Africa Roundup

Here is a roundup of stories garnering attention across Africa:

Charles Taylor unsurprisingly calls the accusations against him that have found him in the dock at the special war crimes trial at the Hague lies and misinformation. Naturally we need to let the process play out. And legal standards of proof are particular. But there is not a historian of Liberia or West Africa nor is there a serious observer of West African politics who doubts Taylor’s guilt. The only tragedy is that the crimes of which he stands accused represent only the tip of the iceberg, as they pertain only to allegations of crimes committed in Sierra Leone, ignoring the innumerable crimes Taylor committed against his fellow Liberians over the years.

Here is the text of President Obama’s speech in Ghana this past weekend. I thought it served as a rather fine broad declaration of principles (coupled with the perhaps inevitable personal reflections Obama brought to the speech) even if it was lacking in specifics. Texas in Africa focused on the shortcomings in her assessment.  My only response is that there is time. We all know that the bulk of Obama’s Africa-related policy will be tied to meeting crises, but I am confident that he will give Africa at least as much, and hopefully more, thought than his predecessor, who was less awful on Africa than he was just about everywhere else. Ok, so that’s not exactly setting the bar high. But still — Obama will give Africa serious consideration as he appears to give just about everything that crosses his desk.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has declared (another) temporary cease fire in its unrelenting attacks on Nigeria’s oil facilities. I would probably not plan my next trip to the Delta banking on peace and stability quite yet.

Gunmen stormed a Mogadishu hotel and kidnapped two French officials working as security advisers yesterday. There is probably irony contained therein, but really it’s pretty grim irony.

The construction workers strike that threatened serious disruption of the already tight building schedule for next year’s World Cup has been resolved. Even the union acknowledges that the agreement was better than expected. Do not, however, expect the recent disruption to be the last or for future resolutions to be as relatively agreeable.

Finally, the Congress of the People (COPE) continues to be characterized by what I will euphemistically be called growing pains.  In the words of COPE member of Parliament Nolitha Vokuza “[COPE] was born and it ran. We didn’t have the time to crawl,” which seems a pretty good characterization. The question remains — will the organization fall flat on its face, or will it get the hang of the sprint it entered into at birth?