over alleged corruption and worsening security.
“Whether he’s been arrested or not, what is certain is that his end is near. God is granting our prayers. IBK is finished,” Haidara Assetou Cisse, a teacher, told Reuters news agency, referring to the president by his initials.
“We have come out today to call for the total resignation of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Because we heard there were shots fired by the military and we have come out to help our soldiers get rid of IBK,” opposition supporter Aboubacar Ibrahim Maiga said.
Protesters have also attacked the justice minister’s personal offices, setting parts of them on fire, a Reuters witness said.
Cisse, the Malian prime minister, called on the mutinying soldiers to stand down and urged dialogue to resolve the situation.
In a statement, he said the mutiny “reflects a certain frustration that could have legitimate causes. The government of Mali asks all the authors of these acts to stand down.”
France denounced “in the strongest terms” what it described as a mutiny launched by soldiers in Mali.
“France has become aware of the mutiny that has taken place today in Kati, Mali. It condemns in the strongest terms this serious event,” Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian said in a statement that also urged the soldiers to return to their barracks “without delay.”
Opposition supporters react to the news of a possible mutiny of soldiers in the military base in Kati, outside the capital Bamako, at Independence Square in Bamako, Mali August 18, 2020.
The West African bloc ECOWAS called on the soldiers “to return to their barracks without delay”.
“This mutiny comes at a time when, for several months now, ECOWAS has been taking initiatives and conducting mediation efforts with all the Malian parties,” the bloc said in a statement.
Gunfire was heard at an army base near Bamako, with the Norwegian embassy talking of a possible military mutiny. Soldiers fired their guns into the air in the base in Kati, some 15km (9 miles) from Bamako.
Witnesses said armoured tanks and military vehicles could be seen on the streets of Kati, The Associated Press news agency reported.
President Muhammadu Buhari receives ex-President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House Abuja, Tuesday August 18, 2020. Photo: Femi Adesina
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday led a team of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Mission to Mali on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Jonathan, who is ECOWAS Special Envoy on restoring peace to Mali was at the State House to brief President Buhari on the update in the troubled nation, said Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
A file photo of the presidents of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Niger in a peace talk meeting with Malian President and leaders of a protest movement clamouring for the resignation of their President.
“We told them that no international organization, including the African Union (AU), United Nations (UN), and others, would agree with their position. We continued to emphasize the need for dialogue,” Jonathan was quoted as saying.
According to Adesina, the former President stated that the Constitutional Court had been reconstituted and inaugurated, while vacancies in the Supreme Court had been filled, thus sorting out the judicial arm of government.
In his remark, President Buhari thanked his predecessor, according to him, for “the stamina you have displayed” on the Mali issue.
He counselled further consultations with the Chairman of ECOWAS, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic.
About a month ago, Jonathan was at the State House to brief President Buhari on the political development in Mali.
During an unexpected visit on August 11, the night before opposition-led demonstrations against embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Jonathan at a press briefing said “demonstrations do not solve problems per se”.
The lingering crisis led West African leaders in their quest to broker peace in the landlocked nation flew to Bamako on July 24 in the heat of protests calling for President Keita’s resignation.
However, as the intervention failed to seal a deal, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou — at the talks along with the leaders of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria — said Western African bloc ECOWAS would hold a summit on July 27.
The lingering crisis: The opposition movement continues to mount pressure on President Keita, who came to power in 2013, to end the nation’s jihadist conflict that has been ongoing for many years.
Despite the presence of foreign troops, the insurgency in the small nation of about 20 million people, mostly poor, has since 2012 displaced hundreds of thousands of people who are now homeless.
President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou arrives in Bamako on July 23, 2020, where West African leaders will gather in a fresh push to end an escalating political crisis in the fragile state of Mali. (Photo by MICHELE CATTANI / AFP)
In a recent violence according to French officials, a French soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a suicide bomb attack in northern Mali.
