On June 29, 2016, the Provisional National Commission on Reconciliation (CPRN) co-chaired by Guinea’s highest religious figures submitted its long awaited final report to President Alpha Condé. The report was the conclusion of a process that started on August 2011, when the president mandated the commission to listen to as many ordinary citizens and opinion leaders alike on how best to reconcile Guineans.

The country has had a tumultuous history since it gained independence in 1958 and political instability and violence during the 2010 presidential election further weakened national unity and deepened ethnic mistrust.

CPRN hired an international independent cabinet to conduct a thorough study on the kind of transitional justice mechanisms to set up for a successful national reconciliation procedure. The 300 page long report covers crimes and human rights violations committed from independence to 2015 of which the notorious are the gulag of Camp Boiro, the July 1985 events known as “Coup Diarra Traoré”, and the event of September 28, 2009 which has drawn attention from the International Criminal Court.

The report also focused the discussions on the search for truth, justice, reparation and rehabilitation, institutional reforms, and the future of Guinea and it made dozens of recommendations on how best to reconcile Guineans including the creation of a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission.

The Findings

The results of the study are interesting in many ways but not really surprising for who knows the traditional, cultural, and sociological landscape of the country. The report found that Guineans are overwhelmingly for reconciliation. Not only they are for it, they are also willing to forgive and look forward to a future living together in peace and harmony whereas seeing their differences as an asset rather than a source of division and/or tension.

However, the study shows that 75 percent of the respondents think that suspected perpetrators must be brought to justice.The majority of the respondents demand the right to justice and for the prosecution of suspected perpetrators of atrocities. As regards reparations, 62 percent demand compensation, 54 percent the return of property confiscated, 47 percent demand a public apology, 58 percent request perpetrators to ask for forgiveness, and another 51 percent want an apology from the State.

Looking forward, the majority of Guineans are confident about the country’s future, however, they think reforms at institutional levels must be taken to combat “ethnocentrism and reconcile all ethnic groups”. On the role of ethnicity in politics, almost 89 percent think politicians are using their ethnic groups for political purposes, thus it is not surprising that 68 percent of Guineans indicate that ethnicity has become a divisive factor. Notwithstanding these numbers, a thin majority (51 percent) of those consulted say that different ethnic groups live together peacefully.

The Recommendations

The Commission made 22 recommendations one of which being to institute through legislation a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission which will continue the work started by CPRN namely implementing its recommendations.

On the need to render justice, the Commission recommends that exemplary sanctions be taken against judicial actors who violate the laws and that the criminal justice system be strengthened to restore confidence between citizens and the judiciary. When it comes to reparations, CPNR advices urgent actions to be taken for the victims whose situation of vulnerability is documented and requires medical and psychological care and as far as long term reparations, it advises on a program that will take into account individual, collective, material and symbolic reparations.

Other recommendations include instituting September 28 of each year as a Day of Remembrance and Forgiveness, the search for missing persons and bodies of those killed, the identification of mass graves, an official public apology from the State including recognition of the facts and acceptance of its responsibility, judicial reforms, restoration of victims in their rights, and a guaranty of non-repetition.

The President’s Speech

While I agree with many journalists and commentators who commented about the fact that the President missed the opportunity to show a strong symbolic act of reconciliation when he left the room without shaking the hand of his opponent and main challenger during the last two presidential elections, I think that the President was by and large conciliatory.

In his speech during the ceremony, the President highlighted some issues in his view that would make the process run on a steep slope. Those following news from Guinea, know how much the president’s opinion counts on the life of the country in general and his support and buy-in for any program is crucial for it to succeed. Therefore, brainstorming on ways to address his worries could only contribute to advance the pace of the process.

For instance, the president said that reconciliation is difficult because “many of the victims are also perpetrators”. Though I agree with him on the face of his statement, this element should not however be used as an excuse for inaction. It happened that during the regime of Sekou Touré (1958 – 1984) public figures who were seen as executioners at the sinister Camp Boiro ended up themselves in the same concentration camp.

Khorhogo — From cosmetics to cooking, shea butter is popular around the world. It is made from the nut of the shea tree, known as “women’s gold” in Africa for it provides income to millions of women across the Sahel. In northern Ivory Coast, women are trying to transform shea butter from a cottage industry into big business.

