Court dismisses case against TotalEnergies’ E. Africa projects

By Sylvie Corbet, PARIS France

A French court on Tuesday dismissed a case brought against TotalEnergies by activists contending that the energy company’s major oil projects in east Africa violated the human rights of the region’s inhabitants and posed environmental risks.

The court said the groups deviated from proceedings by presenting claims during a December court hearing that were “substantially different” those made in 2019 when they initially filed their lawsuit.

The six Ugandan and French groups said the company’s oil extraction and pipeline projects completely or partially adversely impacted the lands of approximately 118,000 people in Uganda and Tanzania and that tens of thousands are still awaiting compensation.

TotalEnergies has argued that its planning “has been implemented effectively” and that its Ugandan and Tanzanian affiliates “have applied the appropriate action plans to respect the rights of local communities and ensure respect for biodiversity.”

The company said about 8,500 households are affected in Uganda, most of which have received compensation. It added that most of about 9,500 households have signed a compensation deal in Tanzania, where the project is less advanced.

In a joint statement, the activist groups said they “strongly deplored” the ruling.

“It’s a very unfortunate decision,” Dickens Kamugisha, head of one of the groups, the Uganda-based African Institute for Energy Governance, told the Associated Press. He regretted the court’s ruling was based on procedural grounds and not on the merits of the case.

Juliette Renaud, from the Friends of the Earth France association, said the ruling is yet another opportunity missed by French justice “to put and end to multiple ongoing violations in Uganda and Tanzania.”

Pauline Tétillon, co-president of the French-based Survie group, said the ruling sidesteps the substance of the case which is the projects’ consequences on people, the environment and the climate.

Tuesday’s ruling was the first based on 2017 “duty of vigilance” legislation that makes big companies liable for risks to human rights and the environment — even if any infractions are committed by foreign affiliates and subcontractors.

Oil drilling has recently begun in Uganda in a field operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC, as part of the joint deal with TotalEnergies. Production is expected to start by 2025. Both groups said last year that the total investment would be more than $10 billion.

Construction is to start this year on the 897-mile (1,443-kilometer) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, planned by TotalEnergies and CNOOC, between Uganda and the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania. Authorities have described it as the world’s longest heated oil pipeline.

Uganda is estimated to have recoverable oil reserves of at least 1.4 billion barrels.

Some oil wells are to be drilled within western Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, where the Nile plummets 130 feet (40 meters) through a gap just 20 feet (6 meters) wide and the surrounding wilderness is home to hippos, egrets, giraffes and antelopes. The pipeline would then pass through seven forest reserves and two game parks, running alongside Lake Victoria, a source of fresh water for 40 million people.

That ecological fragility is one reason why some activists oppose the project despite assurances from TotalEnergies that the pipeline’s state-of-the-art-design will ensure safety for decades.

Ugandan authorities see the oil drilling project and the pipeline as key to economic development, saying oil wealth could help lift millions out of poverty. Some see condemnation of the pipeline as an assault on the country’s sovereignty.

President Yoweri Museveni vowed in September that the project would proceed, with or without TotalEnergies. Uganda would “find someone else to work with” if necessary, he said.

At the time, European Union lawmakers had passed a non-binding resolution urging the international community “to exert maximum pressure on Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, as well as the project promoters and stakeholders” to stop oil activities in the region.

Bola Tinubu declared winner of Nigeria presidential election

By Chinedu Asadu, ABUJA Nigeria

Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared winner of Nigeria’s presidential election early Wednesday and soon after thanked his supporters and appealed to his rivals who are already demanding a revote in Africa’s most populous nation.

Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, center, celebrates with supporters at the party's campaign headquarters after winning the presidential elections in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Election officials declared ruling party candidate Tinubu the winner of Nigeria's presidential election with the two leading opposition candidates already demanding a re-vote in Africa's most populous nation.

The announcement by election officials overnight was likely to lead to a court challenge by the second- and third-highest finishers in the weekend vote, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Abubakar also finished second in the last vote in 2019, then appealed those results before his lawsuit ultimately was dismissed.

