Church of Uganda: Church of Uganda grateful for Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 (29.05.2023)

South Africa: The ANC gives Putin immunity…

This was bound to happen, as the South African Government will both hold BRICS Ministerial Meetings in June and BRICS General Summit August this year. Therefore, the ANC and the government had to figure out something. That is has now appeared and they are showing allegiance to Russia.

That is the message and the memo. Not that this is new or anything. Pretoria is bound by the BRICS agreements and the cordial relations with the allies of the BRICS. It would have been a surprise and a shocker if they would have arrested or charged Putin on South African soil That would have been a monumental task and an international quagmire of epic proportions.

The ANC and the government of the Republic already had a bad predicament. As the International Criminal Court has issued charges and pending arrest of Vladimir Putin. This means that his international travels could give way and reasons for his sudden arrest. Even as a head of state and an executive of a sovereign independent Russia.

This has solved and resolved the “illegalities” of a visit and legitimized Putin’s stay in South Africa. It has given him a reason to come and visit. That’s the gist of the reason move. However, I am not shocked. The same nation allowed the same to happen to the former Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir who visited the nation in 2017.

When that happened, the ICC wrote this in advance of the visit:

“Today, 6 July 2017, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “Court”) composed of Judges Cuno Tarfusser, Presiding, Chang-ho Chung, and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut who appended an individual opinion, delivered in open session its decision finding that South Africa failed to comply with its obligations by not arresting and surrendering Omar Al-Bashir to the Court while he was on South African territory between 13 and 15 June 2015. However, the Chamber considered that it is not warranted to refer South Africa’s non-compliance to the Assembly of States Parties (“ASP”) or the Security Council of the United Nations (“UNSC”)” (ICC, 06.07.2017).

We can most likely see something similar happen when Putin arrives or is scheduled to arrive in South Africa. It is the same thing all over again. The Republic of South Africa haven’t notified that they are leaving the Rome Statute or the ICC. Therefore, they will possibly breach the agreement and there will be ramification that can end up int the Council of United Nations.

We can now also see that the BRICS coalition is more important than anything for the current leadership of South Africa. They are valuing BRICS over other agreements and legal instruments it has signed itself too.

It is surely interesting times we are living in. I am not shocked or surprised this was bound to happen. It is just happening 6 years ago last time and now the same thing is occurring again. To think that its changes that it’s a Russian President versus a Sudanese one is naïve. When the RSA has allowed it to happen before… and in 2023 would be no different. Peace.

Tanzania: The President plans to “Takeover” TISS

“Part II deals with amendments proposed to various sections. The Act is proposed to be amended generally by removing all the provisions concerning the administration of the Minister responsible for intelligence and security and instead, placing that mandate under the President. The purpose of the amendment is to make the Act conform with the current structure of governance whereby the Security and Intelligence Service is under the direct superintendence of the President and not through the Minister responsible for intelligence and security. The proposed changes take into account the nature of operations of security services across the globe.   Following the proposed change of portfolio that places the Intelligence and Security Service under the mandate of the President, the Act is further proposed to be amended in sections 11, 15, 18 and 19(3) by removing the controls of the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs, the Chief Secretary and the Attorney General of various matters pertaining the administration of intelligence and security.   The Act is proposed to be amended in section 4 with a view of conferring to the Service a defense and security status and to placing it under the general superintendence of the President. The amendments are aimed at complementing a duty which the Service currently executes as one of the defense and security organs in Tanzania” (Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (Amendment), 09.05.2023).

We are living in interesting times, as the supposed reformer and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu is following the footsteps of her predecessor. She is no difference than what late President Magufuli would have done. This amendment of the TISS ACT is following and copying the style of governance that the late President would have done in a heartbeat.

The Chama Cha Mapundzi (CCM) is continuing their path to consolidate and have all power within its reach. That’s what is happening here and it’s so obvious. This amendment and the articles in it will only benefit the President. The President and the CCM will only get less accountable and have more power. That’s all this is about and it’s not about positive or inclusive reform. No, that would be a lie.

The Tanzanian President would have the oversight and direct control of TISS before any Minister or Attorney General. Meaning the Ministry and the Attorney General will be side-lined and have less of a say. They are not included and not privy to the facts.

In addition, which is also a basis of worry is that the officers in TISS getting a broader scope of immunity. Meaning the officers that his now directly under the Presidency now got less concerned with the law or implications of their activities. That’s a way of securing a police state and ensuring the law enforcement to issue injustice on a large scale.

