A diplomatic impasse occurred on Saturday during the high-stakes EAC-SADC summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, when African Union Commission (AUC) Chair Moussa Faki was asked to leave the closed-door session on the escalating crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
Announced by the masters of ceremonies, the closed-door session of the meeting held in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam was only open with delegations of the two regional blocs.
Each delegation was only allowed to have 5+1 delegates in the room.
The summit, aimed at addressing the worsening security situation in eastern DR Congo, began smoothly with opening remarks from Kenya’s President William Ruto and Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the respective chairs of the East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
However, during the opening session, Faki’s name was notably absent from the list of dignitaries acknowledged by protocol, an unusual oversight considering his pivotal role in the ongoing peace efforts in the region.
Tensions flared shortly after the session commenced when the Master of Ceremony requested Faki’s departure, despite the AUC Chair’s initial invitation to attend the meeting.
Reliable sources indicate that Faki was invited to the high-level summit by President William Ruto, the current Chairperson of the EAC.
The incident immediately caught the attention of other leaders, including President Paul Kagame, who voiced concerns over the decision.
“Who made this misguided decision and why?” Kagame questioned, emphasizing that Faki, as the AUC Chair and a key figure in ongoing peace efforts in eastern DRC, should not have been excluded from the meeting.
According to sources at the summit, it was unclear who had issued the instruction for Faki to leave. “There was no justification,” one source added.
Recognizing the diplomatic misstep, summit organisers quickly sent a message to reinvite Faki to rejoin the closed-door session. However, by the time the invitation arrived, the damage had already been done.
“Nobody knows who gave that instruction and why it was reversed. But by then, Faki refused to return,” the source said.
A growing rift
Faki had been invited to the summit in his capacity as the AUC Chair and guarantor of both the Luanda Process and Nairobi Process, key peace initiatives in eastern DRC.
He had already participated in the opening ceremony and joined the regional leaders for the traditional family photo. The African Union plays a central role in peace efforts within the EAC and SADC regions, especially regarding the ongoing crisis in eastern DR Congo.
The incident raised concerns about the growing diplomatic rift and fragmented approaches between the African Union and regional organizations.
This confusion about Faki’s participation signals potential challenges in coordinating peace efforts for DR Congo.
The African Union Commission (AUC) has detailed the procedure for its 2025 elections, announced on January 27, 2025. The elections will unfold in two distinct phases:
First Phase: Scheduled for February 12-13, 2025, where the AU Executive Council, made up of foreign ministers from member states, will elect and appoint the commissioners.
Second Phase: Set for February 15-16, 2025, following the opening ceremony of the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State, where the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson will be elected.
According to the AUC, the voting process starts with all candidates listed on the ballot. A candidate needs to secure a two-thirds majority to win. If no candidate achieves this after three rounds of voting, the process narrows down to a runoff between the two highest vote-getters.
The AUC elaborated on the voting mechanics:
If after three ballots, no candidate secures the necessary majority, only the two leading candidates will continue, with the candidate having fewer votes being eliminated.
In the case where only one candidate remains but does not achieve the two-thirds majority, the current Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, will suspend the election.
Candidates for the Chairperson position include former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, and Madagascar’s former Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Randriamandrato.
The race for Deputy Chairperson features six candidates: Salah Francis and Selma Malika from Algeria, Mohamed Ahmed Fathi and Hanan Morsy from Egypt, Najat M. Elhajjaji from Libya, and Latifa Akharbach from Morocco.
This structured approach aims to ensure a transparent and democratic process for electing the leadership of the African Union Commission.
The African Union (AU) has slammed the latest credit rating adjustment for Kenya by global rating firm Moody’s, which recently revised the country’s outlook from negative to positive.
The Union, through its arm, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), has labelled the decision as incorrect, irresponsible and detrimental, pointing out that Kenya has not yet navigated through a stable economic outlook to justify such a shift.
“It is rare for a credit rating agency to move from ‘negative’ to ‘positive’, skipping a ‘stable’ outlook,” the Union said in a statement dated January 27.
“The change is an admission, in remedy, that a negative outlook was an incorrect rating.”
Additionally, the AU says the rating action was a reversal of Moody’s premature rating action on July 8, 2024, which was largely driven by protests in Kenya over the proposed Finance Bill.
It notes that the rating was speculative, as midterm review data on the Appropriation Bill, the spending allocations, the final budget, the finance bill and the new cabinet had not yet been released when the rating agency made its announcement.
On January 24, Moody’s changed Kenya’s outlook from ‘negative’ to ‘positive’, and reaffirmed its Caa1 rating, citing a potential ease in liquidity risks and improving debt affordability over time.
