Photo : AP/Deutsche Welle
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : AP/Deutsche Welle
IN BRIEF
by Ashwin Dhanabalan, Angkuran Dey and Meghna Manoj
Mali: Regime approves a new charter for democratic transition
On 21 February, the lawmakers of Mali approved a plan allowing the transitional government to rule for up to five years. The plan was headed by Colonel Assimi Goïta and was adopted by the120 members of the 121 seated interim parliament who voted to approve the bill. The bill was passed in examining the draft law on the revision of the transition charter. However, the new charter does not mention when the next Presidential elections will be held. Nevertheless, it states that the serving President Kornel Goïta will not participate.
Ethiopia: The Grand Renaissance Dam starts electricity production
On 20 February, Ethiopia started electricity production from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. The initiation comes despite objections from its downstream neighbours of Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated the multibillion-dollar project. It is expected to double Ethiopia’s total electricity output. He further stated: “Ethiopia’s main interest is to bring light to 60 per cent of the population who is suffering in darkness, saving the labour of our mothers who are carrying wood on their backs to get energy.”
Burkina Faso: Panel backs a 30-month transition delay until elections
On 24 February, a panel appointed by the military government recommended a 30-month delay until the next elections. The 15-person panel included military officers and technocrats appointed by the coup leader and current President Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. The panel had been tasked to chart a return of the West African country to its constitutional order. The report submitted by the panel has also called for setting up a transitional government consisting of 20 members and a transitional parliament of up to 50 members.
FIFA: Suspension of the Zimbabwean and Kenyan football federations
On 25 February, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) suspended the membership of the Zimbabwean and Kenyan associations due to continued government interference in the functioning of these countries’ bodies. The FIFA President, Giovanni Infantino, while announcing the suspension, stated: “We had to suspend two of our member’s associations, Kenya and Zimbabwe, both for government interference in the activities of the football associations of these (countries). As a result, associations are suspended from all football activities with immediate effect.”