It’s harvest season for karité, or shea, in northern Ivory Coast, and just like every year, Alice Koné picks up the fallen fruit. She processes the kernels in the traditional way her grandmother taught her.

It will take her hours of hard work to make the shea butter that will then be sold at the local market.

“Sometimes, shea butter pays well and we don’t need anything else. But when the harvest isn’t good, we have to get by with other products,” said Koné.

Like Koné, most women in the shea industry in Ivory Coast work independently and sell locally.

But shea butter is in high demand internationally for use in cosmetics or as a substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate.

Neighboring Burkina Faso and Ghana are among the world’s leading exporters. Burkina Faso earns an estimated $33 million annually exporting shea.

Ivory Coast is trying to catch up.

In one village, women have teamed up in a shea co-op.

“When you work in group, there are a lot of ideas, and also financial backers can come help us. We have received some assistance, a funding capital, they built us a warehouse. If you work alone, people can’t help you. They can’t build a warehouse for every woman,” said Ahoua Coulibaly, a shea butter producer.

In some fields in the area a new kind of shea tree is also being planted.  This kind is more productive than the traditional wild type. And the country now has two mechanical processing units. Two years ago, the government began working to structure the shea sector, an effort spearheaded by Ali Keita.

“As soon as we have a strong cooperative structure, we will have clients in China, Europe and the United States. If we manage to create an inter-professional organization, it will allow the country to export shea butter internationally,” said Keita.

Keita is also pushing for more regional cooperation among shea butter-producing countries.

The Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Thursday signed a US$3.1 million community-based sustainable dry land forestry management project.

The project will be implemented in 82 communities in the North Bank, Central River, Upper River and Lower River regions. It is aimed at addressing the underlying needs of degradation of dry land forest such as unsustainable and uncontrolled resource extraction, forest fire, increased population pressure and lack of adequate socioeconomic/livelihood opportunities.

The five-year project, 2016-2021, is mainly funded by the Global Environment Facility and co-financed by the FAO, The Gambia Government, the Agency for the Development of Women & Children (ADWAC), and the Department of Forestry.

Speaking at the event, FAO Country Representative Dr. Perpetua Katepa-Kalala, said the specific objective of the project is to reduce forest degradation in The Gambia. “The project will work towards strengthening policy and institutional capacity for sustainable dry land forest management, community based sustainable dry land forest management and rehabilitation and project monitoring and evaluation and information dissemination,” she said, noting that desertification and land degradation are major environmental issues faced by The Gambia.

She acknowledged that at the beginning of the twentieth century, most of the Gambian territory was still covered by dense forest. “By 2010, the forest cover was about 44% of the total land area of which 1.1% was closed forest and nearly 70% degraded.” She stated that this is a major threat to poverty reduction, eradication of hunger and continued development of affected communities, especially in the northern part of the country.

The Minister of Environment, Hon. Pa Ousman Jarju, said government is doing all efforts in the fight against climate change. He said the overall objective is to halt environmental degradation and the growing threat of desertification in The Gambia as a result of continued deforestation, through empowering communities with the legal security, skills and the knowledge necessary to sustainably manage their natural resources and conserve the remaining biodiversity.

President Isaias officially opens the Festival

President Isaias Afwerki officially opened the Eritrean National Festival 2016 last Saturday at the Expo Grounds here in the capital.

The annual event is being conducted under the theme “Festival: The Foundation of Unity and Diversity”.

Present at the opening ceremony were Government and PFDJ officials, heads of National Unions and members of the Diplomatic Corp. The President observed the different sections of the Festival during which he received briefings.

In the course of the Festival that will continue until the 14th of August, a number of displays highlighting the nation’s natural and cultural resources, pavilions that reflect our cultural diversity, artistic performances, creative works and innovations as well as exhibitions of different products would be featured.

In connection with the launching of the Festival, cultural performances including music and dramas were staged at Cinema Roma on August 5.

A number of participants of the Festival from inside the country and abroad indicated that it creates a platform for appreciating Eritrea’s cultural diversity and history and

thus transfer Eritrean values to future generations.

Also in related news, the mining companies operating in Eritrea are displaying their activities at Eritrea Festival 2016.

The Head of Zara Mining Company, Mr. Yosief Taddese stated that before beginning production, the company has been engaged for 14 years in exploration activities and for 2 years putting in place the necessary infrastructure.