But much of the current tension was sparked in April, when the constitutional court tossed out 31 results from the parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita’s party and sparking protests.
Tensions then ratcheted up into a crisis on July 10 when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement turned violent.
Three days of clashes between protesters and security forces left 11 dead and 158 injured in the worst political unrest Mali had seen in years.
Seeking a way out, ECOWAS mediators suggested forming a new unity government including opposition members and appointing new constitutional court judges who could potentially re-examine disputed election results.
A file photo of men of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).
A foreign national and a Nigerian have been abducted by suspected bandits between Yankila and Regina village in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger state.
The Police Commissioner in the state, Adamu Usman confirmed the abduction on Tuesday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Usman said on Aug. 17 at about 11.05 hours information was received that armed bandits attacked and kidnapped two staff of Transparent Construction company.
He said that the victims were on handling the rehabilitation of the bad portion of the federal road in the area.
A file photo of African Heads of State. Image: CGTN
With a provision of a $5 million institutional support grant by the African Development Bank Group, African Union Commission has launched the permanent secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to ensure the economic transformation of the continent.
AfCFTA permanent secretariat would be located in an ultra-modern office complex in the Central Business District of Ghanaian capital, Accra.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo hands over the AfCFTA permanent secretariat to African Union, Monday August 17, 2020. Image: CGTN
Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and Chairperson, AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, reaffirmed the importance of the body to the continent’s economic transformation agenda.
“The economic integration of Africa will lay strong foundations for an Africa beyond aid. Africa’s new sense of urgency and aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by today’s ceremony,” Akufo-Addo said.
Akufo-Addo appealed to member states that have not ratified to do so before the next AU summit in December in order “to pave the way for the smooth commencement of trading from 1 January, 2021.”
The global novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has heightened the importance of the success of AfCFTA, the Ghanaian president said.
“The destruction of global supply chains has reinforced the necessity for closer integration amongst us so that we can boost our mutual self-sufficiency, strengthen our economies and reduce our dependence on external sources,” he said.
Ghana was selected as the venue for the headquarters by African leaders during a Summit of AU Heads of states in Niamey in July last year, to launch the implementation phase of the agreement, which is expected to spur regional trade among member countries.
Currently, 54 states have signed on to AfCFTA, out of which 28 have ratified the agreement.
AfCFTA, the world’s largest free trade area, has the potential to transform the continent with its potential market of 1.2 billion people and combined GDP of around $3 trillion across the 54-member states of AU.
Mahamat said the opening of the secretariat marked a milestone in the vision of Africa’s founding founders for continental integration.
Also speaking, the first AfCFTA Secretary-General, Wamkele Mene, said the agreement offered an opportunity for Africa to confront the significant trade and economic development challenges: market fragmentation, small national economies, over-reliance on primary commodity exports, narrow export base, lack of export specialisation, under-developed regional value chains and high regulatory and tariff barriers to trade.
“We have to take action now. We have to take action to dismantle the colonial economic model that we inherited,” Mene reiterated.
The Vice President for the Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation of the African Development Bank, Solomon Quaynor, said the establishment of AfCFTA permanent secretariat is in keeping with the bank’s role of continental leadership in helping to build special-purpose vehicles that are critical to the successful implementation of crucial institutions to accelerate Africa’s economic development objectives.
“The African Development Bank congratulates the AU/AfCFTA on the investiture of the Secretariat hosted by Ghana on 17 August 2020.
“The bank is delighted to be associated with this groundbreaking, game-changing, transformational continental initiative in furtherance of the objective to create the Africa we want.
“Our support to AfCFTA is in keeping with the bank’s role of continental leadership in helping to build special-purpose vehicles that are critical to the successful implementation of crucial institutions to accelerate Africa’s economic development objectives,” Quaynor added.
The event also featured virtual goodwill remarks from AU Chairman, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou.