Tinubu’s ruling All Progressives Congress party urged the opposition to accept defeat Tuesday and not cause trouble after they had demanded a revote saying that delays in uploading election results had made room for irregularities.

Tinubu received 37% of the vote, or nearly 8.8 million, while main opposition candidate Abubakar won 29% with almost 7 million. Third-place finisher Obi took 25% with about 6.1 million, according to the results announced on live television by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The president-elect thanked his supporters in the capital, Abuja, after his victory was announced and struck a reconciliatory tone in a message directed at his political adversaries.

“I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together,” Tinubu said. “It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together.”

The announcement of his victory came after 4 a.m., but celebrations already had started late Tuesday at the ruling party’s national secretariat where Tinubu’s supporters had gathered in anticipation of his victory.

Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), receives a document as results for individual states are read out at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

“None of the others matches his record!” said Babafemi Akin as he chatted excitedly about the prospects of a Tinubu administration. “I am sure he will do well.”

Tinubu, 70, is the former governor of Lagos state, home to Nigeria’s megacity of the same name. However, he lost the state in Saturday’s election to Obi, who drew a strong following among younger voters eager for change.

The parties now have three weeks to appeal results, but an election can be invalidated only if it’s proven the national electoral body largely didn’t follow the law and acted in ways that could have changed the result.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election, though court challenges are common, including by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who doggedly fought his past election losses for months in vain.

Nigeria’s presidential election has been closely watched as the country is not only the continent’s largest economy but it is also one of the continent’s top oil producers.

Observers have said Saturday’s election was mostly peaceful, though delays caused some voters to wait until the following day to cast their ballots. Many Nigerians had difficulties getting to their polling stations because of a currency redesign that resulted in a shortage of bank notes.

Kenyan traders protest against Chinese competitors

NAIROBI, Kenya

Over a thousand Kenyan traders protested in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday against Chinese traders.

The demo comes in the wake of controversy elicited by the coming of China Square retail outlet of general merchandise whose prices are on average 45 percent lower than those prevailing in locally owned enterprises, local media reports.

China is Africa's top trading partner and more than 1 million Chinese are estimated to reside on the continent.

Kenya's relationship with China was in focus during last year's presidential election, won by William Ruto. Ruto promised to publish government contracts with China agreed upon under his predecessor and to deport Chinese nationals working illegally.

Dressed in dust coats used in their retail outlets, the traders marched to the office of the deputy president and to parliament to submit a petition against the Chinese retailers.

"The Chinese cannot be importers, retailers, wholesalers, and hawkers," read one placard held aloft during the protest. Some chanted "Chinese must go!"rade Minister Moses Kuria has offered to take over China Square's lease from its Chinese owner and hand it to local traders, but Korir Sing'oei, the principal secretary at Kenya's ministry of foreign affairs, stressed on Twitter that all investors are welcome, irrespective of their nationality.

Wu Peng, the top African official at China's ministry of foreign affairs welcomed Sing'oei's assurance on Twitter.

China Square's owner Lei Cheng has reportedly told a local newspaper that he was inspired to open the shop after finding the prices at a Nairobi supermarket to be exorbitant, Reuters reported.

Ruto followed through in November on his campaign promise to publish documents related to $3 billion in loans for a controversial Chinese railway built under his predecessor.

Opposition parties demand fresh elections in Nigerian amid allegations of irregularities

ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigeria's two main opposition parties have called for the annulment of what they have described as a “sham” election, denouncing the "massive manipulation" of the results.

A partial count has given a slight lead to ruling party candidate and former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.

Saturday’s vote was generally peaceful, although there were some security incidents and logistical hitches.

But following delays in the count, and major failures in the electronic transfer of results, the opposition accused the ruling All Progressives Congress party of fraud.

Several observers have also expressed concerns about the transparency of the vote and the operational failures.

After a pause, the Electoral Commission (Inec) was due to resume announcing the results on Tuesday afternoon.

But the People's Democratic Party and the Labour Party say they have lost confidence in the process and have called for a new election to be held.

The vote was always expected to be Nigeria’s closest presidential poll in the country’s history.

