Photo : Anadolu Agency
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Anadolu Agency
IN BRIEF
By Ashwin Dhanabalan, Angkuran Dey and Meghna Manoj
Tunisia: Kaïs Saïed interferes in the electoral body's functioning
On 22 April, Tunisia's president Kaïs Saïed issued a decree replacing the independent electoral commission members with his own appointees. The commission was one of the last independent bodies in the country since Saïed took over executive powers and dissolved the parliament in 2021. In his decree, Saïed declared that he would be selecting three of the existing nine members of the electoral commission to stay on, who would be serving as a new-seven member panel alongside three judges and an information technology specialist.
Cameroon: Biya inks a military pact with Moscow
On 16 April, Cameroon became the latest African country to sign a military deal with Russia in a meeting in Moscow. The deal is said to cover weaponry, intelligence gathering and training, and the exchange of UN peacekeepers. However, with the agreement, Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, appears not to be severing ties with France but rather widening his sources of support in the war against Boko Haram militants in the country's north.
Rwanda: Paul Kagame denies allegations surrounding UK asylum deal
On 22 April, Rwanda's president Paul Kagame during a virtual seminar with US Brown University denied allegations of human trading. This aligns with the controversial USD 15 million deal with the UK about relocating asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda for processing and resettlement. Kagame added: "We are not trading human beings, please, we are actually helping." He further mentioned that the UK had approached Rwanda because of their efficient management of Libyan refugees in 2018.