PROTEST NOTE: #Rwandan leader @PaulKagame has written to the @_AfricanUnion chairperson, Comoros President @PR_AZALI questioning the manner in which some sessions of the just concluded AU Summit were handled. The letter sent on 3rd March has been copied to all African leaders.
Pres. @PaulKagame, who was appointed by the AU to lead it's institutional reforms in July 2016 argues that at the assembly, leaders mandated to issue topical reports are not timed referring to interjections made when the Sierra Leone & Ghanaian Presidents were submitting.
Pres. @PaulKagame further argues that no debate was allowed on the appointment of the @AfricaCDC DG, even though three member states had requested to speak. Kagame says this is the only agenda item on which debate was forbidden.
In the letter, the Rwandan leader opening a pandora's box states that the report given by the legal counsel on the deliberations of the c'ttee of Heads of State on Africa CDC gave no explanation for why the first-ranked candidate, a woman, was not selected as the DG.
President @PaulKagame adds that besides the participation of the Comoros President who is the @_AfricanUnion chairperson, no other leader took part in the committee meeting, and the delegated officials were mostly below the ministerial level.
President @PaulKagame lastly concludes by informing @PR_AZALI that Rwanda was excluded from participating in the ordinary summit of ECCAS held on 25 February 2023 in Kinshasa, on the instruction of the host country.
"This occured despite formal written confirmation from the ECCAS commission on 14 Jan, that Rwanda, a full member state, would participate virtually. Explanations for this unacceptable violation of the ECCAS treaty have been sought", says @PaulKagame in the letter
He further argues that AFRICA's institutions will not be taken seriously by our citizens or partners if we allow our business to be handled in this manner.
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Multiple #Kenyan based journalists have raised concern's about racial undertones during the @RoyalFamily visit.
Those who I have spoken to say they were mistreated and felt degraded in their own country. A sovereign country, so to say.
Thread.
I will headline it as Segregated Press Buses, Stale Sandwiches & Used Toothpicks: Behind the Scenes of a Well-Choreographed but Tone-Deaf Royal Visit to #Kenya.
Journalists have complained of being segregated from their British counterparts during pool transportation...
...and not receiving proper meals, despite Kenyan taxpayers partly funding this high-level visit.
Organisers, @UKinKenya allegedly separated local journos from Kenya & the UK drawing criticism and claims of racial discrimination.
Kenya's Trade Minister @HonMoses_Kuria was in Doha, Qatar last week for an official mission. Interestingly he was escorted by two mysterious #Belarusian businessmen accused of engaging in arms deals in Africa. They were designated as "Advisors-Gulf Countries" during the trip
These two powerful brokers, Aleksandr ZINGMAN and OLEG VODCHITS were arrested in Lubumbashi in 2021 on charges of arms trafficking. The have previously had links with presidents Joseph Kabila, Edward Lungu and Emerson Mnangagwa.
What exactly are they doing in Kenya?
ALEXANDER Zingman, the influential businessman with close ties to Europe's last dictator Alexander Lukashenko has served as #Zimbabwe’s honorary consul in Belarus since around early 2019 & has been involved in Deals lacking transparency and accountability theafricareport.com/281271/zimbabw…
The Tonje rules recommend that the CDF position should rotate between Army, Air force and Navy. The current holder of the office, General Kibochi- a four star general is from the Kenya Army.
His predecessor, General Mwathethe was from the Navy. The next military boss will come from the airforce. They never skip ranks in the military.
We only have two veterans (three star generals) in the airforce who are poised for that position. Lt. General Francis Ogolla the current Vice Chief of the Defence Forces and Lt. General Badi who is the NMS DG. It’s a matter of wait and see.
“We are all witnesses to admirable demonstrations of effective solidarity in response to crises in various parts of the world. Our knowledge of the possibility of spontaneous yet resolute global solidarity reinforces…”
“…the African exception as particularly repugnant. From genocides and civil conflict to famine and pandemics, the African continent is consistently left behind to bear the brunt of weak solidarity and disastrous failure of multilateralism.”
“History indicates the last time that Africa was the focal point of strong and effective multilateral consensus was during the Berlin Conferences of 1884-1885, and the character of the ensuing interventions casts a long shadow to date.”- President @WilliamsRuto