Malam Wada Maida, he was until his death, Chairman, Board of Directors, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
A former Chief Press Secretary to President Muhammadu Buhari in 1983, Malam Wada Maida, has died.
Echotitbits gathered that a family member confirmed to NAN that Malam Maida died in Abuja on Monday at the age of 70.
Maida, one of the pioneer editors of the agency, was until his death, chairman, Board of Directors of NAN, where he had previously served as Editor-in-Chief and later Managing Director, including other various roles as Regional Editor in Kaduna, Political Editor and London correspondent.
When President Buhari became Military Head of State in December 1983, Maida was appointed chief press secretary and later returned to NAN in 1985 as Editor-in-Chief for eight years.
A native of Katsina State, Maida rose to become Managing Director at NAN in 1994 and served in that capacity for nine years before he retired in 2003.
He was also a member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute and also a shareholder of Media Trust Limited until his demise.
Facebook Monday launched Avatars in Africa to give people new ways to express themselves online.
Avatars are digital personas that enable people to engage across Facebook and Messenger in a more personal and dynamic way.
Avatars include hundreds of global sticker packs and integrations with GIF providers and can also be shared across Facebook and Messenger by: setting as Profile Picture; sharing to News Feed; and using on Gaming Profile.
You can also use your personalised avatar to share a range of emotions and expressions via a digital persona that is unique to you.
There are many ways you can use your avatar including in comments, stories, messenger and soon, text posts with backgrounds too.
With so many emotions and expressions to choose from, avatars let you share your authentic reactions and feelings with family and friends across the app. You can customise your avatar with hairstyles, complexions, outfits, COVID-19 support stickers and more.
“To create your avatar, go to the Facebook or Messenger comment composer, click on the ‘smiley’ button, and then the sticker tab. Click ‘Create Your Avatar.’
“Facebook is home to some of your most personal content and we want to allow people to share and react to that content in the most personalised way possible.
“We’re excited to give people more options to convey their identity on Facebook, allowing them to share in a more personal, light-hearted way,” said Regional Director, Facebook Africa, Nunu Ntshingila.
Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on August 16, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Telephone calls began ringing Sunday between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, marking the first concrete step of a US-brokered diplomatic deal between the nations that required Israel to halt plans to annex land sought by the Palestinians, AP has reported.
Direct telephone calls have been blocked in the Emirates, a US-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, since its founding in 1971. That backed the standing position of Arab nations at the time, that Israel must first grant concessions to the Palestinians before being recognised — one of their few points of leverage.
Since Thursday’s announcements, Associated Press journalists have tried to make calls between the nations without success. But around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, AP journalists in Jerusalem and Dubai could call each other from both landline and cellular phones registered to Israel’s country code +972.
Over an hour later, Emirati officials acknowledged that Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had called his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi. The Israelis later acknowledged the call as well, saying the block had been lifted from the Emiratis’ side.
Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel issued a statement “congratulating the United Arab Emirates on removing the blocks.”
“Many economic opportunities will open now, and these trust-building steps are an important step toward advancing states’ interests,” Hendel said.
Also Sunday, Israeli news websites that had previously been blocked by UAE authorities, like the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post and YNet, could be accessed without using means to bypass internet filtering in the Emirates.
In the UAE, a recorded message in Arabic and English would typically play prior to Sunday, saying calls to +972 numbers could not be connected. The advent of internet calling allowed people to get around the ban, although these too were often interrupted.
Some in Israel used Palestinian mobile phone numbers with +970 numbers, which those in the UAE could call.
Anger over the deal however continued as well, with protesters in Pakistan criticising UAE and Iran making new threats about the accord, which would see the Emirates become only the third Arab nation to currently recognise Israel. The UAE responded by summoning Iran’s chargé d’affairs to criticise earlier comments by Iran’s president it described as threatening.
But for Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represented so much more than just the convenience of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.
“There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,” Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, told The Associated Press.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they were establishing full diplomatic relations in the US-brokered accord. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.
