Welcome to Foreign PolicyOverview of Africa.
Highlights this week: Somalia’s political deadlock worse situation after the fighting broke out last week, US policies prevent Africans from entering the country as Africans World Cup continues, and President of South Africa he is walking a tightrope on immigration due to negative protests.
Clashes between Somali federal troops and allied opposition militias arose in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on June 3, as the country’s political crisis escalates, threatening the future of its electoral system.
Tensions have flared up in recent months due to the delay in Somalia’s elections, scheduled to be held at the beginning of this year, and a one-year extension to the term of president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which was expected to end on May 15, this year.
Last week’s fighting, which left one person dead and injured 55 othersit happened ahead of a planned June 4 protest against the extension. The demonstration did not end up taking place.
Government of Somalia he said restored order through mediation involving clan elders. (Somalia society is widely divided five patrilineal clan, where elders play a role in conflict resolution and governance.)
However, official negotiations between the government and the opposition, guided and the United States and the United Kingdom, have not resumed since they collapsed on May 15. On Sunday, former President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, popularly known as Farmaajo, he said he would lead the conversation to try to resolve political deadlock.
The disagreement centered on Mohamud’s goal of to move country with the electoral system of one person, one vote. Somalia has not held direct national elections since the 1969 coup of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which was followed by decades of military rule and civil war. After the fall of Barre’s military government in 1991, the country had no effective central government. Since the re-establishment of the central state in 2012, leaders have been elected through indirect clan power-sharing.
In March, the Somali parliament to pass constitutional amendment to replace the old system–in which clan elders elect the parliament, which elects the president–with direct voting. These also extended the term of office of the president and parliament from four to five years, and pushed back elections by one year.
Critics of the clan-based system, including Mohamud, argue that it is corrupt and undemocratic. “This system is very dirty and keeps people out,” one member of parliament, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, he told it Al Jazeera last week. “It needs to be changed.” Moalimuu added that parliamentary seats can be bought anywhere from 100,000 dollars to 1.3 million dollars.
Opposition leaders, however, reject the move as illegal and want a return to the old system. Mohamud’s critics, who have formed a coalition called the Somali Future Council, argue that direct voting is a pretext to strengthen the president’s power. They also say that it cannot be implemented due to the al-Shabab militia group controlling parts of the country, although directly. municipality elections have already been held in Mogadishu and South West Province.
Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, both staunch critics of the constitutional changes, said government forces targeted their homes during the fighting.
“Mohamud has ordered sustained and indiscriminate military attacks with the aim of killing me, former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, dozens of respected traditional elders, and other political leaders in Mogadishu,” Khaire said. he demanded on X last week.
“This attack is part of the actions of … Mohamud who wants to shed more blood without having an official term of office, and his term is over,” he wrote Ahmed, who? later accused The government cut off electricity and water following the fighting.
Although the Somali government has not directly addressed the allegations, it did to be blamed violence against “militants of the opposition group.” It also accused Khaire and Ahmed of leading a attempted revolutionwithout testifying.
All right violence ensued when Farmajo extended his term for more than one year in 2021. Like Mohamud, Farmaajo said that it was important to change the electoral system of Somalia, which he ultimately failed to do.
“At the heart of the disagreement is the conflict between my government’s goal of universal suffrage through direct elections and those who insist on an indirect election model that empowers the elite and deprives ordinary citizens of voting,” he said. he wrote in Foreign Policy in 2021.
Apart from recent internal fighting, Somalia has long shown signs of a fractured state. The breakaway region of Somaliland declared its independence in 1991 and since then has held separate elections and issued its own passports. In recent years, two states –Puntland and Jubaland– have begun to operate independently from Mogadishu, after declaring that they no longer recognize the federal government.
Political conflicts also hamper efforts to counter the insurgency against al-Shabab, security experts said warn. And it draws attention—and resources—away from a the coming faminemore than 6 million Somalis are facing levels of hunger amid severe drought and cuts in foreign aid.
