Rwandan President Paul Kagame has sparked fresh debate across the continent after declaring that not all coups are inherently bad and warning that the wave of Gen Z–led protests spreading across Africa is a sign that something is deeply wrong within governments.
Speaking during a media briefing in Kigali on Thursday, Kagame delivered one of his bluntest assessments yet on the political tremors rocking West, Central and East Africa.
His comments come barely days after an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau and amid heightened political instability from the Sahel to the Indian Ocean.
Kagame said African leaders should stop pretending that coups occur in a vacuum.
According to him, many are the inevitable outcome of years of corruption, misrule and stolen elections that leave citizens desperate and soldiers emboldened.
He insisted there are “good coups” and “bad coups,” arguing that some arise out of frustration with entrenched political elites who have plundered their nations while hiding behind weak institutions.
He said a bad coup is one driven by reckless officers intoxicated by the power of their guns.
The good kind, he said, occurs when citizens or a faction within the state finally decides “enough is enough” after being lied to and robbed for too long.
Kagame said he felt “vindicated” by the recent pattern of coups, including the chaotic events in Guinea-Bissau and the political breakdown in Madagascar.
He questioned why anyone would be shocked when states with long-running governance failures finally explode.
“What do you know about Guinea-Bissau that tells you such a coup should not have happened?” he asked. “Or even Madagascar? When you look at how these places have been run, why wouldn’t there be a coup?”
His remarks echo a growing sentiment across parts of Africa where military takeovers, once universally condemned, are increasingly seen by frustrated citizens as a crude reset button in countries where the political class has closed all democratic exits.
Kagame also weighed in on the rising Gen Z protest movements shaking East Africa.
From Kenya’s anti-finance-bill uprising to youth demonstrations in Uganda and the more recent unrest in Tanzania, Kagame said these protests are not random flare-ups but clear signs that governments have lost touch with their populations.
He said young people are demanding transparency, fairness and honesty, and leaders must explain openly why their countries are grappling with unemployment, debt and crumbling services.
He warned that violence arises when citizens believe their leaders are living lavishly while the public suffers.
“If there is news that this man is building a castle in Paris or New York or Brussels, they will come for your throat,” Kagame said. “It’s a matter of time.”
The Rwandan leader urged the African Union to design a system that can hold sitting civilian leaders accountable when they rig elections, loot public funds or trigger crises that eventually invite coups.
Kagame’s stance is certain to ignite controversy. Human rights organisations routinely accuse his government of suppressing dissent, even as he positions himself as a continental voice on governance reform.
But his comments will resonate with many young Africans who feel betrayed by old political orders and are increasingly taking to the streets—or supporting anyone who can upend the system.
As the coup wave continues and Gen Z unrest rises, Kagame’s remarks capture a shifting political mood on a continent where trust in civilian rulers has collapsed and the next shock could erupt anywhere.
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — When soldiers seized power in this small West African nation on Wednesday, toppling President Umaro Sissoco Embaló just hours before election results were to be announced, the script followed a familiar pattern.
Military officers in fatigues declared they had saved the country from chaos.
The president claimed he had been deposed. Regional powers condemned yet another coup.
But according to a growing chorus of African leaders and opposition figures, the entire spectacle was theater—a carefully staged production with Embaló himself as both victim and director.
“This was not even a palace coup,” said Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former president, who had been in Bissau observing the election for the West African Elders Forum.
“I was looking for the appropriate word to describe it. I could not get that, which is why I called it a ceremonial coup. It was a ceremony conducted by the head of state himself.”
The accusation is extraordinary: that a sitting president would fake his own overthrow to avoid facing voters at the ballot box.
Yet the evidence suggesting Embaló manufactured the crisis is mounting, raising troubling questions about democratic backsliding in a region already battered by military takeovers.
Unlike the coups that have recently convulsed Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, this one had peculiar features from the start.
It was Embaló who first announced his removal from power, calling the French television station France 24 to declare, “I have been deposed.” The military statement came later, almost as an afterthought.
No president had died. No fierce gun battles raged through the capital.
After roughly an hour of gunfire near the electoral commission headquarters on Wednesday evening, an eerie calm settled over Bissau.
By Thursday, Embaló was flying to Senegal on a chartered military flight, not as a captive fleeing violence but apparently by arrangement with the very forces that supposedly overthrew him.
“What happened in Guinea-Bissau was a sham,” Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko told lawmakers, his blunt assessment echoing the skepticism rippling through regional capitals.
The timing of the takeover provides the most damning circumstantial evidence.
Provisional results from Sunday’s presidential election were scheduled to be released Thursday.
While official tallies remain sealed by military order, multiple sources suggested Embaló faced a strong challenge from Fernando Dias, a 47-year-old political newcomer who had surged in the race.
Jonathan told reporters in Abuja on Saturday that the election had been completed and results were essentially known.
“The key thing is that the winner of that election must be announced,” he said, calling on West African leaders to pressure Guinea-Bissau’s new military rulers to release the outcome.
Instead, the High Military Command for the Restoration of Order suspended the electoral process entirely, claiming they had thwarted a plot by unnamed politicians backed by drug barons.
The convenient vagueness of the allegations, combined with the immediate detention of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Domingos Simões Pereira, suggested other motives.
Dias himself accused Embaló of staging “a false coup attempt” because he feared electoral defeat. Local civil society organizations made similar charges, describing it as a “simulated coup” designed to prevent results from emerging.
For Embaló, 53, orchestrating his own removal would fit an established pattern.
Throughout his presidency, which began in 2020, he has repeatedly invoked security threats to consolidate power. After claiming to survive an attempted coup in December 2023, he dissolved parliament.
Guinea-Bissau has functioned without a legislature ever since.
Major-General Horta Inta-a, the new transitional president, salutes during the swearing-in ceremony of Major-General Tomas Djassi as the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces in Bissau/ Reuters
Critics have long accused him of fabricating crises to justify crackdowns on dissent, though he has never responded directly to such allegations.
This time, however, the international community appears less willing to accept the official narrative at face value.
The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau’s membership Friday, citing the unconstitutional military takeover.
The Economic Community of West African States issued similar sanctions while demanding that soldiers return to their barracks.
Even the European Union called for restoration of constitutional order and completion of the vote count.
Yet the criticism has been carefully calibrated.
No government has explicitly accused Embaló of staging the coup, perhaps reluctant to level such a severe charge without conclusive proof.
Jonathan and Sonko spoke of their suspicions but offered no documentary evidence of coordination between the president and military commanders.
That ambiguity may work in Embaló’s favor.
The new transitional president, Major General Horta Inta-a, has promised elections within a year.
Whether Embaló will be allowed to run again remains unclear, but his safe passage to Senegal suggests he retains significant leverage.
He could return as a civilian candidate, positioning himself as the man who can restore stability to the chaos he may have created.
Guinea-Bissau has endured at least nine coups and attempted coups since winning independence from Portugal in 1974, earning a reputation as one of Africa’s most politically unstable nations.
It has also become a critical transit point for cocaine flowing from South America to Europe, with drug money deeply embedded in political campaigns.
Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, who directs the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa, noted that major traffickers financed electoral campaigns in the recent vote.
“There is no sign the impact of cocaine on politics and governance in Bissau will decrease,” she said.
Whether genuine or staged, the coup has plunged the country back into turmoil.
Pharmacies remained closed Thursday.
