Kenya Insights

Tag: Madagascar protests

  • Madagascar Soldiers Join Protestors

    Madagascar Soldiers Join Protestors

    Groups of Madagascar soldiers joined thousands of protestors in the capital Saturday, AFP reporters said, after announcing they would refuse any orders to shoot demonstrators.

    Fresh youth-led demonstrations in Antananarivo drew large crowds in one of the biggest gatherings since a protest movement erupted on the Indian Ocean island on September 25.

    After police used stun grenades and tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, soldiers arrived at the heart of the gathering near the Lake Anosy area where they were welcomed with cheers.

    Protesters called out “Thank you!” to the soldiers, some of whom were waving Madagascar flags, the images showed.

    At a meeting at an army barracks on the outskirts of the city earlier, the soldiers said they would not take action against the protestors.

    “Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters,” the soldiers at the base in Soanierana district said in a video posted on social media.

    They called on soldiers at the airport to “prevent all aircraft from taking off” and those in other camps to “refuse orders to shoot your friends”.

    “Close the gates and await our instructions,” they said. “Do not obey orders from your superiors. Point your weapons at those who order you to fire on your comrades-in-arms, because they will not take care of our families if we die.”

    The demonstrations on Saturday were the largest in several days in the youth-led movement that was sparked by anger over power and water shortages and evolved into a broader anti-government movement.

    It was unclear how many soldiers had joined the call on Saturday.

    In 2009, the military base in Soanierana led a mutiny in a popular uprising that brought the current president, Andry Rajoelina, to power.

    The newly appointed minister of the armed forces called on troops to “remain calm” in a press conference Saturday .

    “We call on our brothers who disagree with us to prioritise dialogue,” Minister General Deramasinjaka Manantsoa Rakotoarivelo said.

    “The Malagasy army remains a mediator and constitutes the nation’s last line of defence,” he said.

    Violent crackdown

    Several people were injured on Thursday as security forces dispersed protesters with tear gas, rubber bullets and armoured vehicles.

    Videos of police violence went viral on social media, including a video of one man being left unconscious on the ground after he was chased and severely beaten by security forces, which AFP reporters also witnessed.

    The United Nations on Friday reacted by calling on authorities to “desist from unnecessary force and to uphold the rights to free association and peaceful assembly”.

    The UN has said that at least 22 people were killed in the first days of the protests that started on 25 September at the call of a youth-led movement called “Gen Z”.

    President Andry Rajoelina has disputed the toll, saying on Wednesday that there were “12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals”.

    Rajoelina initially adopted a conciliatory tone and sacked his entire government in response to the protests.

    But he has since doubled down, appointing a military officer as prime minister on October 6 and picking the first members of his new cabinet from among the armed forces, public security and armed police, announcing that the country “no longer needs disturbances”.

    Among the world’s poorest countries, Madagascar has undergone frequent popular uprisings since independence in 1960, including mass protests in 2009 that forced then-president Marc Ravalomanana from power as the military installed Rajoelina for his first term.

    He won re-election in 2018 and again in 2023 in contested polls boycotted by the opposition.

  • Madagascar President Appoints Army General As PM to Defuse Protests

    Madagascar President Appoints Army General As PM to Defuse Protests

    Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina on Monday appointed an army general as prime minister, hoping to quell surging protests against his leadership that have plunged the country into crisis.

    In the latest in days of youth-led marches, security forces dispersed hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo, injuring at least one, AFP reporters saw.

    Sparked by anger against persistent water and power cuts in the impoverished Indian Ocean island, the demonstrations started on September 25 and have grown into an angry campaign for Rajoelina to resign.

    “With wisdom, I have decided to appoint Ruphin Fortunat Dimbisoa Zafisambo, divisional general, as prime minister of the government,” Rajoelina said late Monday in a declaration at the presidential palace.

    The new premier should “serve the people” and be “someone clean, with integrity, and who works quickly”, he said, promising he was “ready to save Madagascar”.

    The Gen Z movement that rallied the protests on social media responded by repeating calls for Rajoelina to resign.