Seeing the TISS Amendment Bill of 2023 is depressing. The CCM and the President is securing itself with vast powers here. The intelligence agency will be bound by the President and not by the Ministry or the Judiciary through the Attorney General. Therefore, Director General Said Hassan Nassoro will only have to answer to the President and nobody else. That is giving him and the President lots of freedoms. While the officers of the TISS will also easily get off the hook.

People should get worried about this and this will be a dangerous statement from the CCM. The ones believing that the President would reform and for a better society is wrong. This is a way of the CCM and the President to takeover more, and have less oversight. It is a dream for a dictator and a tyrant. That the security and intelligence agency is directed under you and nobody else. It is a fact that this is what the ones hungry for power wants. Because the TISS is now only beholden to one person and there are no laws overlooking it. Meaning the words of the President is the bond and the orders of the day. Therefore, Tanzanian citizens should be worried and concerned about TISS. Peace.

RDC: FARDC – Communique des Forces Armees de la RD Congo (29.05.2023)

Burma: Justice for Myanmar (JFM) – Japan’s railway projects risk aiding & abetting Myanmar junta’s crimes (30.05.2023)

Zimbabwe: Prof. Mtuli Ncube – Statement on Policy Measures to Stabilise the Economy (29.05.2023)

RDC: Comité Laïc de Coordination (CLC) – Communication du CLC sur les violations flagrantes des principes democratiques en RDC (29.05.2023)

Sudan: The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) – Statement (29.05.2023)

The April 15 war enters its seventh week and puts the country day after day on the brink of a pit of total collapse. During this period, Sudan lost the lives of thousands of civilians and military personnel, destroyed the country’s civilian and military infrastructure and capabilities, looted homes and shops, and spread hate speech and sharp polarization. All of this is still happening. The war is expanding and its intensity is increasing, which makes us stick more to our declared position from day one of the necessity of stopping this war immediately, and favoring peaceful political solutions to address the root causes of the issues that led to its outbreak, as we affirm the following:

First: We call on the leadership of the Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to renew and abide by the short-term ceasefire, which will end this evening, in order to give an opportunity to address the severely deteriorating humanitarian situation. Today’s truce has witnessed a slight improvement, represented by a decrease in the intensity of the confrontations, but it has witnessed abuses such as the use of aircraft, the continued armed presence in homes and service facilities, assaults on civilians, the occurrence of armed clashes, and the delay in the arrival of humanitarian aid. perpetrators and the return of looted property, with the commitment of the two parties to cooperate in order to restore the necessary services.

Second: We strongly reject the calls for civil armament and the plunge of civilians into the furnace of armed conflict, which is dragging the country into an all-out civil war. We call for abandoning these calls for sedition, besieging the discourse that calls for it and confronting it, and activating social peace initiatives that confront hate speech and prevent the expansion of the scope of war.

Third: We affirm in the Forces for Freedom and Change our continued efforts to contribute positively to stopping the war, through joint work with all national forces to strengthen and expand the anti-war front, and regional and international communication to coordinate efforts to stop the fighting and ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid, and we also continue to urge the leadership of the forces Armed forces and rapid support for delinquency to peaceful solutions, the arbitration of the voice of wisdom, and sparing our country the scourge of slipping into total collapse.

Fourth: We commend the statement of the African Peace and Security Council No. 1156 of May 27, 2023 on the situation in Sudan, and we encourage what was stated in it about the African Union coordinating and unifying international efforts, and we renew our thanks and support for the Saudi-American efforts to extend the short-term ceasefire and address the humanitarian situation, and we hope In integrating international and regional efforts and initiatives to accelerate the pace of reaching a sustainable solution to the Sudanese crisis.

Fifth: We thank all friendly countries and peoples for their speed in providing urgent aid to the Sudanese people, and we call for the formation of a transparent, impartial and impartial mechanism with the participation of aid providers, civil society and popular parties to work on distributing humanitarian and medical aid and ensuring that it reaches those who deserve it in the capital and the states.

In conclusion, we affirm that we will continue to confront the plans of the remnants that work to perpetuate the war and increase its area. We will not be intimidated by their paid campaigns, nor their lies that they actively promote.. This accursed war will inevitably end and peace and security will return to our country, and our people will continue their relentless pursuit to build a state of peace, justice, freedom and prosperity. .

Freedom and Change Forces – Executive Office

Khartoum – May 29, 2023 AD

RDC: Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC) – Declaration des Deputes du FCC en Rapport avec l’Examen de la loi sur la Repartition des Sieges (29.05.2023)

RDC: Conjoint Opposition Communique (29.05.2023)