He further indicated that the company equipped with international standard equipment has begun production as of February 2015.

Meanwhile, visitors to the Festival said that the different artistic exhibitions depict the identity and culture of the Eritrean people which has added color to the national gathering.

In another report, women nationals who are displaying products of artifacts organized by the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS) branch in the Central region said that the materials for their products are all obtained form inside the country.

Cairo — Yemen Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher underlined Egypt’s pivotal role and status in the region during his visit to Cairo on Sunday.

The Yemeni prime minister arrived in Cairo for bilateral talks with his Egyptian counterpart Sherif Ismail.

According to a statement by Egypt’s cabinet, a meeting is scheduled to take place, where the two prime ministers will discuss means for boosting bilateral ties between the two Arab countries.

Bin Dagher said the visit holds great importance due to the development of events in his country as well as the whole region, according to state-run MENA news agency.

He added that he’ll inform Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the latest developments regarding the crisis in Yemen and will deliver him a message from Yemen President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

“We are keen to discuss ways of activating relations with the Egyptian government through holding talks with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and working on developing joint cooperation in all fields to serve the strategic interests of both countries,” Bin Dagher added.

Egypt is a member of the Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 in support of the country’s government against a Houthi rebel group.

President Paul Kagame, yesterday, attended the swearing in ceremony of his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby Itno.

In the capital N’Djamena, President Kagame was received by the Chadian Prime Minister, Albert Pahimi Padacké, according to a statement from presidency.

Taking place at the Grand Hotel N’Djamena, the ceremony was attended by over 15 Heads of State and Government from, among othrs, Uganda, Mali, Mauritania, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

The swearing in ceremony consisted of a 21 gun salute, after which President Idriss Deby Itno took oath of office and was awarded the National Order of merit.

President Deby won the April elections with 62 per cent of the vote.

In his speech, President Deby vowed to use his term in office to ensure the prosperity of Chad and urged Africans to unite and work together to ensure the development of the continent.

On his first visit to Chad, President Kagame used the African Passport launched at the African Union Summit in July in Kigali.

Mwanza — President John Magufuli has said the government eyes revamping fish processing factories and Mwanza Textile Mill to create employment for the skilled but idle workforce and boost socio-economic development.

Dr Magufuli, who ended his two-day tour of Mwanza Region yesterday, addressed thousands of residents here saying deliberate strategies are in place for Mwanza to be a true business hub as envisaged.

He said for the government to work on envisaged development, “ambitious discipline was crucial”, calling on all the leaders to be accountable to public properties.

He ordered the “immediate arrest of all thieves who swindled properties of the Nyanza Cooperative Union (NCU)” and tasked security organs and other responsible units to make sure NCU assets were returned back.

On industrialisation, Dr Magufuli said Mwanza was poised to realise the agenda, citing the potential in textile and fish industries. “We have to make sure that we regain our lost glory in industrialisation and revamp our Mwatex and 11 fish factories that were almost dead.

We can surely do it,” he stressed. He declared war on illegal fishing and ordered the confiscation of the trucks transporting them since entertaining the practice was “poisonous to massive fish production and fish processing factories”.

If the malpractice is properly contained, fish production was likely to triple in just three months and create employment, he noted.

Dr Magufuli also ordered the shelving of plans to move petty traders out of the city centre, pointing out that they also deserved equal chances to make money and challenged the local authorities to chart best ways of distributing them to potential business areas.

However, he warned against the tendency of petty traders selling items from businessmen who are not paying statutory revenues, saying such kind of trading should stop immediately. He said while he will be advocating for the fair deal in their activities, petty traders should be loyal and demand receipts once they buy items from the wholesellers.

Dr Magufuli suggested the establishment of a one-stop day centre for public shopping in the city centre or allocation of a special street for petty traders.

He issued three months to the City Fathers to work out on the sugges- tions and act accordingly. On Mwanza Airport, the president or- dered the contractor to resume work anytime this week while the government was processing his payments.

The completion of the airport was crucial to the economy of the region and the entire Lake Zone since it will attract many businesses through tourism and other economic avenues. A n o t h e r tough action was announced against suppliers of fake cotton seeds who used to cheat at the expense of poor farmers asking for the organs to deal with them as well.