    It said it was giving him a 48-hour “ultimatum” to “respond favourably” to their demands.

    “As long as Andry Rajoelina remains in power, we will continue to fight,” the group said on social media.

    Read moreHow the ‘One Piece’ manga has become a global symbol of Gen Z revolt

    Anger at power cuts

    Rajoelina’s move to sack his entire government last week failed to placate the demonstrators.

    University students and residents gathered near the University of Ankatso on the outskirts of the capital on Monday, the 12th day of the movement.

    They then marched towards the city centre, where they were stopped by a barricade put up by security forces.

    Clashes erupted throughout the afternoon, with at least one young man wounded and evacuated to the main hospital, AFP reporters saw.

    “There are about 120 hours of power cuts per week where I live,” said 21-year-old protester Tommy Fanomezantsoa.

    “We are protesting for everyone’s sake,” he told AFP. “The president is not listening to the anger of the people at the bottom. He always does what he wants.”

    Deadly clashes

    The Ankatso district was the birthplace of a 1972 revolt that led to the ousting of the first president of the poverty-stricken island, Philibert Tsiranana.

    “The future of this country depends on me, on you, on all of us,” one of the protest leaders told the crowd of several hundred people, urging them not to allow the movement to lose momentum.

    “We can clearly see that democracy in Madagascar is not respected at all,” said another protest leader.

    “They are even destroying it with brutality,” he said.

    He was referring to a United Nations statement last week that at least 22 people had been killed in the protests and more than 100 wounded, a figure rejected by the authorities.

    The UN also condemned what it called a heavy-handed response by security forces, including the use of live ammunition.

    AFP journalists witnessed a pregnant woman going into convulsions as crowds of people, including many children, fled from police in the hilly cobbled streets of the Amparibe neighbourhood.

    Local media also reported a protest in the southern city of Toliara, where demonstrators burned tyres.

    ‘Continue until results’

    Ahead of Zafisambo’s appointment, some were unimpressed by Rajoelina’s promise of a change of prime minister.

    “We don’t want him to listen to people in his office, we want him to get out on the ground,” said demonstrator Fanomezantsoa.

    He said he had been unemployed since the supermarket where he worked was looted on the first night of the protests.

    “We will continue until we get results,” he said.

    The Christian Council of Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) said it was prepared to mediate between the government and protesters.

    The Gen Z movement has taken inspiration from similar youth-led movements in Bangladesh, Nepal and Indonesia, waving a pirate flag from the Japanese manga comic One Piece.

    Despite its natural resources, Madagascar remains among the world’s poorest countries.

    Nearly three-quarters of its population of 32 million were living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.

    (FRANCE 24 with AFP)

  • Madagascar President Rajoelina ‘Ready To Listen’ But Ignores Calls To Resign

    Madagascar President Rajoelina ‘Ready To Listen’ But Ignores Calls To Resign

    ANTANANARIVO, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina said on Friday he was ready to listen to find solutions to problems facing the poor island nation, but ignored calls for his resignation by a nationwide youth-led protest movement.

    Inspired by similar “Gen Z” demonstrations in Kenya and Nepal, the protests have grown since last week into the largest wave of unrest Madagascar has seen in years, tapping into widespread discontent with high levels of poverty and corruption.

    The president disbanded the government late on Monday in an attempt to quell public anger, but the move has done little to address grievances that initially erupted in the capital on September 25 over worsening water shortages and power outages.

    The United Nations says at least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the first few days of the protests. The government rejects those figures.

    “No one benefits from the destruction of the nation. I am here, I stand here ready to listen, ready to extend a helping hand, and above all, ready to bring solutions to Madagascar,” Rajoelina said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook page.

    He said, without providing evidence, that some politicians were plotting to take advantage of the protests and had considered staging a coup while he was addressing the United Nations in New York last week.

    “Criticism of existing problems does not necessarily have to be expressed in the streets; it should be done through dialogue,” said Rajoelina, who himself first came to power in a 2009 coup after leading mass protests against the government.