Palestinians maintain it puts a just resolution of the Middle East conflict even farther out of reach. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contended Sunday that the deal with UAE shows Israel doesn’t need to retreat from occupied land sought by the Palestinians in order to have diplomatic ties with Arab states.
Deals between Israel and the UAE are expected in the coming weeks in such areas as tourism, direct flights and embassies. Early Sunday, the Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency announced a UAE company had signed an agreement with an Israeli company for research and study of the coronavirus pandemic.
The move has sparked anger among some who see it as a betrayal of longstanding efforts to establish an independent state of Palestinians. In Pakistan, hundreds of Islamists rallied Sunday to denounce the Emirati-Israeli deal. The Jamaat-e-Islami party chanted slogans against the United States and burned effigies of Trump. They also set ablaze American and Israeli flags.
Those protests mirror others by Palestinians that have seen images of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan burnt, torn and trampled upon. That enraged some in the UAE, a nation of autocratic rulers where speech is strictly monitored. Emiratis online encouraged fellow citizens to report comments critical of the country to law enforcement.
The deal also has enraged Iran and Turkey, regional rivals to the UAE.
On Sunday, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces called the UAE’s decision a “disaster.” Mohammad Hossein Bagheri urged Abu Dhabi to “revise” its position or the Iranian military may take a different approach to the nation. He did not elaborate on what that approach would entail.
“If an incident happens in the Persian Gulf and violates the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, even a tiny bit, and we see it from the UAE, we will not tolerate it,” Bagheri said.
On Sunday, the WAM news agency also reported the Emirates summoned Iran’s top diplomat in the country to complain about speeches by officials in Tehran it said were “unacceptable and inflammatory and had serious implications for security and stability in the Gulf region.”
The UAE reminded Iran its duty to protect its embassy in Tehran, where protesters had gathered the day before. Diplomatic posts have been overrun in the past in Iran, including in the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
For Dubai’s small but growing Jewish expatriate population, the UAE’s move toward diplomatic ties represents a new achievement. Alex Peterfreund, a cantor for the community, read a passage of the Torah for visiting AP journalists.
“To start from scratch is quite exciting, to know that you start a community where there was actually almost no Jews in all those centuries, it’s motivating you also,” Peterfreund said. ”We feel (like) pioneers.”
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, Monday met with President Muhammadu Buhari in State House, Abuja.
Speaking with journalists after his meeting with the President, Oshiomhole debunked allegations recently made by the Director-General of the Progressives Congress Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman, accusing him of scheming to return as APC national chairman.
Oshiomhole, who ia also a former Edo State Governor, described Lukman as a tool allegedly foisted on PGF as director-general by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi.
According to him, “You want me to engage in a fight with a pig? If you engage in a fight with a pig, the pig already is stained by its nature and you will wear your white garment, and in my own case, khaki to go and wrestle with a pig? I will not.
“You see, what I want the media to interrogate, how does winning Edo State governorship election translates to returning as the APC national chairman. When I was removed as national chairman, Edo State was APC. So, do I have to win Edo State to become the national chairman? Do I look so unemployed? I’m 68.
“What they don’t understand is that it is not the office of chairman that made me who I am.
“So, it takes an empty brain to suggest that Oshiomhole wants to stage a comeback to become the national chairman. For what? To go and do a resit?
“So, my attitude is not to reply the noise, which is coming from somebody who says he is an employee and appointee of Progressives Governors Forum.
“He is just like the cowards that are using him that are not able to come out. Otherwise, you should ask this guy, who is now an election expert.
“He contested for Senate against Makarfi, he lost. He even contested against Governor Nasir el-Rufai during the primaries and he lost before Fayemi unilaterally appointed him the DG.
“So, if he is now the spokesman abusing me and all of that, you want to drag me to his level? No!
“A gentleman does not wrestle with a pig, if you do you will always be stained”, the self styled Oshiomhole said.
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