He expressed his appreciation over “the impressive implementation of the construction of a pedestrian flyover at Furahisha area as well as construction of 2.8km road from Furahisha to the Airport”. “This project is proceeding very well and I would like to see this road heading straight to the airport instead of ending at Pasiansi as earlier planned.

I will make sure funds are available for the additional work,” he pledged. The president also pleaded for the maintenance of peace in the country, asking political parties to put cheap politics aside and join him to build the nation.

He said it was sinful to disrupt peace on the pretext of democracy, insisting that true democracy must be exercised only when people have something to eat.

Britons’ pull out of European Union has been extensively covered all over the world, more so, in East Africa, a region whose three founder members Britain colonised, and four of its member countries are affiliated to the Commonwealth.

While the leave campaigners in the UK’s referendum accused the “remain” camp of overplaying the repercussions of BREXIT, media houses in the EA region, confined their reports on the engines of globalisation-finance, technology trade, treaties, education, travelling and staying in the UK, underplaying as to why the British want to retain their say as a nation.

At the centre of the referendum was mounting pressure within Conservative MPs and in the UK Independence Party (UKIP) who have been arguing that Britain has lost its say as a nation since 1975, when it voted to stay in the EU in a prior referendum.

“The EU has changed a lot since then, gaining control over our daily lives,” the British MPs kept on hammering the message in the Assembly, prompting the out gone Prime Minister David Cameroon to say: “It is time for the Britons to have their say.”

Mr Cameroon had promised to conduct a referendum over EU membership, he walked his talk and went a step ahead, to commit a political suicide, by resigning over the results – when England voted strongly for BREXIT, defeating his “remain” campaign.

The BREXIT episode sends several clear messages to our region; that, even most powerful countries such as Britain, would not close their eyes when their sovereignty is being encroached through regional groupings and other affiliations and that good leaders should adhere to political principles they believe, conquering temptations to remain in power.

Lastly, is an underlying conflict between ‘Realists’ and ‘Liberals’ globalisations’ accounts. One of fallacies in international relations is that nations are supposed to have ‘equal- sovereignty’ powers, irrespective of their economic and military capabilities.

However, the interaction between small and weak nations and super powers and emerging economies, on the other side, defies the principle of equity- sovereignty.

Though no reference is made to a historical massprotest against IMF in Tanzania almost two decades prior to the widely-known Battle for Seattle of anti-globalists in November 1999, the fact is that the cradle of protest against encroachment of sovereignty started in Tanzania, 34 years ago.

The first Tanzanian President, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, in 1980s refused to sign-in harsh conditions imposed by IMF and loudly cried, “Since when, IMF is an International Monetary Police?” During the cold war in 1970s, Tanzania became a Frontline-State, coordinating liberation struggles in Southern African countries by then under foreign domination; South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia through military training and logistical support from the then rival Eastern Bloc countries of former USSR, East Germany, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, China, Hungary and North Korea.

Apparently, the role played by Tanzania as a Frontline state and its increasing political influence in various international forums, is reported to have irked countries in the other side of the Cold War. In 1970s Tanzania had about 50 foreign donors, rendering support to the EA country.

The country made significant progress in social services; free education, free health services, life expectancy, with mortality rate of under- five falling as 90 percent of school age children were by then schooling.

However, in 1982, IMF came with a mission to change the Tanzanian statecontrolled economy, by making a sharp devaluation of a Shilling ( The British declined to replace a Pound with Euros), privatisation of state industries, liberation of import and exports and reduction of civil servants.

Tanzania demonstrators who took to streets to protest against IMF conditionalities, marked a precedence of ordinary folks in a developing country, defending their sovereignty against globalising corporate.

In actual fact, the unpublicised demonstrations, took place almost two decades before the World Trade Organisations (WTO) protests in Seattle, which ushered-in, a series of protests against ‘unaccountable and undemocratic’ corporate organisations, in Washington, Lima, Prague and elsewhere.

Writing on global political economy, British author: Michael Nicholson, says; unlike the general process of globalisation, this aspect of the reduction of sovereignty was designed, and the IMF is an institution created explicitly with balance of payments as its primary task.

It is intended to reduce sovereignty and it is inappropriate to criticise IMF for doing this”. The Breton Wood Institutions and WTO belong to a myriad of many other international organisations and legal instruments, which in depriving-off, the sovereignty rights of most of Third World states, are termed by a British writer; Mr John Pliger, the ‘The new rulers of the World.