International
ECOWAS sends Togolese leader to engage Niger Junta
West African leaders yesterday took a step forward in their quest for the restoration of democracy in Niger Republic.
The sub-regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government raised a three-man negotiation team to mediate in the protracted political crisis in the country.
Led by President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, other members of the team are President Macky Sall of Sierra Leone and President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic.
The ECOWAS Authority, which is chaired by President Bola Tinubu, took the decision during its 64th Ordinary Session at the State House Conference Center in Abuja.
The team’s terms of reference are to negotiate Niger’s speedy return to democracy with the junta that seized power from the legitimate government led by Mohammed Bazoum, who is in detention, encourage the coup plotters to release a transition programme and facilitate the monitoring of the programme.
Besides, the ECOWAS Authority resolved to prevent any attempt to break the sub-regional group through foreign-sponsored alliances and set up a standby force for counterterrorism across region.
According to its communique read by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, the leaders mandated the three-man Committee to interface with the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), which is the military administration in Niger Republic.
It said the team was expected to rally the CNDP and other stakeholders to agree to a short transition roadmap and the establishment of transition organs and goals.
The Abdourahamane Tchiani-led CNSP had about a month ago requested that Togolese President Gnassingbe should lead the team to negotiate with it in resolving the impasse.
That followed the ousting in July the democratically elected administration of President Bazoum.
ECOWAS Authority said the outcome of the engagement with the CNSP will determine its subsequent resolutions; either to commence the progressive relieving of the imposed sanctions or sustain the sanctions, including the use of force, as well as requests for more actions against the junta from other international bodies.
The communiqué reads: “On the political situation in the Republic of Niger, the Authority recalled its decision at its extra ordinary summit of 30 July, 2023, and 10th August 2023.
“The Authority commends the efforts of the Chair of Authority, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, towards a peaceful resolution of the political crisis.
“The Authority deeply deplores the continued detention of President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates by the CNSP administration. The Authority further deplores the lack of commitment on the part of the CNSP to restore constitutional order. Consequently, the Authority calls on the CNSP to release President Mohammed Bazoum, his family and associates immediately and without condition.
“The Authority decides to set up a committee of heads of state, made up of the President and Head of State of the Republic of Togo, the President and the Head of State of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the President and Head of State of the Republic of Benin, to engage with CNSP and other stakeholders, with a view to agreeing on a short transition roadmap, establishing transition organs, as well as facilitating the setting up of a transition monitoring and evaluation mechanism towards the speedy restoration of constitutional order.
“Based on the outcomes of the engagement by the committee of heads of state with the CNSP, the Authority will progressively ease the sanctions imposed on Niger. Failure by the CNSP to comply with the outcomes of the engagement with the committee, ECOWAS shall maintain all sanctions, including the use of force and will request African Union and all other partners to enforce the targeted sanctions on members of the CNSP and their associates.”
The ECOWAS Authority also rejected new moves by external interests to balkanise the region by creating alliances among member-states.
President Tinubu frowned at an attempt to distract the efforts at entrenching democratic culture in the region through the creation the ‘Alliance of the Sahel States’ among military-run member-states.
International
South Africa kicks out Israel’s ambassador Ariel Seidman
The South African foreign ministry accused Ariel Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty.”
•Cyril Ramaphosa, South African President
The South African government on Friday declared Mr Ariel Seidman, the chargé d’affaires of the Israeli Embassy, unwelcome and ordered him out of the country within 72 hours, for what it called repeated violations of diplomatic norms, including insulting President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The South African foreign ministry accused Ariel Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty”.
“These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks” on Ramaphosa, as well as a “deliberate failure” to notify the South African authorities about visits by senior Israeli officials.
Diplomatic relations between South Africa and Israel have been strained since South Africa brought a genocide case over Israel’s actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Israel has rejected the case as baseless.
South African lawmakers in 2023 voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations over the war in Gaza, but that decision was never implemented.
International
Burkina Faso military government dissolves political parties
Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister Emile Zerbo said the decision was part of a broader effort to “rebuild the state” after what he said were widespread abuses and dysfunction in the country’s multiparty system.
•Photo: Heads of state of Mali’s Assimi Goita, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore and Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tiani walk together during the first ordinary summit of heads of state and governments of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in Niamey, Niger July 6, 2024. REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou.
Burkina Faso’s military-led government has dissolved all political parties and scrapped the legal framework governing their operations.
The decree was approved by the government ‘s council of ministers on Thursday.
The decision by the military rulers who seized power in September 2022 is the latest move to tighten control following the suspension of political activities after the coup.
Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister Emile Zerbo said the decision was part of a broader effort to “rebuild the state” after what he said were widespread abuses and dysfunction in the country’s multiparty system.
He said a government review found that the multiplication of political parties had fuelled divisions and weakened social cohesion.
Before the coup, the country had over 100 registered political parties, with 15 represented in parliament after the 2020 general election.
International
Colombian plane crash kills lawmaker, 14 others
The Cúcuta region is known for its rugged terrain, unpredictable weather conditions and areas controlled by Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army.
A twin-propeller aircraft carrying 15 people, including a Colombian lawmaker, Diogenes Quintero, crashed in a mountainous region near the Venezuelan border on January 28.
AFP reported that the aircraft departed from the border city of Cúcuta and lost contact with air traffic control shortly before it was scheduled to land in the nearby town of Ocaña at about 5:00 p.m. GMT.
“There are no survivors,” an official of the aviation authority told AFP. The plane was carrying 13 passengers and two crew members.
The Cúcuta region is known for its rugged terrain, unpredictable weather conditions and areas controlled by Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army.
In a separate report, NDTV disclosed that the government deployed the Colombian Air Force to locate the aircraft and recover the bodies.
Local parliamentarian Wilmer Carrillo expressed concern over the incident, saying, “We have received with concern the information about the air accident in which my colleague, Diogenes Quintero, Carlos Salcedo and their teams were travelling.”
Quintero is a member of Colombia’s Chamber of Deputies, while Salcedo is a candidate in the upcoming elections. The crash adds to a history of fatal aviation accidents involving prominent figures in Colombia.
In January 2025, a private plane crashed in central-eastern Colombia, killing all six people on board, including singer Yeison Jiménez.
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