Africa – 29 July 2016
AUC chair shocked by Burundi assassination
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has expressed her horror at the assassination of Hasfa Mossi, a member of the East African Legislative Assembly and a former minister in Burundi, in the capital Bujumbura on Wednesday.
Dlamini Zuma, the African Union Commission Chairperson (AUC), currently attending the 27th AU Summit in Kigali, condemned the “barbaric act” and called on all Burundians to exercise utmost restraint and to refrain from any acts of retaliation that would only further escalate and complicate the tension in the country.
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Mali’s peace pact under strain
Violent protests that were met with deadly force in Mali this week are the latest sign a peace pact between rival ethnic groups risks unravelling, threatening to plunge the nation back into the chaos that made it a launchpad for jihadi attacks.
It has been a year since Tuareg-led separatist rebels signed the accord with the Malian government after a conflict that destabilised this West African country.
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MP wants Kenya-Somalia border opened for tree trade, tracking of entrants
Wajir East MP Abass Sheikh Mohamed wants the Kenya-Somalia border opened for free movement of goods and services. He said the “official but unpractical” closure of the border has led to inflow of contraband goods and illicit weapons.
Kenya shares more than 800km-long border with the war-torn Somalia; this stretches from Kiunga in Lamu to Mandera. Mohamed urged the government to establish offices for revenue, immigration and standards agencies to ensure proper inspection and taxation of inbound products.
“This will generate revenue. Above all, it will bar entry of contraband goods and illegal weapons,” he told the Star on the phone on Friday.
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AU self-funding plan cautiously welcomed
The African Union’s decision that all African countries will impose a 0,2 percent levy on their imports to enable the organisation to finance its own activities, including peacekeeping operations, has been cautiously welcomed.
The continent’s leaders made the decision at the AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, which was due to end on Monday. After struggling for years to agree on a formula for greater self-funding of the AU – which is now 76% financed by foreign donors – the leaders eventually agreed on the 0,2% levy on “eligible imports”.
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