Residents stayed indoors even after the curfew lifted. A professor in Bissau named Julio Gonçalves captured the anxiety gripping the capital: “If somebody is sick, how can he buy medicine or go to the hospital?”
Others expressed weary acceptance of military rule, hoping at least for competent governance. “I am not against the military regime as long as they improve the living conditions in the country,” said Suncar Gassama, a Bissau resident.
For the people of Guinea-Bissau, the distinction between a real coup and a fake one may matter less than the result: another democratic process interrupted, another election result suppressed, another chapter in a long history of violence and instability.
But for Africa, the implications are profound.
If leaders discover they can manufacture coups against themselves to escape accountability, the continent’s already fragile democratic norms face a new and insidious threat.
The question is no longer just whether militaries will respect civilian rule, but whether civilians in power will respect it themselves.
As Jonathan put it in his briefing to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, regional leaders must insist on transparency. “Let us know the winner of the election,” he said. In Guinea-Bissau, even that basic democratic principle has become a revolutionary demand.
Police in South Africa have arrested four men who were travelling to Russia via the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on suspicion that they were heading to join a foreign military.
South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) said in a statement on Saturday that the men were arrested on Friday at OR Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg following a tip-off.
The Hawks said the suspects are expected to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court on Monday on charges of contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, 15 of 1998.
South African law prohibits citizens and residents from participating in unauthorized foreign military activities or mercenary work.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that a South African female had allegedly been facilitating the travel and recruitment of these individuals into the Russian Federation military,’’ the statement said without naming the suspect.
The Hawks said they had seized gadgets and two backpacks from the suspects for further investigation, as they work with local and international intelligence partners to determine the full scope of the network.
According to reports, dozens of Africans who were lured to Russia for jobs have ended up on the front lines of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
South African police launched an investigation this month into allegations that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, former President Jacob Zuma’s daughter, lured 17 South Africans into fighting alongside Russia in its ongoing war.
Sambudla, a member of the opposition uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), resigned from parliament on Friday following the allegations.
A dramatic legal showdown in London has thrust South Sudan’s oil industry into the global spotlight once again, exposing the deep fractures, political intrigues and high-stakes financial battles that have quietly defined Juba’s dealings with its biggest oil financiers.
What looked like a routine tanker loading at Port Sudan turned into a full-blown international standoff when commodity giant BB Energy moved to freeze a 600,000-barrel shipment of Dar Blend crude, accusing South Sudan of diverting cargoes in breach of a financing deal.
The injunction, granted on 18 November by the High Court in London, stopped the cargo dead in its tracks and sent shockwaves through a government that is almost entirely dependent on oil to stay afloat. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s budget revenue.
The company had advanced about 100 million dollars to Juba for fuel financing under a 2024 prepayment agreement.
In return it expected crude oil shipments to be delivered as scheduled.
Instead it claimed the government and its state oil firm Nilepet rerouted several cargoes to third parties, triggering what legal filings described as a dramatic collapse of trust.
BB Energy told the court that South Sudan had neither honoured its deliveries nor demonstrated the financial capacity to settle the debt, prompting the judge to note there were good grounds to believe the defendants lacked funds to meet any judgment.
On paper the injunction was a lethal blow.
But behind the scenes an even more explosive political drama was unfolding in Juba.
Within hours of taking office, South Sudan’s new Finance Minister Barnaba Bak Chol and the freshly installed Petroleum Undersecretary Chol Thon Abel scrambled to prevent a total diplomatic and commercial meltdown.
Acting directly under instructions from President Salva Kiir, the two officials reached out to BB Energy with one mission: stop the case from escalating and convince the trader that a new era had begun.
Their intervention worked. Just before the scheduled return-date hearing, BB Energy quietly stepped back. It suspended the legal fight and allowed the injunction to be lifted, clearing the way for the tanker to load, reportedly for buyers in Dubai or Singapore.
Market insiders tell Kenya Insights that the decision was less an olive branch and more a calculated pause to give Juba a chance to fix a mess created under the previous leadership of the Petroleum Ministry.
What insiders describe is a ministry that, under former vice-president Benjamin Bol Mel’s influence, had descended into chaos.
Bol Mel, now under house arrest, is accused of presiding over a period marked by distrust, opaque deals and tense relations with long-standing partners including Petronas, Afreximbank, QNB, Vitol and BB Energy. Competent financing channels began to dry up. Disputes multiplied. Billions in prepayment obligations piled up like a debt time bomb.
The London injunction was the clearest sign yet of how badly things had deteriorated.
Industry analysts say South Sudan currently owes commodity traders and Middle Eastern financiers an estimated 2.3 billion dollars, much of it tied to opaque oil-backed loans that have now pushed creditors to seek protection in foreign courts.
For BB Energy the temporary retreat is not forgiveness. They are preparing for a full trial before Christmas break this year. Its legal rights remain intact and its undertaking in damages has been left untouched.
The suspension merely buys time for a political reset that Juba desperately hopes will avert catastrophe.
For South Sudan the stakes could not be higher. BB Energy is not just another trader.
It has been one of the government’s most consistent financial lifelines, injecting nearly 1.3 billion dollars over the years to keep the state functioning through COVID-19, pipeline shutdowns and budget crises. Losing such a partner would send a chilling signal across global markets.
Diplomats warn that if negotiations collapse the consequences will be severe. Credible financial players will retreat.
Future oil deals will become more expensive and harder to secure.
Rogue intermediaries and shadowy networks will fill the vacuum, emboldening corruption and deepening South Sudan’s economic turmoil.
Ultimately the biggest losers would be ordinary South Sudanese citizens who rely on oil revenue to fund schools, hospitals and government salaries.
For now Juba has bought itself breathing room.
But the message from London is unmistakable.
The world is watching closely, BB Energy is not letting go of its claim, and the next misstep could plunge South Sudan’s fragile oil sector into an even deeper crisis.
This is the story behind an injunction that seemed like a legal footnote but has become a warning shot to a nation running out of chances.
Guinea-Bissau’s deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has arrived in neighbouring Senegal following his release by military forces that toppled his government this week, Senegal’s authorities have announced.
It follows negotiations by the regional West African bloc Ecowas to secure his transfer amid rising tensions in Guinea-Bissau.
Senegal’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Embaló had landed in the country “safe and sound” on a chartered military flight late on Thursday.
The military in Guinea-Bissau has already sworn in a new transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, who will rule the coup-prone country for a year.
Wednesday’s coup came a day before authorities were due to announce the provisional results of a presidential and parliamentary election.
The military has suspended the electoral process and blocked the release of the results.
It said it was acting to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the support of a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country, and imposed a night-time curfew.
Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, the coup-prone country is known as a drug-trafficking hub where the military has been influential since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.
Both Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias had claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential poll.
Dias was supported by former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, who had been disqualified from running.
Government sources earlier told the BBC that Dias, Pereira and Interior Minister Botché Candé had also been detained.
The military junta has banned public protests and “all disturbing actions of peace and stability in the country”.
Tension remained high in the capital, Bissau, on Thursday, with most shops and markets closed as soldiers patrolled the streets, news agency AFP reported.
Earlier that day, Gen N’Tam, the Guinea-Bissau army’s chief of staff, was named the country’s new leader for a period of one year.
Gen N’Tam said in a speech that the military had acted “to block operations that aimed to threaten our democracy”.
Shortly after the swearing-in, the military reopened land, air and sea borders that were shut when it announced the coup.