UN suspends flights in east Congo after helicopter fired

By Justin Kabumba, GOMA DR Congo

A United Nations helicopter came under heavy fire in eastern Congo, bringing the organization to suspend flights in the conflict-riddled region, the U.N. said Monday.

A helicopter returning from Walikale to the regional capital, Goma in North Kivu province, came under attack for 10 minutes last week but was able to land safely in Goma with all three crew and 10 passengers unharmed, said a statement by the U.N.’s World Food Program.

Flights have been suspended on specific routes in the region until the security situation can be reassessed, said the U.N. The helicopter delivers assistance to some of Congo’s most remote areas which would otherwise be inaccessible because of poor roads or insecurity.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but this is the second time this month that a U.N. helicopter came under fire in North Kivu province. The previous incident was a helicopter with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and killed a South African peacekeeper and injured another. The United Nations Security Council said the deliberate targeting of peacekeepers could constitute war crimes.

Fighting in eastern Congo has been simmering for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources — while others try to defend their communities. The violence spiked in late 2021 when M23 rebels, which had been largely dormant for nearly a decade, resurfaced and started capturing territory.

The fighting has internally displaced more than 5 million people, threatening many civilians with starvation, according to several aid groups.

“For armed groups seeking to force civilians under their control, firing at aircraft may prove an easy way to suspend aid deliveries and influence food supplies into an area,” said Benjamin Hunter, Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk intelligence firm. - AP

Macron to reduce French troops in Africa

PARIS, France

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to reduce the number of French troops in Africa under a “new security partnership” with the concerned nations and to roll out more ambitious economic policies, in a bid to boost France’s waning influence in the continent.

Macron called for opening a “new era” in a speech at the Elysee presidential palace, ahead of an ambitious trip on Wednesday to Gabon, Angola, the Republic of Congo and Congo.

He said France must move away from interfering in parts of Africa that it once ruled as a colonial power, saying the continent is no longer its “back yard.”

“There’s another path,” he said: “Addressing African countries as partners with whom we share interests and balanced, reciprocal, accountable responsibilities.”

He promised a “new security partnership” with reduced numbers of French troops on the continent.

Macron said French military bases won’t be closed, but will be transformed based on needs expressed by African partners.

“Our model must not be anymore military bases like those we have now,” he said. “Tomorrow, our (military) presence will go through bases, schools, academies, which will be jointly managed” by French and African staff.

“And I say it very clearly: France’s role is not to fix all problems in Africa,” he added.

Monday’s speech came at a time when France’s influence on the continent is facing its biggest challenges in decades. Growing anti-French sentiment has led to street protests in several West and North African countries.

In addition, historical economic ties that France had with the region are under pressure from the growing commercial presence of Russia, China and Turkey.

Macron acknowledged that Africa now is a “field of competition” and urged French businesses to “wake up” and get involved in the fight.

In the past year, French troops had to withdraw from Mali, which turned instead to private Russian military contractors of the Wagner group, and most recently from Burkina Faso, which also appears to increasingly look towards Moscow.

Macron denounced Wagner as “criminal mercenaries” whose role is to “protect faltering and putschist regimes.” He accused them of “predating” on natural resources and “committing violence against (local) populations” including rapes.

Last year, Macron announced the formal end of the so-called Barkhane military force after France withdrew its troops from Mali. French operations to help fight Islamic extremists in the Sahel region are now focusing mostly on Niger and Chad, where the country still has about 3,000 troops.

In Burkina Faso, Boubacari Dicko, the emir — or traditional chief — of the northern city of Djibo near the Malian border, said a renewed relationship between France and African countries could be based on a win-win partnership.

“Change is good” and “necessary” because French policies in recent years have been criticized for failing to restore security in the region, he said, adding: “The French army was here, but that didn’t prevent the jihadists from entering the country and expanding in the country every day.”

Macron, 45, is the first French president born after the end of colonial era. He has previously sought to extend France’s cooperation with English-speaking countries, such as Ghana and Kenya, and increase French investments in Africa’s private sector.

