November 20, 2019 | Written By - Carrie Bifulco '21
Mozambique’s government plans to appeal a South African court’s decision to renounce the planned extradition of former finance minister, Manuel Chang. Chang is wanted in both South Africa and the United States. He was arrested by request of the United States in South Africa in December. Chang faces grave charges related to his alleged involvement in a $2 billion dollar debt scandal that prompted the descent of Mozambique's economy into a crisis. Charges against Chang relate to loans obtained from Credit Suisse and Russia's VTB bank by the Mozambican government in order to set up three state-backed tuna fishing companies. Chang discretely signed off on these loans during his 2005-2015 term as finance minister. However, when this shady exchange between VTB and the government that Chang signed off on eventually came to light, many international donors, such as the IMF and the World Bank, cut off financial support for Mozambique, causing a collapse in currency and debt default. The US and South Africa want the prisoner in their custody, causing a legal battle over where Chang should be sent. A US case study of the scandal is formally underway, however, Mozambique has yet to formally charge Chang with a crime.
Kenya’s battle against Al-Shabab, an extremist group that controls the areas near the border of Kenya, as well as rural southern Somalia, rages on after eight years of conflict. Al-Shabab is a group that imposes a strict Islamic code and frequently drafts young men. Kenya’s army, the KDF (Kenya Defense forces), are fighting Al-Shabab with US aid in the form of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of training, equipment, and other support. However, the fighting tactics of the KDF are viewed by the international community as extremely inhumane. For instance, the Kenyan army will routinely round up civilians from Kenya’s ethnic Somali population and interrogate or kill them as a form of collective punishment for al-Shabab attacks on Kenyan soil. KDF has not complied with investigators from the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights, an organization set up to monitor the army’s activities. In addition, the KDF has not cooperated with the U.N. special rapporteur for enforced disappearances.
Zimbabwe public workers are continuing to protest as the government failed to give in to their demand for U.S. dollar-indexed salaries to help protect them against soaring inflation. Zimbabwe is currently facing a terrible economic crisis, with unemployment above 90% , immense shortages of food and medicine, as well as power cuts that have greatly affected mines and industry. The demonstrations are viewed as a test to see how much unrest President Emmerson Mnangagwa will tolerate after he recently banned opposition protest. The government claims it cannot afford dollar-indexed pay, which would make the least paid workers earn 7,293 Zimbabwe dollars ($475) a month, up from 1,023 Zimbabwe dollars now.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi was sworn in for a new term following a general election. Mokgweetsi ran with the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which shocked the world because the BDP’s popular vote share had been steadily declining since Botswana gained its independence in 1966. In the past, the BDP’s two opposition parties, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP), combined have received more of the popular vote. The BDP was able to emerge with this recent victory because of the party’s ability to garner support from the urban areas of the country, including the capital, Gaborone.
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