Some civil society groups in Guinea-Bissau have accused Embaló of masterminding a “simulated coup” against himself with the help of the military, saying it was a ruse to block election results from coming out in case he lost.
Dias, who was Embaló’s main challenger, made similar claims, saying it was an “organised coup”.
He told the AFP that he considered himself the president-elect of Guinea-Bissau and believed he won roughly 52% of the vote.
Embaló has not responded to the allegations.
The 53-year leader said he has survived multiple coup attempts during his time in office. However, his critics have previously accused him of fabricating crises in order to crack down on dissent.
Ecowas leaders have suspended Guinea-Bissau from all decision-making organs until constitutional order is restored. In a statement, the bloc ordered the military to return to the barracks, calling its actions a “grave violation of Guinea-Bissau’s constitutional order”.
The African Union (AU) has also condemned the coup and called for respect for the constitutional order.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Guinea Bissau, calling for an “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order”.
Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades.
Dar es Salaam. A day after the European Union (EU) adopted a resolution on 27 November 2025 to suspend 156 million Euros (about Sh400 billion aid funds intended for Tanzania in 2026, the government said it is closely monitoring the matter.
Tanzania’s ambassador attending the EU debate will submit a report, after which the government will issue an official statement.
The minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, said Tanzania’s ambassador to Belgium, Jestas Nyamanga, was participating in the talks.
“Once the discussions conclude and a decision is reached, Ambassador Nyamanga will submit his report and the government will then issue a statement on what was decided in the EU Parliament,” he said.
No crisis
Asked about the potential loss of EU funding, Ambassador Kombo said Tanzania would not face a crisis, noting the country has its own budget and other revenue sources.
“Follow the discussions online to see how much funding we might lose. Tanzanians will not go hungry because of this. Compare the EU allocation with our annual budget and see what proportion it represents,” he said.
Tanzania’s national budget for 2025/26 stands at Sh56.49 trillion, of which Sh40.47 trillion is expected from domestic revenue and Sh1.07 trillion from foreign grants, while Sh14.95 trillion will come from domestic and external loans.
Analysts warn that the cost of loans could rise significantly if the country turns to commercial borrowing due to stricter conditions from traditional development partners.
The EU’s decision follows international concern over unrest and violence during and after the 29 October 2025 general election, which left several people dead in clashes with police and caused widespread property damage, including motorcycles, cars, petrol stations, private homes, government offices, rapid transit (BRT) stations and other infrastructure.
In its debate, the EU Parliament expressed regret over the killings and said the election was not fully democratic due to limited political competition.
Opposition leader and Chadema chairman Tundu Lissu remains in detention on treason charges, which carry the death penalty if he is convicted.
The EU criticised the Tanzanian government for alleged human rights violations, including abductions, killings of government critics, and restrictions on media freedom.
“All funds directed to public institutions should be suspended immediately. The EU should not use its funds to support repression.
Political prisoners must be released unconditionally, and an independent investigation into killings, abductions, and disappearances must be conducted,” the EU statement said.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan warned on November 18 that the October 29 unrest could undermine confidence among development partners, signalling a likely shift to increased domestic resource mobilisation.
“Previously, financing was readily available because there was trust. What happened in our country has tainted our image, and this is likely to reduce our resource base. We must therefore use the resources we have to attract more funding so that promised projects are delivered with speed,” she said.
Speaking to editors on 25 November, Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba did not disclose the number of fatalities but detailed the economic damage, describing it as economic sabotage.
He said 756 government offices, 27 BRT stations, six buses, 273 private homes, 159 police posts, and 672 private fuel stations were damaged. Additionally, 1,642 private vehicles, 2,268 private motorcycles, and 979 government vehicles were set ablaze.
On Thursday, the EU Parliament adopted resolutions on human rights situations in Tanzania, Iran and Tunisia.
Regarding Tanzania, it condemned the use of violence by authorities after the October elections and called for dialogue with opposition parties, civil society and victims’ representatives to enable credible and transparent elections.
MEPs denounced the arbitrary detention of Tundu Lissu and urged his immediate release, along with the abolition of the death penalty.
They also demanded investigations into killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other violations, emphasising the need for an African-led inquiry.
The EU resolution calls for halting direct support to Tanzanian authorities, prioritising civil society, human rights defenders and journalists, and considering sanctions against those responsible.
The resolution was adopted by 539 votes in favour, none against, with 27 abstentions.
MEPs also requested the Commission withdraw its draft decision on financing Tanzania under the EU’s Annual Action Plan for 2025, citing the country’s democratic and human rights deficiencies since the October elections.
In a resounding show of international concern, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to freeze a key funding package for Tanzania, citing severe human rights abuses and electoral irregularities following the country’s October 2025 general elections.
The resolution, passed with a 539-0 vote, puts on hold the Tanzania Annual Action Plan 2025, worth an estimated €156 million, until credible reforms are implemented.
The move comes amid reports of widespread violence, including killings of protesters, abductions, and the arbitrary detention of opposition figures.
European Commissioner for International Partnerships Maria Luís Albuquerque addressed the parliament, stating that the gravity of the situation made “business as usual” impossible.
“We have put on hold the adoption of the Implementation Decision for the Tanzania Annual Action Plan 2025,” she said, emphasizing the need for independent investigations into post-election killings, internet shutdowns, and the shrinking civic space.
MEPs highlighted specific atrocities during the debate, including the violent crackdown on demonstrators and the imprisonment of nearly all major opposition leaders.
Particular attention was drawn to the case of Tundu Lissu, a prominent opposition figure and former presidential candidate, who remains detained on charges widely viewed as politically motivated. Activists from neighboring Kenya and Uganda, who were observing Lissu’s trial, reported being beaten and tortured.
The resolution also addressed long-standing grievances from Tanzania’s Maasai community, who have faced years of repression, forced evictions, and exclusion from voter rolls. Representatives warned that these issues are tied to land-grabbing for tourism and resource extraction projects, exacerbating ethnic tensions.
The parliament’s resolution calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Tundu Lissu, an end to arbitrary arrests, torture, and intimidation of activists, journalists, and opposition supporters, independent probes into reported killings, abductions, and mass graves, suspension of EU funds to state bodies implicated in abuses, and strict democratic conditions for any future EU-Tanzania cooperation.
Opposition leader Tundu Lissu
The October 29 elections were marred by allegations of irregularities, low voter turnout, and deadly violence, with an uncounted number of fatalities attributed to security forces.
The EU’s action builds on earlier concerns raised by individual MEPs about threats to activists and the silencing of critics, shifting from rhetoric to tangible measures.
Tanzania’s government has pushed back strongly against the resolution, labeling it as unwarranted foreign interference in its internal affairs. In a statement, officials cautioned the EU against what they described as a “rising wave of political meddling,” arguing that the parliament’s actions undermine Tanzania’s sovereignty.
This freeze represents a significant escalation in the EU’s response to democratic backsliding in Africa, potentially impacting sectors like infrastructure and development where European investments have been substantial.
Analysts suggest it could pressure President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration to address the crisis, especially as other international partners, including the U.S. and U.K., have voiced similar concerns.
However, it also risks straining bilateral relations and affecting aid-dependent programs that benefit ordinary Tanzanians.
As the dust settles from the elections, the parliament’s stance underscores a broader message: Tanzanians deserve justice, truth, and the full protection of their rights, and silence in the face of such abuses equates to complicity.
A United States-based advocacy group has filed a lawsuit in Washington, DC, accusing Apple of using minerals linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda despite the iPhone maker’s denials.