    In a post on his X account on Friday, Rajoelina said he had also met various groups for the past three days to discuss the situation.

    Protests resumed in the capital on Friday after a one-day pause, with police firing tear gas to disperse some marchers, footage from Real TV Madagasikara showed.

    Despite Madagascar’s significant mineral wealth, biodiversity and agricultural land, the Indian Ocean island nation is among the poorest countries in the world.

    Between independence in 1960 and 2020, income per capita has fallen 45% in real terms, according to the World Bank, which blames the poor economic performance on tight control of the institutions and resources by an unaccountable elite, and a lack of competition and transparency.

  • Madagascar President Dissolves Government Following Deadly Protests

    Madagascar President Dissolves Government Following Deadly Protests

    ANTANANARIVO, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina said on Monday he was dissolving the government following youth-led protests over water and power cuts in which the United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.

    Inspired by the so-called “Gen Z” protests in Kenya and Nepal, the three days of demonstrations are the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years, and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023.

    “We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them,” Rajoelina said in speech on state broadcaster Televiziona Malagasy (TVM).

    The president said he wanted to create space for dialogue with young people, and promised measures to support businesses affected by looting.

    “I understand the anger, the sadness, and the difficulties caused by power cuts and water supply problems. I heard the call, I felt the suffering, I understood the impact on daily life,” he said.

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the casualties include protesters and bystanders killed by members of the security forces, but also others killed in subsequent widespread violence and looting by individuals and gangs not associated with the protesters.

    Madagascar’s ministry of foreign affairs rejected the casualty figures reported by the UN, saying the data did not come from competent national authorities “and are based on rumors or misinformation.”

    On Monday protesters gathered at a university where they waved placards and sang the national anthem before attempting to march towards the city centre, footage from 2424.MG news channel showed.

    Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd, after authorities declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew last week.
    The protesters have adapted a flag used in Nepal where protesters forced the prime minister to resign this month and have also used similar online organisation tactics as protests in Kenya last year that culminated in the government scrapping proposed tax legislation.

    Rajoelina first came to power in a 2009 coup. He stepped down in 2014 but became president again after winning the 2018 election, and secured a third term in a December 2023 poll that his challengers said was marred by irregularities.

  • Curfew Declared in Madagascar Capital After Violent Protests

    Curfew Declared in Madagascar Capital After Violent Protests

    ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – Authorities in Madagascar on Thursday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital, after protests over frequent power outages and water shortages turned violent, according to a top security official.

    Police fired teargas to disperse the thousands of mostly youth protesters who were marching and carrying placards, in Antananarivo, the capital, according to a Reuters witness.

    The demonstrators were denouncing the government and demanding restoration of reliable water and electricity across the country.

    Chaos erupts in Madagascar's capital as protests over frequent power outages and water shortages turn violent
    Chaos erupts in Madagascar’s capital as protests over frequent power outages and water shortages turn violent

    “There are unfortunately individuals taking advantage of the situation to destroy other people’s property,” General Angelo Ravelonarivo, who heads a joint security body that includes the police and the military, said in a statement he read on privately owned Real TV late on Thursday.

    To protect “the population and their belongings,” the security forces decided to impose a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. “until public order is restored,” the statement said.

    Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is mired in poverty, and some people blame the government of President Andry Rajoelina, who was re-elected in 2023, for not improving conditions.

    During the protests earlier on Thursday, a large shopping mall in the capital was looted and then burned, and the homes of two lawmakers were looted and vandalised, according to the Reuters witness.

    The protesters, who defied an earlier police ban on the demonstration, marched while chanting, “We need water, we need electricity.”

    After the protests were dispersed, they later spread into various neighbourhoods of the capital.

    A security forces spokesperson, Zafisambatra Ravoavy, could not be reached for comment.

    On Wednesday, the national police chief, Jean Herbert Andriantahiana Rakotomalala, warned that security forces would “take firm preventive…measures against those tempted to break the law.”

    (Reuters)