#Burkina Faso has suspended Radio Omega’s licence for three months over alleged insults to the military government, continuing a pattern of media crackdowns since Captain Ibrahim #Traore’s 2022 coup.

#Mali ex-prime minister to stand trial over social media post, lawyer says:

Mara is one of few public figures in the country who has been willing to openly question moves taken this year to dissolve political parties and grant the military government, led by Assimi Goita, a five-year mandate without elections.

Last month, authorities formally approved Goita’s five-year term and said it could be renewed as many times as necessary as Mali struggles to respond to a long-running jihadist insurgency.

Goita assumed power after military coups in 2020 and 2021.

Mara had been summoned several times for questioning this month over a social media post dated July 4 expressing solidarity with government critics who have been jailed.

#Jihadists kill ‘dozens’ of soldiers and civilians in Burkina Faso. In a “major” attack carried out on Monday, a military unit in the village of Dargo was targeted by “armed terrorist groups”, leaving “several dozens of deaths on each side”, one of the regional security sources said.

The other security source told AFP that jihadists waged a second attack on Monday, on a supply convoy going between the towns of Dori and Gorom-Gorom.

“In that ambush, several soldiers were killed, along with civilians, notably truck drivers transporting supplies,” said the source.

A manager in a road haulage company confirmed the convoy attack, and said that “some 20 drivers and their apprentices were killed”.

The attack on the military base was claimed by the JNIM, an armed Islamist militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that is active also in Mali and Niger.

The JNIM has risen to become the most influential jihadist threat in the Sahel region, according to the United Nations.

Burkina Faso has been plagued by attacks by the JNIM and the Islamic State group since 2015.

delegations from the #DRC and Rwanda in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural Joint Oversight Committee meeting and the initialing of the Regional Economic Integration Framework (REIF) Tenets.

The sustained stability of the FX market is beginning to reflect positively on the financial performance of listed companies as the combined six-month profit of the three listed cement-producing giants. #nigeria

It is an alarming experience for students of Government Secondary School Bachirawa, Ungogo LGA in Kano State.
The school’s classrooms lack windows, furniture, and doors. The walls are cracked, and students sit under exposed ceilings. #Nigeria

#NDLEA operatives arrested several suspects nationwide, including Chinese businessman Liang Tak You and 80-year-old Grace Ekpeme, in a drug trafficking crackdown. Liang was caught with 26.10kg of cannabis at Lagos airport.

Passengers missing as boat capsizes in Niger

#Congo and rebels have committed to ending war in the east. Here’s what to know.

The #African Union called Saturday’s signing, facilitated by Qatar, a “major milestone” in peace efforts. Qatari authorities said it paves the way for “a comprehensive peace that addresses the deep-rooted causes of the conflict.”

But the ink has barely dried on the document signed in Qatar before both sides appeared to contradict each other in interpreting a major highlight of the declaration.

Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the declaration takes into account “the non-negotiable withdrawal” of the rebels from seized territories, including the biggest city of Goma. The M23 rebels denied this, with a spokesman telling The Associated Press: “We are in Goma with the population and we are not going to get out.”
The declaration is supposed to lead to a final peace deal

The declaration of principles was the first direct commitment by both sides since the rebels, supported by neighboring Rwanda, seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance early this year.

In it, both parties committed to “building trust” through various measures, including an exchange of prisoners and detainees as well as restoring state authority in all parts of the country, including rebel-held areas. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has been mentioned as a key party in facilitating such release, said after the signing that it “stands ready to help.”

The signing sets in motion negotiations for a final peace deal, to be signed no later than Aug. 18. It also reflects provisions of a U.S.-brokered peace deal signed between Congo and Rwanda on June 27.

Both the U.S.-facilitated and Qatar-led peace talks are aligned, and the Congolese and Rwandan presidents are soon expected in Washington to finalize negotiations for ending the conflict.
The conflict dates back to the Rwandan genocide

The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when Hutu soldiers and militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million minority Tutsis as well as moderate Hutus and the Indigenous Twa. When Tutsi-led rebels stopped the genocide and ousted the Hutu government, nearly 2 million Hutus fled into neighboring Congo, fearing reprisals.

Rwandan authorities accused the authorities in Kinshasa of sheltering those responsible for the mass killings among the civilian refugees, most of whom had returned when Rwanda first invaded Congo in 1996. But Kigali said the remaining Hutu fighters in eastern Congo are still a threat to Rwanda’s Tutsi population, and wants them neutralized.

At least 6 million people have been killed in the conflict since then, mostly characterized by on-and-off fighting but also famines and unchecked disease outbreaks.
Minerals hold key to the conflict

Analysts have said a lot of interests in the conflict in Congo are tied to the mostly untapped minerals in the east, estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Trump administration has pushed to gain access to the minerals key to much of the world’s technology. It is also to counter China, a key player in the region where the U.S. presence and influence have eroded. That is already playing out with KoBold Metals, a U.S. mining company that on Friday announced it has signed an agreement with Congo for “large-scale minerals exploration program” in the east.

Rwanda’s interests are also tied to the conflict minerals, although it often says its involvement is to protect its territory and punish those connected to the 1994 genocide.

A team of U.N. experts said in a report in December that Rwanda was benefitting from minerals “fraudulently” exported from areas under the control of the M23. Rwanda has denied it.

Although the M23 has touted itself as a group independent of Rwanda and capable of governing territories under its control, it still relies heavily on Kigali. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan troops in eastern Congo.
Justice remains a major issue

The U.N. and rights groups have accused both sides of committing atrocities and possible war crimes since fighting escalated in January. It includes children being killed in summary executions, the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of children, attacks on hospitals, forced recruitments and disappearance of residents in rebel-held areas.

“We cannot build peace without justice and reparation,” Goma resident Amani Muisa said.

Chinedu Asadu, The Associated Press

Clashes break out in Togo’s capital as protesters call for the president’s resignation, LOME, Togo — Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in several parts of Togo’s capital Lomé on Thursday, as President Faure Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely.

A heavy police presence could be seen throughout the capital, where many businesses remained closed. Hundreds of protesters set up concrete block barricades in several neighborhoods of Lomé, with some burning tires and throwing projectiles at security forces.

Military jeeps were deployed as reinforcements in some areas. Police dispersed dozens of protesters with tear gas and arrested around 10 people in the Bè neighborhood, a stronghold of the opposition.

Civil society groups and social media influencers had called for protests on June 26, 27, and 28, after the government’s clampdown on protests early this month.

A coalition of political groups known as “Hands Off My Constitution” said in a Facebook post on Wednesday it “strongly urges Faure Gnassingbé to immediately and unconditionally release all of the roughly one hundred political prisoners, and to take urgent measures to restore purchasing power to the population.

It called for an “unprecedented peaceful demonstration.”

Togo’s leader Faure Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers. The powerful role has not official term limits and he is eligible to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely.

Opposition politicians have denounced the move as a “constitutional coup.”

Demonstrations are rare in Togo because they have been banned in the country since 2022 following a deadly attack at Lome’s main market.

But the latest change in government structure has been widely criticized in a region threatened by rampant coups and other threats to democracy.