International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) has previously sued Tesla, Apple and other tech firms over cobalt sourcing, but US courts dismissed that case last year.
French prosecutors in December also dropped a case filed by the DRC against Apple subsidiaries over conflict minerals, citing a lack of evidence. A related criminal complaint in Belgium is still under investigation.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in response to the DRC’s legal cases, saying it had instructed its suppliers to halt the sourcing of material from the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda.
It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest complaint.
IRAdvocates, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that tries to use litigation to curtail rights abuses, said in the complaint filed on Tuesday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Apple’s supply chain still includes cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten linked to child and forced labour as well as armed groups in the DRC and Rwanda.
The lawsuit seeks a determination by the court that Apple’s conduct violates consumer protection law, an injunction to halt alleged deceptive marketing and reimbursement of legal costs but does not seek monetary damages or class certification.
The lawsuit alleges that three Chinese smelters – Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre – processed coltan that United Nations and Global Witness investigators alleged was smuggled through Rwanda after armed groups seized mines in the eastern DRC and linked the material to Apple’s supply chain.
A University of Nottingham study published in 2025 found forced and child labour at DRC sites linked to Apple suppliers, the lawsuit said.
Ningxia Orient, JiuJiang JinXin and Jiujiang Tanbre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The DRC – which supplies about 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt and significant volumes of tin, tantalum and tungsten used in phones, batteries and computers – did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rwanda also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple has repeatedly denied sourcing minerals from conflict zones or using forced labour, citing audits and its supplier code of conduct. It said in December that there was “no reasonable basis” to conclude any smelters or refiners in its supply chain financed armed groups in the DRC or neighbouring countries.
Congolese authorities said armed groups in the eastern part of the country use mineral profits to fund a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. The authorities have tightened controls on minerals to choke off funding, squeezing global supplies.
Apple says 76 per cent of the cobalt in its devices was recycled in 2024, but the IRAdvocates lawsuit alleged its accounting method allows mixing with ore from conflict zones.
On Wall Street, Apple’s stock was up 0.8 per cent.
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalóhas been arrested by armed men, government sources have told the BBC, after gunfire was heard near the presidential palace.
Witnesses in the capital, Bissau, heard gunshots at around 13:00 GMT but it was not immediately clear who was involved in the shooting.
The reports come three days after a presidential election in which the main opposition candidate was disqualified.
The results were expected on Thursday – both Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias have claimed victory.
Hundreds of people on foot and in vehicles fled, seeking shelter as the shots rang out, the AFP news agency reported.
Guinea-Bissau, with a population of just under two million people, is one of the poorest countries in the world. The former Portuguese colony has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.
There have been two attempts to overthrow Embalo, the latest in December 2023.
The Tanzanian government has directed petrol stations across the country not to sell more than two litres of fuel to tuk-tuk and boda boda operators.
Officials said the measure is intended to limit movement ahead of planned demonstrations in December.
Youth groups have called for protests on December 9 over the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The directive was issued on Wednesday by the Officer Commanding District (OCD) in Chunya, N. M. John, who said the move aims to prevent mobility that could facilitate unrest.
“Sell them only a small amount of fuel, not more than two litres, because when you sell them a lot of fuel, you are enabling them to move from point A to point B and continue causing destruction,” he said.
Tanzania has been on edge since October 28, when voters went to the polls to elect the president and Members of the National Assembly.
Opposition leaders have raised concerns about irregularities and intimidation during the process, with some candidates reportedly blocked from contesting or detained.
President Suluhu was declared the winner with 98 per cent of the vote.
Opposition parties rejected the results, calling the exercise a mockery of democracy.
There have been claims by opposition groups that protesters were killed during demonstrations, though the government has denied these reports.
International observers also criticised the electoral process, citing transparency and fairness concerns.
In her victory speech on November 1, President Suluhu defended the election as “free and democratic” and thanked security forces for maintaining order during voting, adding that some protesters were “unpatriotic.”
Further controversy arose after a CNN report alleged police involvement in shootings during protests.
The government dismissed the claims but promised a comprehensive response.
OCD John said police were engaging fuel traders to ensure they do not inadvertently facilitate criminal activity during the protests.
“We are also telling fuel transporters not to sell fuel randomly along the road. We have strengthened our patrols in those areas, at fuel stations, and we are monitoring vehicles that transport fuel,” he said.
He added that those found selling fuel illegally along the roadside could face legal action.
“Anyone found parked by the roadside selling fuel illegally — one litre, two litres — we will not hesitate to take action in accordance with the law,” he said.
Co-operative Bank of South Sudan has entered into a new partnership with the United Nations Development Programme in what officials describe as one of the most ambitious efforts yet to overhaul rural finance in the young nation.
The agreement, nested within the Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development project, seeks to bring thousands of smallholder farmers, women-owned enterprises, and youth-led agribusinesses into the formal banking system—many for the first time.
Caroline Mwongera, the country director for the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, said the partnership signals a decisive shift in how rural finance will be delivered across South Sudan. She described the initiative as a move that “represents a transformational step in strengthening South Sudan’s rural financial systems,” adding that the programme will lean heavily on credit access, cooperative development, and financial literacy to drive long-term agricultural and community growth.
IFAD has already injected 20 million dollars into the programme, with the government of South Sudan, UNDP, Co-operative Bank, and local communities contributing additional resources that push the total funding past 25 million dollars. The investment targets at least 162,000 people in seven counties, with women expected to account for half of the beneficiaries and youth making up nearly 70 per cent.
In vast rural areas where formal banking remains almost non-existent, farmers often travel for hours to reach the nearest banking hall. Many rely on informal savings groups or handwritten loan agreements, while their produce is sold in unstructured markets that leave them vulnerable to middlemen. Officials say these gaps have kept farmers in cycles of low productivity and poor market access.
Evans Kenyi Solomon, a technical adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture, said strengthening cooperatives will be key to breaking those cycles. He argued that empowering youth and women must be central to any lasting reform. “Youth and women empowerment is not a side agenda. It is the engine that drives peace, prosperity, and resilience in this country,” he said, noting that cooperatives help farmers negotiate better prices, bulk-purchase inputs, and build shared storage infrastructure after harvest.
Co-operative Bank’s managing director, Elijah Wamalwa, said the partnership is the culmination of years of planning between development partners and the banking sector. He called the launch “an important step” in expanding financial access to places long ignored by formal lenders. Wamalwa said the bank intends to introduce rural credit products that respond to local realities and extend services to counties where farmers have traditionally relied on cash economies. “We want a future where a farmer in Nimule or Torit can access credit as easily as someone in Juba,” he said.
Part of the rollout will include agency banking and a mobile-based platform designed for low-connectivity environments, allowing farmers to save, borrow, and receive payments without travelling long distances.
UNDP deputy representative and senior economist Ligane Sene said the partnership also aligns with broader national goals of reducing dependence on oil revenue and diversifying the economy through agriculture. He said enabling farmers to work in organised groups would unlock economies of scale that could move South Sudan from chronic food imports to sustained food self-sufficiency. Sene added that the digital innovations embedded in the programme, including a national payment system, could help rural areas gradually transition toward a cashless economy.
The partners say implementation will begin immediately, with community-based financial institutions expected to play a central role in the shift to modern banking. For many rural farmers, the initiative could mark the first real opportunity to access secure financial services—an opening they hope will lift incomes, stabilise markets, and build resilience in a country still recovering from years of conflict.