“Domestic financing costs have started to decline amid monetary easing and could continue to do so if the government sustains its more effective management of social demand and fiscal consolidation,” Moody’s said.
Commercial external funding
It added that such a track record would also boost Kenya’s access to both concessional and commercial external funding.
“Revenue collection efforts, if successful, present the potential for further improvements in debt affordability, although Kenya has struggled to expand revenue significantly and durably in the past, notwithstanding recent measures.”
Nevertheless, the agency noted that a new International Monetary Fund programme would enhance Kenya’s external financing while other multilateral creditors such as the World Bank will continue to be significant financing sources, even without the IMF funding.
Notably, the disagreement between AU and the agency’s rating highlights the broader debate over the role of international credit rating agencies and their impact on emerging economies.
The AU says this is not the first time Moody’s has acted prematurely and erred in its analysis.
In January 2023, AU said Moody’s also erred by downgrading Nigeria from ’83’ to ‘Caat’ citing that the government’s fiscal and debt position was expected to deteriorate further under the new administration.
As a result, the Federal Government of Nigeria challenged the inaccuracy of that rating action on the basis that the rating agency lacked an understanding of the country’s domestic environment.
Consequently, Moody’s later reversed Nigeria’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’ in December 2023, citing positive economic policy developments in the country.
“However, relatively similar factors were present when Moody’s downgraded Nigeria and the rating reversal in the short-term was evidence that the rating agency had acted prematurely and erred”.
The Union thus reiterates that such rating actions as irresponsible and detrimental, leading to unnecessary costs to governments, triggering Eurabond sell-offs, and sustaining a negative sentiment on African instruments.
On May 10th, an X (formerly Twitter) account called “Refugees in Libya NGO” posted a harrowing video purportedly showing the manhunt and eviction of “Black” Africans which denotes Africans of Sub-Saharan descent. “In the last two weeks a door to door and street collection of any dark skinned persons even those identified as Tunisians are crammed into police vans & deported to the eastern border regions.
Women, men and children are caught and deported without any of their possessions, documents, savings and other materials they have worked for and accumulated over the years.
Most of those arrested during the house to house raids are legally entitled to stay in Tunisia, they are students, workers and refugees.” The account said.
“The African Union is silent while the so—called democratic European countries with their values for human rights are the very ones supporting and financing Kaïs Saeid to act as the border guard of the Fortress Europe. This must STOP” The account added.
The post garnered 3.5M views which immediately attracted sympathy for the refugees and criticism for various international bodies that are supposed to take care of refugees. “The violent anti-blackness in the Arab world needs to become a major talking point in political discourse. I hate how so many people are willing to ignore it in the hopes of withholding their delusional “POC” ideal. People are dying!!” X user Vuyiswa said. “cc. African “truth accounts” on Twitter. Tunisia is committing pogroms on blacks. Will you cover this or continue talking about American segregation in the 1950s?” Christopher Haslett quipped.
The post also happened to attract white supremacist accounts who saw it fit to celebrate the misfortune of “Blacks” for reasons best known to them. Steve Laws, a failed politician and former “migrant hunter” activist from Kent, UK took the opportunity to decry how “Tunisians are finally doing it” which in this case is deportations. Klaus Arminius, who goes by “Independent Reporter Covering Stories The Media Doesn’t Show” byline but is a regular race baiter and rabble-rouser said “Tunisia is expelling millions of black immigrants, launching house to house manhunt.
Tunisia’s President accused the UN of trying to change the nation’s Berber-Arab demographic with black Africans. If Tunisia can deport millions of immigrants, why can’t the West? The difference is will power. Tunisian politicians want them gone; Western politicians want them to stay. NGOs and pro-open border groups are urging #EU countries to offer ‘free passage’ to sub-Saharan migrants expelled from Tunisia.”
The coverage and other earlier incidents received limited coverage but an earlier pogrom was reported by The New Humanitarian paper which decried the hostility and ill-treatment of the refugees. The pogroms are part of a concerted effort led by Tunisia’s president Kais Saied. Mr Saied continued his assertion that there was a plot to resettle these migrants in Tunisia, accusing some groups, without offering details, of obtaining millions of euros and dollars to carry out the plan.
He stated that he had read a document confirming that more than 20 million dinars ($6.4 million) had been allocated through unauthorized means to a single migrant center in the province of Sfax.
Ironically, Mr. Saied and his government received 105 million Euros from the EU for “border management”. The EU deal with Tunisia was harshly criticized by human rights observers and the EU was accused of “bankrolling dictators”. MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) also denounced the deal.