During this week’s tour, he will also visit Portuguese-speaking Angola, with an aim to develop links especially in agriculture and food industry, and energy, including oil and gas.

Yet Macron’s trip to central Africa already faces questions.

Some opposition activists in Gabon have denounced his visit, which they perceive as offering support to President Ali Bongo Ondimba — whose family has ruled since the 1960s — ahead of a presidential election later this year.

Similar questions have been raised in Congo, which faces a December presidential election.

Macron’s office said all French officials will remain neutral regarding these elections.

The Elysee stressed that Macron is traveling to Gabon mainly to attend a major climate-related summit on the preservation of forests.

He will also seek to show France’s commitment to improving economic and cultural relations with two French-speaking countries — neighbors Republic of Congo and Congo — through talks with authorities as well as with ordinary citizens, entrepreneurs, artists and activists, according to the Elysee.

Macron denounced Monday the offensive in east Congo by the M23 rebel group linked with neighboring Rwanda as an “unacceptable regression.” Fighting intensified in recent days, with “terrible consequences” for the population, Macron said. “The unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Congo cannot be called into question,” he said.

US donates Ksh16 billion to Kenya after First Lady Jill Biden's visit

By Teddy Otieno, NAIROBI Kenya

The United States government has donated at least Ksh.16 billion ($125.6) in support of Kenya's drought relief efforts.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the funds will help meet the urgent needs for approximately 1.3 million people across Kenya.

The additional food assistance to Kenya comes amid an ongoing drought that has left more than four million people in the grips of a dire hunger crisis, with the number expected to rise to over five million by June this year.

After a fifth failed rainy season in the Horn of Africa, cumulative rainfall in Kenya is now less than 70 percent of the 30-year average across most of the country – exacerbating humanitarian needs.

USAID will provide emergency food items such as sorghum, maize, yellow split peas, and vegetable oil for families living in areas where local markets are not functioning. 

Additionally, in areas where markets are functioning, partners will provide cash-based assistance for families. The agency will also support programs to prevent and treat child malnutrition, as more than 970,000 children ages five and younger are acutely malnourished across the country.

"Given the magnitude of the current crisis, however, more funding will be required to meet expected humanitarian needs through 2023," USAID added.

President William Ruto has welcomed the announcement which comes following a visit to the country by US First Lady Jill Biden.

Taking to Twitter, the president expressed his gratitude for the support as the country experiences the worst drought due to 4 years of failed rains.  

"On behalf of the people of Kenya, my profound gratitude to the US government for this generous support to very deserving people suffering the worst drought due to 4 years consecutive failed rains. Water harvesting to enhance food/livestock production & manage climate change effects," Ruto said.

Tanzania seeking another IMF loan amounting to $151m

By Vincent Owino, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

Tanzanian authorities have reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the disbursement of a $151 million loan to help boost its recovery amidst headwinds from global shocks that have slowed growth.

Charalambos Tsangarides (3rd left) in discussion with Tanzania’s Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba (R)

The amount is subject to approval by the lender’s executive board and will bring IMF’s total financial support to Tanzania under the $1.04 billion 40-month extended credit facility (ECF) agreed on last year July to $302 billion.

IMF said that although the Tanzanian economy is showing signs of steady recovery – with its GDP growing at 4.7 percent last year – global economic conditions continue to weigh down fiscal performance and inflation will likely surpass the Bank of Tanzania’s 5 percent threshold within the year.

“The economy is benefitting from improvements in the business environment, but is also expected to continue facing spill overs of the war in Ukraine in the near term,” said IMF’s Tanzania mission chief Charalambos Tsangarides.

The rainfall shortage in the region has also slowed down electricity production and agricultural activity in the country, resulting in a continued rise in inflation rates – currently at 4.9 percent, the lender said.

At the same time, despite a relatively stable currency, Tanzania’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.2 billion to $5.2 billion (4.3 months of imports) in 2022, which could mean a growing current account deficit.

IMF has recommended “temporary” fiscal and monetary policy measures to help “safeguard the economy from the spill overs of the war in Ukraine”.