The abrupt dismissal of Petroleum Undersecretary Eng. Deng Lual Wol and Nilepet Managing Director Ayuel Ngor Kuac on Tuesday evening was precipitated by their involvement in soliciting a staggering $2.5 billion advance payment from international oil companies, Kenya Insights has learned through leaked confidential documents.
Two letters dated October 27 and 31, 2025, obtained by this publication reveal requests for $1 billion each from ONGC Nile Ganga B.V. and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPCC) against future crude oil entitlements.
The documents, signed by Wol in his capacity as Undersecretary, sought advances to be repaid within 54 calendar months through oil shipments from the Nile Blend and Dar Blend fields operated by PETRONAS and Nile Petroleum Corporation.
The letters represent an extraordinary financial maneuver in a nation where oil revenues have plummeted by up to 70 percent amid Sudan’s ongoing civil war, which has repeatedly disrupted the critical export pipeline to Port Sudan.
South Sudan produces approximately 150,000 barrels per day, down from pre-war peaks of 350,000 barrels, with each disruption costing the cash-starved government millions in lost revenue.
The first letter, addressed to Mr. Wang Gaulin, Country Manager of CNPCC, states: “The Republic of South Sudan Government through the Ministry of Petroleum is requesting an advance payment of USD 1,000,000,000 (Only One Billion United States Dollars) against crude oil entitlements owned by PETRONAS and currently under Nile Petroleum Corporation.”
The correspondence specifies that payback would occur through joint marketing arrangements, with lenders authorized to lift equivalent oil volumes monthly as agreed.
The second letter, directed to Mr. Rengit John, Country Manager of ONGC Nile Ganga B.V., contains identical language and financial terms, bringing the total requested advance to $2 billion.
Both letters conclude with assurances that loan agreements would be finalized within one month of receipt, pending acceptance of the requests.
Sources within the Ministry of Petroleum indicate the advance scheme was conceived as a lifeline for a government facing acute liquidity crises.
Juba has struggled to pay civil servants for months, with bank withdrawal limits capped at 50,000 South Sudanese pounds daily due to foreign currency shortages.
The South Sudanese pound has lost over 40 percent of its value against the dollar in 2025, fueling inflation that has left basic commodities unaffordable for millions.
However, the solicitations appear to have violated protocols within the fragile unity government.
First Vice President Riek Machar’s SPLM-IO faction controls the Petroleum Ministry, and sources suggest the letters were dispatched without full cabinet consultation or approval from Finance Ministry oversight mechanisms established under the 2018 peace accord.
“This was a unilateral move that bypassed key stakeholders,” a senior government official told Kenya Insights on condition of anonymity.
“It exposed the administration to accusations of mortgaging future oil revenues without transparency.”
The timing of the letters, sent just weeks before the purge orchestrated by presidential daughter Adut Salva Kiir Mayardit, suggests they triggered alarm within State House.
Oil revenues constitute over 95 percent of South Sudan’s national budget, and advance payment schemes carry risks of debt entrapment and reduced future fiscal flexibility.
International financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, have repeatedly warned Juba against opaque oil-backed loans following previous arrangements with Qatar Petroleum that saddled the nation with unfavorable terms.
Wol, a veteran oil engineer with over 16 years in infrastructure projects, had been positioned as Kuac’s replacement in the initial purge reported by Kenya Insights on November 24.
His involvement in the advance payment scheme, however, appears to have sealed his fate alongside Kuac, whose tenure at Nilepet was already marred by salary strikes, money laundering allegations tied to Kenyan real estate, and operational paralysis.
Neither ONGC Nile Ganga nor CNPCC has publicly commented on the requests.
Both companies hold significant stakes in South Sudan’s oil blocks, with ONGC operating in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company consortium and CNPCC holding interests through PetroDar Operating Company.
Industry analysts note that $2 billion in advances would represent nearly two years of South Sudan’s current oil export earnings, a massive liability that could deter lenders already wary of the nation’s instability.
The dismissals, announced via terse presidential decrees broadcast on state media Tuesday, installed Gen. Santino Deng Wol as the new Petroleum Undersecretary and left the Nilepet Managing Director post vacant pending further appointments.
No mention was made of house arrest, though earlier reports indicated such measures were under consideration for officials accused of financial impropriety.
Opposition figures have seized on the revelations. “This is textbook mismanagement disguised as crisis response,” said Mabior Garang, spokesperson for the SPLM-IO.
“Mortgaging our oil future without parliamentary scrutiny or public debate is a betrayal of South Sudan’s sovereignty.”
Civil society groups, including the Sudd Institute, have called for an independent audit of all oil-backed financing agreements and transparent publication of terms.
For Adut Salva Kiir Mayardit, the purge underscores her expanding influence over the levers of economic and security power.
By excising figures linked to opaque financial schemes, she signals a zero-tolerance posture toward initiatives that could undermine her father’s grip on oil revenues or expose the administration to international scrutiny.
Whether this represents genuine reform or consolidation of dynastic control remains a subject of fierce debate in Juba’s corridors of power.
As South Sudan lurches toward delayed 2026 elections, the leaked letters illuminate the desperation gripping a government hemorrhaging legitimacy and cash.
The $2.5 billion gambit, now exposed, may have cost two senior officials their careers. The question haunting Juba is whether it also cost the nation its financial future.
Kenya Insights continues to investigate oil sector dealings in South Sudan. Documents or tips can be sent to us through our confidential contacts.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 21 — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen has called for an independent international investigation into Tanzania’s post-election crackdown, following a CNN investigation that uncovered evidence of shootings, mass graves, and a possible cover-up by security forces.
In a statement, Senator Shaheen condemned what she described as “disturbing actions” by Tanzanian authorities in the aftermath of the October 29 presidential election, which saw President Samia Suluhu Hassan declared winner with 98 per cent of the vote amid opposition boycotts and disqualifications.
“This report underscores the disturbing actions by the Tanzanian Government to suppress protestors. Evidence of mass graves show an unacceptable attempt to cover-up gross violations of human rights,” she said.
“There must be an independent investigation into these tragic acts immediately.”
Her remarks came in response to a CNN exposé that documented alleged police killings of unarmed protesters, the use of live ammunition, and suspected secret burials meant to mask the death toll.
CNN’s investigation, which employed the use of satellite imagery, geo-located videos, eyewitness accounts, and forensic audio analysis, indicated that Tanzanian police fired live rounds at crowds and may have buried victims in unmarked graves at Kondo cemetery in Kunduchi, north of Dar es Salaam.
Verified footage and images showed overcrowded morgues in Mwanza and Dar es Salaam, with bodies laid on stretchers and floors after days of violent clashes.
Medical staff told CNN that many victims had sustained gunshot wounds to the head, chest, abdomen, and limbs.
Witnesses in Arusha told the network that a pregnant woman and a young man were shot during protests, while drone footage showed people fleeing as armed men — some in plain clothes — opened fire.
Opposition officials have alleged that security forces removed some bodies from hospitals and dumped them in remote areas to conceal the true number of fatalities. These claims have not been independently verified but align with satellite images showing freshly disturbed soil at suspected mass grave sites.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has said multiple sources suggest that hundreds of people may have been killed, with many more injured or detained during the post-election unrest.
The UN has joined calls for an impartial, credible investigation into the use of lethal force, urging Tanzanian authorities to ensure truth, accountability, and reparations for victims’ families.