The Human Rights Foundation in a May 15th statement, condemned Saied’s “aggressive crackdown on dissidents speaking against the deportation and arrest of migrants and asylum seekers”.
Amnesty International had earlier decried Mr Saied statements by saying “President Saied must retract his comments and order investigations to clearly signal that anti-Black racist violence will not be tolerated. The president must stop finding scapegoats for Tunisia’s economic and political woes. The community of Black African migrants in Tunisia is now gripped by fear of assault or being arbitrarily arrested and summarily deported”.
The African Union has been woefully silent on the horrible treatment of migrants in Tunisia. No official statement has been issued so far and efforts by Kenya Insights to reach Ebba Kalondo, who is the “Spokesperson to the Chairperson” yielded no fruits as our emails were not answered by the time of publishing this piece.
We also tried to reach Esther Tankou Azaa Yambou who is the head of the Media and Information Division but our emails also went unanswered. Emails to the Directorate of Information and Communication were also un-replied by the time of publishing this piece.
A brief perusal of the social media pages of the African Union indicated no activity or concern about the situation in Tunisia. Suspension of Tunisia from the AU for its grave violation of human rights is suspiciously missing. Ironically. The African Union was quick to issue a statement about Israel’s pending military operation in Rafah. Ebba Kalondo was also particularly harsh on the Israeli delegation. “Have no clue, but I hope they know better than to attempt the thuggish behavior of their officials experienced at our last summit.” she is quoted as having said in reference to the Israeli accreditation saga in Addis Ababa.
Seeking refugee and asylum is a human right enshrined under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Tunisia is a party to both. Failure to implement the Convention is an indictment on the Tunisian government and non-state bodies like the African Union. We hope for the best.
The Kenyan government has announced plans to relocate its Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Old Treasury building along Harambee Avenue to a new location.
Making the announcement on Friday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Korir Sing’oei revealed that the government of China had offered to spearhead the construction project as a mark of appreciation for the 60 years that the two countries have enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship.
“Grateful to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its commitment to support the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the construction of the Ministry’s new headquarters as a visible marker of 60 years of diplomatic relations.” He said.
The PS added that he had met with the technical team but don’t indulge more details including cost and location of the project that is set to change the dynamics of international relations.
“Received the technical team in charge of project design in my office today.”
Spying
Many Kenyans have reacted sharply to the announcement with many expressing their fears that the Chinese government would use the building to extend their now common international espionage missions.
China has been accused in the past of giving similar offers of construction projects only to end up planting spying devices and this accusations have not only been about African countries but elsewhere around the world where the espionage regime had come under scope.
The May 2020 article by Voice of Africa (VOA) referenced a report by the Heritage Foundation, a U.S.-based conservative think tank, which stated that Chinese companies built at least 186 government buildings in Africa and 14 “sensitive intragovernmental telecommunications networks.”
“These buildings include residences for heads of state, parliamentary offices, and police or military headquarters,” the article read in part.
For these reasons, Kenyans have credible reasons to fear for their privacy, here’s some of the reactions from Kenyans to the new development of china building Kenya’s Foreign Office;
“Bugs from entrance to exit hugs in the loo, bugs in the stairs, bugs on the window, bugs in the offices, bugs all over.” Richard Odiawo said.
“That will stealthily transmit everything live to Beijing like Big Brother Africa.” Kanyi Gioko.
Yano, another Kenyan added, “Building they’ll build alright but every inch of every room will be bugged with listening devices and cameras.”
“Bugged AU Addis HQ didn’t teach us anything?” Hot Shotcreative said.
Engineer Nyasireka on X, warns of intense spying should the project succeed, “The Chinese built the African Union headquarters for free and proceeded to install a sophisticated spy equipment.
Even if the officials speak in Kalenjin only, trust some Chinese to translate it accurately.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials when they held a meeting with the Chinese delegation in Nairobi.
Chinese hackers targeted Kenya
Last year, Reuters reported on how Chinese hackers targeted Kenya’s government in a widespread, years-long series of digital intrusions against key ministries and state institutions.
The hack aimed, at least in part, at gaining information on debt owed to Beijing by the East African nation: Kenya is a strategic link in the Belt and Road Initiative – President Xi Jinping’s plan for a global infrastructure network.
The hacks constitute a three-year campaign that targeted eight of Kenya’s ministries and government departments, including the presidential office, according to an intelligence analyst in the region.
An analyst also shared with Reuters research documents that included the timeline of attacks, the targets, and provided some technical data relating to the compromise of a server used exclusively by Kenya’s main spy agency.
A Kenyan cybersecurity expert described similar hacking activity against the foreign and finance ministries.