“Monetary policy will continue to be tuned to developments in actual and expected inflation, while allowing exchange rate flexibility to cushion the economy against external shocks,” Mr Tsangarides said.

IMF lauded the implementation of the reforms it had recommended when it first disbursed $151 million under the ECF to Tanzania in November last year, including replacing subsidies with targeted social spending to cushion those adversely affected by economic shocks.

However, the multilateral lender wants Dar to continue implementing other reforms, which it says will see the country’s GDP growth rate rebound to at least 7 percent in the near term, contain inflation within BoT’s target and moderate current account deficit.

The recommended changes include structural reforms in the business environment and governance, improved revenue mobilisation efforts, and “modernising the monetary policy framework through the transition to an interest-rate based monetary policy,” which, the lender says, will improve its effectiveness.

“Advancing structural reforms will create enabling environment for sustainable and inclusive private sector-led growth,” Tsangarides said after a series of consultative meetings with Tanzania’s Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba and BoT Governor Emmanuel Tutuba. – The EastAfrican

Nigeria’s ruling party candidate takes election lead

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria's ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu took an early lead in the race for the presidency, according to initial tallies on Monday, after a tight election marked by long delays and an opposition walkout over fraud accusations.

The Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission Yakubu Mahmood displays a results sheet on February 27, 2023. Nigeria's ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu took an early lead in the race for the presidency. 

Former Lagos governor Tinubu faced main opposition party PDP's Atiku Abubakar in Saturday's vote, but Labour Party's Peter Obi tested the two others as a third contender for the first time in Nigeria's modern democracy.

Highlighting his challenge to APC and PDP dominance, Obi won the key state of Lagos, a bastion of Tinubu's support which also has the largest number of registered voters.

With President Muhammadu Buhari stepping down, many Nigerians voted with the hope that a new leader will do a better job tackling insecurity, economic malaise and widening poverty in Africa's most populous country.

Voting on Saturday was mostly peaceful, but thugs ransacked some polling stations, many others opened very late, and delays slowed the uploading of results to an official website meant to promote transparency.

Bola Tinubu

Counting was still ongoing late Monday, with 14 out of 36 states tallied, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said Tinubu had won six states, Abubakar five states and Obi three states.

Tinubu, of the APC party, was ahead with more than 3.8 million votes, while Abubakar had 3 million and Obi 1.6 million, according to INEC figures.

INEC is expected to resume announcing results on Tuesday at 1000 GMT.

Candidates must win the most votes along with 25 percent of ballots in two-thirds of Nigeria's states — a measure reflecting a country split between a mostly Muslim north and widely Christian south, and with three main ethnic groups.

Votes for the presidency were tallied by hand at local polling stations, with results uploaded online to INEC's central database IReV.

But long delays in voting getting underway and the slow pace of uploading state-by-state counting fuelled accusations of manipulation. 

PDP and other party agents on Monday walked out of a counting centre in Abuja. 

"We are not here to rubber stamp the electoral fraud that has been prepared by INEC and APC," PDP official Dino Melaye said. "We are saying that INEC is compromised."

Nigeria has a long history of vote rigging and ballot buying, though INEC said new technology would help curtail electoral malpractice.

Labour campaign director Akin Osuntokun called for INEC to suspend announcing the results because of the manipulation of tallies.

An EU observer mission said INEC "lacked efficient planning and transparency during critical stages" and reduced public trust with delays in voting and results.

Still, the Lagos win by Obi underscored his surprise challenge to APC and PDP, which have governed Nigeria between them since the end of military rule in 1999.

Key state

With more than seven million registered voters, Lagos is a key state. It is also the political home of APC's Tinubu, who governed Lagos from 1999 to 2007.

INEC said Obi won more than 582,000 votes in Lagos against around 572,000 for Tinubu.

Obi, 61, a former Anambra State governor, attracted younger voters with a campaign message of change from his two septuagenarian rivals.

Tinubu, known as the "Godfather of Lagos" for his influence, accepted defeat and urged his supporters to remain calm.

"You win some, you lose some," he said.