President Samia Suluhu last week acknowledged unspecified casualties and announced the formation of a national commission of inquiry, but critics say an independent mechanism is necessary given the government’s role in the crackdown.
The Tanzanian government has sharply criticized CNN and other international media outlets for what it described as biased, “unverified,” and sensational reporting.
Government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa accused journalists of relying on social media content and satellite images without seeking comment from the authorities.
“These outlets failed to seek out the government to hear the other side of the story. This was a very big mistake. The government calls on CNN to exercise ethics in airing their stories and avoid sharing stories without verified sources,” he said.
Rights organisations, foreign governments, and regional bodies have begun pressing Tanzania for transparency, with calls intensifying for access to burial sites, hospital records, and police operations during the election period.
Nigerian actor, content creator and influencer Odira Nwobu has died in South Africa aged 43, his lawyer and the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria have told the BBC.
News of his death has shocked many at home in Nigeria, prompting an outpouring of grief online from fans and colleagues alike for the Nollywood star who was in more than 60 films during his lifetime and was well-known for his comedic persona and babyface.
Nwobu’s family have yet to comment publicly.
It is not yet known what caused the actor’s death on Monday. A coroner’s report was expected soon, his lawyer Chukwujiekwu Chukwudi said.
Videos appearing to show the lifeless body of the actor began circulating online on Monday, causing upset.
Mr Chukwudi told the BBC’s Igbo service that an ambulance was called to Nwobu’s hotel in the town of Benoni, near Johannesburg, after he was discovered alone in his room “gasping for breath”.
Paramedics attempted to keep the actor alive using a defibrillator, but he died at the scene before they could take him to hospital, he said.
Born in Nigeria’s south-eastern state of Enugu in 1982, Odira Nwobu landed his first professional role – in a film called Joseph the Dreamer – straight out of secondary school.
He had a prolific career but struggled with feeling typecast, he told BBC News Igbo back in 2021, which made him turn to content creation as a way to find more freedom.
Across his TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts he amassed hundreds of thousands of followers.
At the time of his death, Nwobu had been visiting South Africa with a group of social media influencers in order to promote a real estate company belonging to a Nigerian, said Emeka Rollas, president of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria.
Nwobu’s lawyer had accompanied them as he is the legal adviser to the Nigerian firm that organised the trip.
“[We] were shocked to receive calls from Nigeria to confirm the passing away of the young man, while we were still debating how to break the news to his family,” Mr Chukwudi said.
In July, Nwobu survived a road accident which at the time led many people to wrongly speculate that he had died.
The actor was not married and is not survived by any children, reports say.
Tanzania will forgo its 2025 Independence Day celebrations after President Samia Suluhu Hassan ordered the national budget for the December 9 event to be diverted towards repairing infrastructure destroyed during last month’s post-election unrest.
Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba announced the decision on Monday during an inspection of road repairs along the Kimara–Mbezi stretch in Dar es Salaam, saying the government could not justify holding festivities while key infrastructure lay in ruins.
Nchemba said the funds initially allocated for the national celebrations would now support emergency works on damaged roads, public buildings and essential services after violent protests swept through major cities following the disputed October 29 presidential election.
“There will be no commemorative celebrations on December 9. President Samia has directed that the funds be redirected to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure,” Nchemba said, urging ministries and agencies to immediately coordinate the reallocation of resources.
Unrest Leaves Trail of Damage
The cancellation comes amid heightened political tension and weeks of youth-driven demonstrations that paralysed Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza and Arusha.
Protesters clashed with security forces, leaving roads torn up, police stations vandalised and polling centres destroyed.
Business owners in urban hubs reported millions of shillings in losses after looting and arson incidents.
One of the worst-hit areas was the Port of Dar es Salaam, a vital gateway for cargo into East and Central Africa.
Damage to port infrastructure and temporary shutdowns forced several shipping lines to reroute vessels to Mombasa, disrupting regional trade flows and causing ripple effects across logistics chains.
The impact on the informal economy was severe.
With nearly 80 per cent of Tanzanians depending on informal trade and daily hustles, curfews, roadblocks and fear of fresh flare-ups pushed thousands out of work.
Public transport operators reported fuel shortages and sporadic attacks on buses and boda bodas, further deepening economic strain.
Nchemba urged citizens to reject violence and political manipulation and instead embrace dialogue as the country works to restore normalcy.
“Let us remain united and ensure such incidents do not recur. Political parties must engage constructively and peacefully,” he said.
Government Takes Aim at Foreign Media
The unrest has also sparked a media war, with officials accusing some international outlets of distorting events.
Government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa on November 23 criticised what he termed biased coverage, singling out CNN for allegedly relying on unverified social-media footage and satellite imagery while failing to present the government’s account.
Gerson Msigwa during a past event.
“Professional journalism demands fairness. Publishing one-sided information without seeking clarity from the authorities is unacceptable,” Msigwa said, insisting that foreign outlets respect the ongoing Commission of Inquiry probing the riots.
The commission, led by retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande, is examining the causes of the violence, the involvement of political actors and whether any foreign sponsors may have influenced the youth-led demonstrations.
President Samia has hinted that some young people were mobilised and paid by external groups to join the protests, though details remain unclear pending the inquiry’s findings.
Protests Planned for Independence Day
The decision to cancel the annual celebrations comes amid reports that youth groups were organising fresh demonstrations on December 9, the same day Tanzania honours its independence from Britain.
While officials did not cite the planned protests directly, security sources say intelligence reports indicated high mobilisation online, prompting concern that Independence Day events could become flashpoints for renewed violence.
By halting the celebrations and redirecting the budget towards rebuilding efforts, analysts say the administration is signalling a shift towards crisis management while seeking to undercut momentum for the December 9 protests.
As the country edges towards the holiday, all eyes are now on the Commission of Inquiry and how the government balances security, political dialogue and civil liberties in the tense post-election climate.
The abduction of hundreds of Nigerians, including almost 350 schoolchildren in just a matter of days, has reignited a pressing debate about the persistent security crisis gripping the country.
A resurgence of mass kidnappings came after US President Donald Trump threatened military action in Nigeria to stop what he calls the killing of Christians by radical Islamists.
The Nigerian government has responded that “violent attacks affect families and communities across religious and ethnic lines”.
The religiously diverse country of 230 million people is the scene of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.
AFP looks at the evolution of mass kidnappings in Africa’s most populous country.
– Origins of mass kidnappings –
One of the first mass kidnappings that drew international attention was in 2014, when nearly 300 girls were snatched from their boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists.
Since then, Nigeria has recorded hundreds more mass kidnappings, with armed gangs targeting vulnerable populations for ransom and rampaging throughout poorly policed rural areas.
In the latest Catholic school attack, survivors recounted the gang’s arrival in the dead of night. They then packed their victims into buses and vans and onto motorcycles.
– Who is behind the kidnappings? –
Both jihadists and criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” are involved in kidnapping in northern regions.
In northwestern rural areas, roaming groups of bandits stage deadly raids on villages, kidnapping people for ransom and looting cattle.
Their primary focus is money. Figures thrown around in the media range from demands of hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands per person seized.
Armed gangs target vulnerable populations for ransom and rampage throughout poorly policed rural areas
Banditry mainly grew out of land conflicts between farmers and herders. Since 2011, as arms trafficking increased and the wider Sahel region fell into turmoil, the gangs became more organised.