Thursday, June 11: South Africa play Mexico in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup.
Thursday, June 11, through Friday, June 12: The Annual Conference on Peace and Security of Africa is being held in Rabat, Morocco.
The African Development Impact Forum is being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Monday, June 15: Egypt vs. Belgium and Cape Verde vs. Spain in the World Cup.
Tuesday, June 16: Senegal vs. France at the World Cup.
Exclusion from the World Cup. Omar Artan, who was expected to become the first Somali to referee a game at the FIFA World Cup, was denied entry to the United States after 11 hour interrogation on Saturday. US border officials he said Artan was deemed ineligible due to unspecified “audit issues”.
Somalia is among 75 countries, mainly in Africa and South America, affected by travel ban or restrictions to be established and the Trump administration as part of its broader crackdown on immigrants. For the duration of the World Cup, the United States has waived the visa bond requirement of up to $15,000 for five African nations that have qualified – Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia – but most African fans are from these countries. say they still have it they are facing visa delay or rejection.
The waiver only applied to supporters who purchased official tickets and registered with the FIFA Pass digital system by April 15. Some fans from other African countries are also being held back by multiple overlapping US immigration policies, including the travel ban.
Teams are also affected. Although all members of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s soccer team play for foreign clubs and live outside Congo, the White House World Cup Task Force commanded the entire squad. to separate for 21 days before entering the United States due to the Ebola outbreak.
Congolese fans are prevented from entering, and Congo has he asked that FIFA tickets for refund. Fans from other countries, such as Ghana, have complained about it refuse a visa rates and fees.
South African xenophobia. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is walking a delicate line on immigration as violent protests against Black African migrants have prompted several countries to organize chartered flights to evacuate their citizens.
Some groups in South Africa have blamed African immigrants for the country’s high unemployment and crime rates researchers and others have pushed back against this narrative. In a televised address on Sunday, Ramaphosa he promised to act on “real” concerns about illegal immigration but he warned versus being awake.
Ghana, Malawi, and Zimbabwe already to be sent back home citizens. Last week, Mozambique said so five of its citizens were killed in xenophobic attacks in Mossel Bay South Africa.
Failed prosecution. Last month, Madagascar’s constitutional court rejected the opposition MP’s attempt to indict the country’s military leader, President Michael Randrianirina, who to seize power in the October revolution last year.
The lawmaker, Antoine Rajerison, accused Randrianirina of treason for “gross and repeated violations of the constitution,” but the court ruled that the case did not meet the legal requirements to remove the head of state.
Earlier this year, the junta-led government announced a transition plan, which includes a constitutional referendum and presidential elections in 2027. But many Malagasy remain concerned about the fate of democracy in the country, as activists have been arrested and harassedaccording to local and international rights groups.
Despite the political turmoil, the military leader he met and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday in Abuja to discuss business.
Nigerian rebels recruit. Abuja has recruited former Boko Haram fighters to help Nigerian soldiers in the war against the jihadists, ignoring the need for justice and accountability for families whose relatives were kidnapped, killed or raped by the fighters, Ahmad Salkida. he writes in HumAngle.
“Many affected communities see ex-rebels as receiving rights not available to victims. Some members who surrendered received food assistance, shelter, vocational training, phone calls, allowances, or reintegration assistance,” Salkida writes. “Meanwhile, many victims are still living with displacement, trauma, hunger, unemployment, depression, and insecurity.”
African employers of Russia. An Interpol investigation has found that Moscow conducted a recruitment drive at the University of Botswana and other universities to trick African students into supporting its war effort in Ukraine, Keletso Thobega. report in continent. Students were told they could earn up to $2,000 a month in hospitality jobs but were eventually sent to drone factories or military training.
“Recruiters were uncomfortable when someone asked too many questions,” one student told them continentadding it all seemed “too good to be true.” Ukraine is estimated to be more than 3,000 people from 36 African nations are fighting against Russia.