In 2019, INEC was forced to delay the election by a week just hours before voting started. PDP's Abubakar claimed fraud when Buhari beat him, but the supreme court later tossed out his claim.

Biometric voter identification

The introduction of biometric voter identification technology and the IReV central database for results aimed to counter fraud and make the 2023 vote more transparent.

INEC said Sunday that problems with uploading results were due to "technical hitches" and there was no risk of tampering.

Tinubu, a southern Yoruba Muslim, and Abubakar, a Muslim from the northeast, are long-time political fixtures who have fought off past corruption accusations. But the emergence of Obi — a Christian ethnic Igbo from the southeast — threw the race open.

Buhari, a former army general first elected in 2015, will step down after two terms in office. His critics say he failed in his key promises to make Nigeria safer.

Whoever replaces him must quickly get to grips with Africa's largest economy and top oil producer, which is beset by problems including a grinding jihadist war in the northeast and double-digit inflation. - AFP

FC Sion owner fires coach and take over after huge defeat

Christian Constantin, President and Chairman of FC Sion

By Emillia Hawkins, SION Switzerland

The owner of a Swiss Super League club has sensationally suspended his first team manager and announced that he will take over as interim boss.

Christian Constantin, President and Chairman of FC Sion, temporarily dismissed Fabio Celestini following the club's 4-0 league defeat to St. Gallen on Saturday.

And it has since been revealed that the 66-year-old will take his spot on the sidelines for both upcoming matches against Lugano.

An official club statement read: "FC Sion confirms the sidelining of Fabio Celestini for a period of one week.

Fabio Celestini

"In the meantime, Christian Constantin is taking over the team and will be on the FC Sion bench for the two upcoming matches against FC Lugano."

Celestini was appointed as Sion manager in November following the departure of Paolo Tramezzani.

But he has so far won just one of his eight games in charge.

The former Switzerland international took charge of his first game in January, shortly after all players returned from the World Cup break.

His first loss came in a friendly against VfB Stuttgart.

Sion suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Bundesliga side.

Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon.

They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and the Swiss Cup in 13 of their 14 appearances in the final, the most recent being in 2015.

The first team of the club was also known as their incorporated name Olympique des Alpes SA.

"Government not obligated to provide S. Africa with power" - President Ramaphosa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has released an opposing affidavit in the case being brought by the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and 18 others, clarifying government's position on the provision of electricity under the Constitution.

The group wants the high court to declare the African National Congress (ANC)-led government's response to load shedding as unconstitutional and breaching a number of fundamental human rights.

The case is set to be heard on 20 March in the high court.

The president said in the affidavit that the three spheres of government were not required by the Constitution to perform powers that were not vested in them.

It said none of the government responders had the responsibility to supply electricity to the people of South Africa, and they were therefore not in conflict with the Constitution.

Meanwhile, business also weighed in on the latest developments.

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said there were many important questions after former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter's eNCA interview.

In the interview, De Ruyter implied that a cabinet minister was aware of corrupt activities at Eskom at a very high level. BLSA said that more details were needed.

Rescuers find 60th body off Italy after migrant shipwreck

STECCATO DI CUTRO, Italy

Rescue crews searched by sea and air Monday for the dozens of people believed still missing from a shipwreck off Italy’s southern coast that drove home once again the desperate and dangerous crossings of migrants seeking to reach Europe.

Rescuers recover a body at a beach near Cutro, southern Italy, after a migrant boat broke apart in rough seas on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. Rescue officials say an undetermined number of migrants have died and dozens have been rescued after their boat broke apart off southern Italy. (AP Photo)

At least 80 people survived Sunday’s shipwreck off the Calabrian coast, but rescue crews recovered 60 bodies, including those of several children and the corpse of a young man Monday morning. Dozens more were feared dead given survivor reports that the ship, which set off from Turkey last week, had carried about 170 people.

The beach at Steccato di Cutro, on Calabria’s Ionian coast, was littered with the splintered remains of the ship that broke up in stormy seas on the reefs offshore, as well as the belongings the migrants had brought with them, including a toddler’s tiny pink sneaker and a yellow plastic pencil case decorated with pandas.