– Who are the main targets? –
Large congregations make for easy prey. Only 50 of the over 300 children — most of them nursery and primary school age — taken on Friday from St Mary’s school in Niger have escaped.
Schools in at least nine of Nigeria’s 36 states are either fully or partially closed for fear of further abductions.
– Is the situation getting worse? –
The total number of people kidnapped in Nigeria is difficult to determine, as many cases go unreported.
But Nigeria has faced a “continuous kidnapping epidemic for more than a decade, driven by numerous criminal and extremist groups”, said International Crisis Group’s Nnamdi Obasi, citing various estimates of “between 3,600 and 7,500” abducted annually from 2022 to 2024.
The cybersecurity organisation Beacon Security recorded a 100 percent increase in abductions between the first half of 2024 and 2025, while “armed attacks” spiked by more than 250 percent.
The government launched a safe schools initiative in 2014, but the strategy appears to have been ineffective.
Obasi pointed out that a proper solution would require improved stability generally.
“Schools are never quite going to be islands of safety in a sea of insecurity. The government must curb the wider insecurity that is plaguing many parts of the country before schools can be truly safe,” he said.
– What’s being done to curb abductions? –
The Nigerian military, considered one of the region’s most powerful, is overstretched as it also grapples with jihadist activity in the east.
The country is estimated to have around 370,000 police officers, and until President Bola Tinubu’s decision to reassign VIP police bodyguards on Sunday, nearly 100,000 of them were not engaged in core policing work.
Analysts have suggested a lack of political will to curb kidnapping.
Politicians “are mostly insulated from the fallouts with their retinue of protection assets. So, it is ordinary people that suffer,” said Chidi Odinkalu, a Nigerian professor in international human rights law at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
President Bola Tinubu postponed his trip to South Africa for the G20 Summit, staying in Nigeria to handle the kidnapping crisis instead
Governmental failure to clamp down on mass kidnapping over the years has “emboldened” the gangs, “and over time, the abduction of schoolchildren became a money-making venture for the terrorists”, said Aisha Yesufu, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement which led the campaign for the release of the Chibok girls.
– What about the Trump effect? –
There are several possible explanations behind the sudden upsurge in kidnappings, with some blaming Trump’s remarks about mass killings in Nigeria.
His statements could have “inadvertently instigated or emboldened opportunistic armed groups that are seeking to exploit international narratives by attacking soft targets”, Obasi said.
“The Trump threat has emboldened those who were saying Tinubu and his government are out to lunch,” Odinkalu said.
Some security analysts say the armed groups are trying to hold large numbers of captives as potential human shields in case the United States follows through on its threat of airstrikes.
A local government official in Nigeria’s eastern Borno state holds similar beliefs.
Abubakar Mazhinyi is the chairman of the Askira-Uba district in Borno, where the government has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for 16 years, and where 13 women and girls were kidnapped by suspected ISWAP militants on their way from a farm on Saturday.
He speculated that “they are taking them as shields” in case of an attack.
But Obasi suggests the attacks “may also be acts of defiance by some armed groups, taunting the US to make good on its threat of military action in Nigeria”.
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine drew enormous crowds in Kampala on Monday as he took his presidential campaign to the capital, stepping up his challenge to President Yoweri Museveni’s four decades in power ahead of elections scheduled for January.
Wine — real name Robert Kyagulanyi — is a 43-year-old musician-turned-politician whose message has resonated strongly with Uganda’s youth.
But he faces a formidable political establishment built around the 81-year-old incumbent, who has ruled since 1986.
Tens of thousands of supporters packed the roadsides and surrounded Wine’s convoy as it wound through Kampala’s suburbs, marking his first major tour of the capital since confirming his second bid for the presidency.
Massive crowds welcomed Bobi Wine in Kampala on Monday as the Ugandan opposition leader stepped up his bid to unseat long-time President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the January elections.
He began the day with a visit to Luzira maximum-security prison, where several officials and supporters from his National Unity Platform remain detained.
Addressing cheering crowds dressed in the party’s red and black colours, Wine declared that Uganda was ready for change and that “the dictator must go.”
He said those he met in prison remained defiant and unwavering in their demand for political transformation.
Large numbers of police and army personnel lined the campaign route, despite the authorities having ordered rallies to remain within predetermined areas to prevent road disruptions.
At one location, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to stop supporters from moving on to the next event, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Massive crowds welcomed Bobi Wine in Kampala on Monday as the Ugandan opposition leader stepped up his bid to unseat long-time President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the January elections.
Wine previously ran against Museveni in 2021, an election overshadowed by allegations of fraud and widespread violence by security forces.
He has been arrested repeatedly over the years and has accused both the police and military of torturing him while in custody.
Museveni’s son, army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has also made online threats against Wine, including repeated claims he would behead him.
Museveni’s current campaign centres on safeguarding the progress he claims to have achieved and steering Uganda towards high middle-income status.
Yet poverty remains widespread, with around one in six citizens living below the poverty line.
While the president retains support for ending the brutal dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s, critics accuse him of replicating the authoritarianism he once opposed.
Uganda’s political climate remains tense. Last year, long-standing opposition figure Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya and returned to Uganda, where he now faces a treason charge carrying the possibility of the death penalty.
The Tanzanian government has launched a sharp attack on CNN, accusing the international broadcaster of misreporting the violence that followed the disputed October 29 election and of producing an investigation that it says is unfair, inaccurate and capable of fuelling further unrest.
Officials say a full verification of the report is underway and that a comprehensive state response will be issued once that process is complete, but the tone of the criticism already signals a deepening rift between Dodoma and global media outlets covering the crisis.
Chief Government Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa told journalists in Dar es Salaam that the CNN investigation, produced by Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo, did not meet basic standards of balance.
CNN journalist Larry Madowo
He said the government’s version of events was either ignored or downplayed and that no credible effort was made to obtain official comment before publication.
According to him, it is not true that CNN was unable to get the government’s side of the story and he described that claim as misleading.
Msigwa said he was disturbed that a global news organisation would publish what he termed a one-sided piece at a time when the country is mourning and tensions are still high.
He criticised the documentary’s use of graphic images of victims that circulated on social media platforms affiliated with the investigation, saying such material may attract clicks but violates the dignity of the dead and deepens public anger.
He added that the state is still grieving the loss of life and that a responsible media house should avoid content that worsens pain or stokes hostility.
The CNN report documented alleged police shootings of unarmed demonstrators during post-election unrest.
Using video analysis, interviews with witnesses and satellite images, it also featured claims that victims of the crackdown were secretly buried in mass graves to hide the scale of the killings.
The piece said authorities worked to remove bodies from morgues and deter journalists, opposition figures and rights groups from accessing affected sites.
Madowo defended his reporting, saying on social media that he had repeatedly applied for accreditation to cover the Tanzanian elections but was denied, which made it impossible for him to enter the country in a journalistic capacity during the vote.
He said his team worked with local witnesses, digital forensic experts and families of victims to piece together what happened in the absence of official access.
Tanzania has been in turmoil since the October 29 poll in which President Samia Suluhu was declared winner in an election that opposition parties insist was manipulated.
Protests erupted across major towns from early November as opposition leaders accused the government of suppressing dissent, arresting hundreds of their supporters and using treason charges to silence critics.
Rights groups have accused the security forces of disproportionate force, internet shutdowns and violations of basic freedoms. Government officials deny wrongdoing and maintain that the security services acted to restore order.