Between 2000 and 2020, China provided nearly $160 billion in loans to African countries, primarily for infrastructure projects.
Kenya used over $9 billion in Chinese loans to fund railways, ports, and highways. Beijing became Kenya’s largest bilateral creditor and a significant player in the East African consumer market and logistical hub.
However, by late 2019, Kenya’s financial strains were evident when a hack of a government-wide network was attributed to China.
The breach began with a “spearphishing” attack, where a Kenyan government employee unknowingly downloaded an infected document, allowing hackers to infiltrate the network and access other agencies.
The attacks appeared focused on Kenya’s debt situation. An intelligence analyst in the region claimed that Chinese hackers carried out a campaign against Kenya that began in late 2019 and continued until at least 2022.
Chinese cyber spies subjected Kenya’s president’s office, defense, information, health, land and interior ministries, counter-terrorism center, and other institutions to persistent and prolonged hacking activity.
The intelligence analyst working in the region – said Chinese hackers carried out a far-reaching campaign against Kenya that began in late 2019 and continued until at least 2022.
According to documents provided by the analyst, Chinese cyber spies subjected the office of Kenya’s president, its defence, information, health, land and interior ministries, its counter-terrorism centre and other institutions to persistent and prolonged hacking activity.
More accusations of China hacking and spying
In Africa, Chinese owned Huawei Technologies Co., the worlds largest telecommunications company, dominates African markets, has publicly been selling legal security tools that governments use for digital surveillance and censorship.
The company has been accused of helping African governments spy on their political opponents, including intercepting their encrypted communications and social media, and using cell data to track their whereabouts.
InUganda, a threat to the 3-decades long authoritarian regime of President Yoweri Museveni, Bobi Wine, had returned from Washington with U.S. backing for his opposition movement, and Uganda’s cyber-surveillance unit had strict orders to intercept his encrypted communications, using the broad powers of a 2010 law that gives the government the ability “to secure its multidimensional interests.”
Government officials asked Huawei help to hack into Bobi wines social media. The Huawei engineers, identified by name in internal police documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, used the spyware to penetrate Mr. Wine’s WhatsApp chat group, named Firebase crew after his band. Authorities scuppered his plans to organize street rallies and arrested the politician and dozens of his supporters.
In May 2018, Uganda’s Mr. Museveni signed a $126 million deal with Huawei for the safe-cities project after a classified bidding process involving two Chinese companies, paying $16.3 million up front and financing most of the rest with a $104 million loan from Standard Chartered Bank, according to documents presented to a parliamentary committee.
Ugandan intelligence officers have confirmed they were taught how to use the spyware for reading emails and texts but not encrypted communications.
In Zambia, according to senior security officials there, Huawei technicians helped the government access the phones andfacebook pages of a team of opposition bloggers running a pro-opposition news site, which had repeatedly criticized the then President Edgar Lungu.
The Huawei employees located the bloggers and were in contact with the police units deployed to arrest them.
Huawei technicians helped intercept the communications of opposition bloggers running a news site named Koswe, or “The Rat,” which had repeatedly criticized Mr. Lungu, the two Zambian officials in the Cybercrime Crack Squad said.
In 2012, a data theft incident began at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where information from the AU’s computer systems was allegedly transmitted to servers in China. This continued, at the same time every night, for five years, until it was discovered in January 2017.
The bulk of the computer systems that were compromised in the African Union Headquarters were supplied by Chinese telecommunications company Huawei.
The big question has been whether Chinese companies are just doing this for the money, or whether they’re pushing a specific kind of surveillance agenda.
Former US President Trumpsigned an executive order that allows the U.S. to ban telecommunications gear and services from “foreign adversaries,” a term widely interpreted to refer to Huawei. The Commerce Department added Huawei to the “Entity List,” citing national security concerns, which effectively bars companies from supplying U.S.-made technology to Huawei without a license.
Despite the companies denial, It is very evident how Huawei is a complicit in Chinese and now the African government spying.
Other Chinese Projects in Kenya
The Chinese government has been overseeing construction projects in Kenya, including buildings, roads, and the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
However, some projects have been criticized for irregularities, such as the construction of Hazina Towers, a project funded by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
In April 2024, China Jiangxi International Limited Kenya’s Director was unable to account for the money paid for the downsized building.
The Senate’s Public Investment Committee raised concerns over the company’s refusal to pay NSSF the project mobilization fees.
On May 1, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah filed a petition to uncover an alleged Ksh777 billion overpayment of funds through the SGR to Chinese constructors, claiming the excess billions were paid to China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) at taxpayers’ expense.