There were only a few life jackets scattered amid the debris.

On Monday, two coast guard vessels searched the seas north to south off Steccato di Cutro while a helicopter flew overhead and a four-wheel vehicle patrolled the beach. A strong wind whipped the seas that still churned up splinters of the ship, gas tanks, food containers and shoes. A pickup truck came to take away the body of the latest victim.

Firefighter Inspector Giuseppe Larosa said what gutted the first rescue crews who arrived on the scene was how many children were killed, and that the bodies of the dead had scratches all over them, as if they had tried to hang onto the ship to save themselves.

“It was a chilling scene. Bodies spread out on the beach, so many bodies, so many children,” he said on the beach Monday morning. He said he had focused on the recovery efforts, but he was struck by what he found in the survivors.

“What struck me was their silence,” he said. “Terror in their eyes, but mute. Silent.”

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who has spearheaded Italy’s crackdown on migration, visited the scene Sunday and met with local officials in Crotone. At a news conference, he insisted the solution was to put an end to migrant crossings at their origin.

“I ask myself how it’s possible that these crossings are organized, pushing women and children to make the trips that end up tragically dangerous,” he said.

Italy’s government under Premier Giorgia Meloni has focused on trying to block migrant ships from departing, while discouraging humanitarian rescue teams from operating in the Mediterranean. Meloni said Sunday that the government was committed to that policy “above all by insisting on the maximum collaboration with the countries of origin and departure.”

Italy has complained bitterly for years that fellow European Union countries have balked at taking in migrants, many of whom are aiming to find family or work in northern Europe. Italy is a prime destination, especially for smuggling operations launching boats from Libyan shores.

But Italy is also a destination for smugglers leaving from Turkey. According to U.N. figures, arrivals from the Turkish route accounted for 15% of the 105,000 migrants who arrived on Italian shores last year, with nearly half of those fleeing from Afghanistan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a redoubling of efforts to deal with the problem.

“The resulting loss of life of innocent migrants is a tragedy,” she said.

Meloni’s government has concentrated on complicating efforts by humanitarian boats to make multiple rescues in the central Mediterranean by assigning them ports of disembarkation along Italy’s northern coasts. That means the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing migrants aboard and taking them safely to shore.

Humanitarian organizations have lamented that the crackdown also includes an order to the charity boats not to remain at sea after the first rescue operation in hopes of performing other rescues, but to head immediately to their assigned port. Violators face stiff fines and confiscation of rescue vessels.

"DR Congo war will not be fought on Rwanda soil" - President Kagame

KIGALI, Rwanda

Rwanda President, Paul Kagame, has said that a “red line was crossed” in the Congo crisis, when Kinshasa enabled anti-Rwanda forces based in the Democratic Republic of Congo to shell the country and kill innocent citizens.

In an interview with The EastAfrican in the Rwanda capital Kigali on Wednesday, President Kagame said the DRC government has armed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel group active in the eastern DRC, with modern weapons.

FDLR evolved directly from the militias that killed nearly one million people in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

“The FDLR shelled Rwandan territory with BM-21s (self-propelled multiple rocket launchers), which they could only get from the (DRC) government,” Kagame said.

He noted though the “red line” has been crossed, Rwanda has so far acted with restraint.

“We respect DRC’s territorial integrity, but we have our territorial integrity too to protect. We need no invitation to do that,” he said, suggesting further such attacks could bring a direct military response from Kigali.

In the turbulent eastern Congo crisis, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, like a panel of UN experts, the US, and the EU, accuses Rwanda of supporting the March 23 (M23) rebels who are fighting Kinshasa.

The M23, a largely Tutsi-led group ended nine years of inactivity in November 2021 and returned to war, accusing the DRC of ignoring a promise to integrate its fighters into the army and ethnic-cleansing their supporters and related groups in the Kivu.

Since then, it has scored a series of victories over Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the state army, capturing swathes of territory in North Kivu Province and nearing the city of Goma.