Under mounting pressure at home and abroad, President Samia recently appointed a Commission of Inquiry led by retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande to investigate the violence and broader allegations raised by the opposition, foreign observers and international human rights bodies.
The government says the commission is independent and will establish the facts, while critics argue that only an international investigation can guarantee credibility.
With the review of CNN’s report still underway, Tanzania’s pushback has become part of a wider struggle over who gets to shape the narrative of one of the country’s most turbulent political moments in years.
Officials maintain that they are the victims of sensational foreign reporting designed to harm the nation’s image, while CNN says it has simply documented events that authorities would prefer to keep hidden.
For ordinary Tanzanians, the truth may only become clear once the commission tables its findings, but the political fight over the story is already well underway.
Kenya has agreed to open ownership of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) to Uganda in a major shift that recasts the region’s energy and logistics landscape, President William Ruto announced during an investment tour in Uganda on Sunday.
The move follows high-level negotiations between the two governments and comes as East African states push to secure long-term fuel supply routes and reduce dependence on middlemen.
Ruto said the government will list KPC on the Nairobi Securities Exchange as part of its ongoing privatisation drive, with Uganda invited to take up shares in what has long been one of Kenya’s most strategically guarded state corporations.
Ruto told a joint forum with President Yoweri Museveni that ministers from both countries had finalised a framework for shared ownership after a meeting in Nairobi last week.
He said the shift would not only deepen regional integration but also reflect the reality that KPC serves the entire northern corridor, not just Kenya.
“I want to thank you, Mr President, for agreeing to work with us. The ministers were in Nairobi last week and I have given the necessary guidance on the need for Uganda and Kenya, both public and private, to jointly own the Kenya Pipeline Company. KPC is not just a Kenyan facility but a regional facility,” Ruto said.
Under the plan, Kenya will divest 65 per cent of its stake while retaining a 35 per cent strategic shareholding.
Uganda is expected to become one of the anchor investors, a move insiders say could ease long-running tensions over fuel import routes, which escalated this year after Kampala shifted its oil procurement model and sought direct government-to-government supply contracts.
President William Ruto received by his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Devki Steel Factory in Osukuru, Tororo District, Uganda
Uganda currently relies almost entirely on KPC’s infrastructure to transport petroleum imports from Mombasa and through the Eldoret–Kampala corridor.
A stake in the company would give Kampala influence over tariffs, stockholding arrangements, and future network development—an issue that has been a sticking point in bilateral talks for years.
Ruto urged Ugandan investors, and East Africans more broadly, to buy into KPC once the shares are floated.
He framed the partial privatisation as an opportunity to spread ownership of critical assets and unlock new capital for expansion.
Parallel to the share sale, Ruto revealed that plans to extend the Eldoret–Kampala petroleum pipeline toward Rwanda and eastern DRC are “at an advanced stage,” adding that both governments will co-invest in the project.
The expansion aims to position the corridor as the region’s dominant fuel artery at a time when Tanzania has been aggressively marketing its Central Corridor as an alternative supply route.
The Kenyan leader also said Nairobi and Kampala will in January launch the long-delayed extension of the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Kampala, which will link with the Malaba–Kampala line and onward into eastern Congo.
The revival of the SGR deal signals renewed political goodwill after years of stalled financing talks and shifting regional alliances.
The announcement comes barely two weeks after Museveni stirred controversy with comments about landlocked states’ “right” to secure access to the Indian Ocean, remarks which sparked debate in Kenya over territorial sovereignty.
Museveni insisted he was speaking about economic survival and regional cooperation rather than threats. Ruto on Sunday dismissed the uproar as media misinterpretation and said Museveni had done “nothing wrong” in highlighting Uganda’s logistical vulnerabilities.
The KPC initial public offering, already approved by Parliament in October, is expected to be completed by March 31, 2026.
Treasury officials say the sale will target a mix of retail, regional, and institutional investors, with Uganda’s participation formalising a long-sought energy partnership between the two neighbours.
If executed as planned, the joint ownership will mark the most significant restructuring of Kenya’s energy infrastructure in decades and could cement Nairobi–Kampala cooperation at a time of shifting regional politics and rising competition for control of East Africa’s trade routes.
Award-winning rapper Nicki Minaj has publicly backed President Donald Trump’s allegations that Christians face persecution in Nigeria.
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted,” Minaj said on Tuesday at an event organised by the US, adding: “Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart… simply because of how they pray.”
Analysts say that jihadists and other armed groups have waged campaigns of violence that affect all communities in the West African nation, regardless of background or belief.
This week alone, two people were killed in an attack on a church, while a group of 25 girls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, were abducted from a school.
Two of the girls later managed to escape from their abductors. A teacher and a security guard – both Muslim – were also killed in the attack on the secondary school in the north-western Kebbi state.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops into Nigeria “guns a-blazing” if its government “continues to allow the killing of Christians”.
Minaj, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, told an event organised by the US embassy to the UN in New York that calling for the protection of Christians in Nigeria was “not about taking sides or dividing people… but about uniting humanity”.
“This is about standing up in the face of injustice. It’s about what I’ve always stood for,” she added.
The 42-year-old rapper, who has previously spoken of her Christian faith, thanked Trump for “prioritising this issue and for his leadership”.
The Nigerian government has pushed back on these claims, describing them as “a gross misrepresentation of reality”.
An official said that “terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology – Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike”.
Other groups monitoring political violence in Nigeria say most victims of the jihadist groups are Muslims.
The country’s 220 million people are roughly evenly split between followers of the two religions, with Muslims in the majority in the north, where most attacks take place.
On Wednesday, Nigeria police in the south-western Kwara state confirmed a deadly attack on a church in the town of Eruku, where gunmen opened fire on worshippers the previous day, killing two people and abducting several others.
Local media say armed men, identified by residents as bandits, stormed the Christ Apostolic Church during an evening programme on Tuesday evening, shooting the pastor and rounding up the faithful at gunpoint.
Images and short video clips – believed to be from the church’s CCTV cameras – have circulated widely online, showing terrified people scrambling for safety, including an elderly woman seen desperately trying to escape the gunmen.
Armed groups have been targeting school children in Nigeria since 2014
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu confirmed that jihadist forces had killed a senior army officer, after he had been captured in an ambush.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) said on Monday its fighters had killed Brigadier General Musa Uba in the north-eastern state of Borno.
The Nigerian army had earlier denied that the officer had been abducted and killed.
The latest attacks have triggered frustration and anger across Nigeria, with many lamenting what they see as an unending wave of insecurity affecting rural communities, churches, schools and major transport routes.
In a statement on Wednesday, President Tinubu said he was “fully apprised of the recent uptick in violent extremism” across the country, adding that the surge had left him “depressed”.
He directed security agencies to respond with “urgency, clarity, and decisive action” to what he described as attacks by the “heartless terrorists”.
Minaj described Nigeria as “a beautiful nation with deep faith traditions” and even acknowledged the “beautiful Barbz” – her fans – in the West African country.
The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, thanked the rapper for “leveraging her massive platform to spotlight the atrocities against Christians in Nigeria”.
For months, right-wing campaigners and politicians in Washington have been alleging that Islamist militants were systematically targeting Christians in Nigeria.
Her appearance at the UN on Tuesday is her highest-profile political intervention to date.
She made headlines during the pandemic for sharing disinformation about side-effects of the Covid vaccine – claiming that when a friend of her cousin had the jab, it caused his testicles to swell up and he became impotent.
“His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding,” Minaj wrote online.