Both Rwanda and M23 say FARDC relies on the more battle-hardened FDLR rebels, who function as a shadow government force. Though Kinshasa denies giving succour to FDLR, on February 14, 2023, while again blaming Rwanda for supporting M23, in a notable shift, urged the Congolese army to stop collaborating with armed groups, including the FDLR.

President Kagame sees FDLR and FARDC as one army in all but name.

“The Congo government not only arms the FDLR, they work closely together, although sometimes FDLR operates independently”, he said.

Maintaining that Rwanda does not supply M23 with weapons, Kagame said the rebels don’t need Kigali for that, because they have seized more than enough from what he portrays as an incompetent FARDC.

“M23 have collected a lot of arms from the government forces. They have lost more weapons to M23 than anyone can possibly give [M23],” the Rwandan leader said.

He denied that he was playing a high-stakes political game, when he said Rwanda would no longer shoulder the burden of refugees fleeing the conflict in DRC.

Speaking to the Rwanda Senate in early January, Kagame said: “We have had refugees here for over 20 years, from DRC. I am refusing that Rwanda should carry this burden and be insulted and abused every day about it”.

Critics and refugees expressed concern that the Congolese would be locked out of the country’s relatively progressive refugee policy.

However, demonstrating the complexity of the Congo crisis, some Congolese refugees in Rwanda and Burundi lauded Kagame’s statement, reading it as a double-edged weapon: seeing the Rwandan leader as saying he would back the refugees to return and settle in the areas captured by M23 and replaying a situation akin to October 1990, when the Rwanda Patriotic Front/Army defected en masse from Uganda, to begin the fight to return home.

Regional analysts argue that if that were to happen, the situation in Kivu would harden, and balkanisation could possibly enter an irreversible split. Because of that, they reason, Kigali’s leverage in the Congo question has increased, and Kagame can use it as a bargaining chip.

But President Kagame flatly dismisses the view.

“Of course, we will not chase the Congolese refugees who are here. My point is that for those who think Rwanda is the problem, take the refugees back to Congo. They will be persecuted. They will have to protect them, or let them be killed. So, they need to look at the other problems, including hate speech (in DRC) that is creating refugees.

In the past 20 years, Western countries have resettled about 9,000 refugees who were in Rwanda. But those 9,000 refugees have been replaced by new ones. If they recognise the danger these refugees are in, doesn’t M23 have legitimate cause to protect them?”

Taking a tough line, he said: “Against this background, the effect of what FDLR is doing is to follow refugees to Rwanda and kill them and Rwandans – and they expect Rwanda to do nothing? It won’t happen!”

What’s striking today in Kigali is that the split over M23 is not too far below the surface. While some celebrate a hard-line, many pragmatic and pro-business voices don’t think it is a serious enough organisation, and Rwanda stands to benefit more from a peaceful, friendly DRC, where cross-border trade flourishes, as opposed to supporting a rebel group that gets in the way of making money.

French President to tour four central Africa nations

PARIS, France

French President Emmanuel Macron will next week undertake a four-nation tour of central African countries, as Paris seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Macron is to visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, then the Republic of Congo, and finally the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His visits come as alarm grows in Paris over the growing role of Russia in French-speaking African countries, alongside a Chinese push for influence that has been apparent for some years.

France and its Western allies accuse the Russian Wagner mercenary group of being active in Mali, forcing France to pull out troops on anti-jihadist missions, and the Central African Republic.

Paris has also accused Russia of spreading disinformation to undermine French interests in its former colonies.

Macron will arrive in Gabon on March 1 to attend the One Forest Summit seeking to preserve forests along the vast Congo river basin, according to a French presidential official, asking not to be named.

He will then head to Angola as part of a drive to enhance French ties with lusophone parts of Africa.

After the Republic of Congo, he will wind up his trip in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo on March 3-4. 

Macron has insisted Africa is a priority of his second mandate at the helm of France and in July last year undertook a trip to Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.

To the frustration of the West, a number of powers in Africa, seeking to keep a neutral stance and preserve their interests, refused to take a position on the Russian offensive like other nations including India and China.