Somalia’s presidential elections will be held on May 15, signaling an end to more than a year of delays in establishing a new government.
The decision was announced on Thursday by the chairman of a new parliamentary team tasked with preparing and overseeing the elections moments after the bicameral federal parliament elected the taskforce.
The team, chaired by legislators Abdikani Gelle and deputized by Mohamed Kerrow, will oversee the president’s election by the MPs in the two houses – the 54-member Senate and the Lower House of 275 MPs.
The vote in a joint sitting of parliament will be by secret ballot.
At least 15 contenders, including incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, two former presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, and former Prime Minister Hassan Khaire have announced they will contest.
Somalia has never re-elected a sitting President, and all of the last five indirect polls have sprung forth a newcomer. Other contenders in the race include Punt land President Said Abdullahi Deni and former Foreign Minister Abdirizak Mohamed.
Guinea issues charges against deposed leader Alpha Conde
Guinea’s attorney general has ordered legal proceedings against former President Alpha Conde and 26 of his former officials for alleged crimes, including acts of violence while in office.
The charges against 84-year-old Conde and his allies range from complicity in murder and assault to destruction of property, according to a document signed by the attorney general.
Other alleged crimes include detention, torture, kidnapping, disappearances, rape and other sexual abuse and looting.
Among the former officials to be prosecuted are a former president of the constitutional court, ex-speakers of parliament, a former prime minister and many former ministers, legislators and heads of the security services.
Public prosecutor Alphonse Charles Wright told the AFP news agency the order to launch legal proceedings followed a complaint filed by the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), an umbrella group that had spearheaded protests against the former president.
Anger against Conde, who in 2010 had become the first democratically elected president in the history of the country, mounted after he altered the constitution to run for a third term in October 2020.
His main challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo and other opposition candidates alleged irregularities in the official results, which saw him winning with 59.5 percent of the vote.
Repeated protests resulted in dozens of deaths, including at least 17 in skirmishes between protesters and police after the vote.
Conde was overthrown in a military coup last September by army officers led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former Special Forces commander.
Doumbouya has since been sworn in as interim president and implemented a crackdown on alleged corruption by the former regime.
Conde’s future became a major issue between the military and the regional bloc ECOWAS after the coup.
He was initially imprisoned and then allowed to go to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment in January, returning home on April 10.
Growing African mangrove forests aim to combat climate woes
MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — In a bid to protect coastal communities from climate change and encourage investment, African nations are increasingly turning to mangrove restoration projects, with Mozambique becoming the latest addition to the growing list of countries with large scale mangrove initiatives.
Mozambique follows efforts across the continent — including in Kenya, Madagascar, Gambia and Senegal — and is touted as the world’s largest coastal or marine ecosystem carbon storage project. Known as blue carbon, carbon captured by these ecosystems can sequester, or remove, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a faster rate than forests, despite being smaller in size.
Mozambique’s mangrove restoration project — announced in February alongside its UAE-based partner Blue Forest Solutions — hopes to turn 185,000 hectares (457,100 acres) in the central Zambezia and southern Sofala provinces into a forest which could capture up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide, according to project leaders.
“Blue carbon can be utilized not only to sequester tons of carbon dioxide but to also improve the lives of coastal communities,” Vahid Fotuhi, the Chief Executive officer of Blue Forest, told the Associated Press. “There are around one million hectares of mangroves forests in Africa. Collectively they’re able to sequester more carbon dioxide than the total annual emissions of a country like Croatia or Bolivia.” He added these projects would create green jobs and promote biodiversity.
Africa’s major mangrove forests have been decimated in recent decades due to logging, fish farming, coastal development, and pollution, leading to increased blue carbon emissions and greater exposure of vulnerable coastal communities to flooding and other threats to livelihood.
But the continent’s growing attention on mangrove restoration can be attributed in part to the successful Mikoko Pamoja project, initiated in 2013 in Kenya’s Gazi Bay, which protected 117 hectares (289 acres) of mangrove forest and replanted 4,000 trees annually, spurring other countries to also address their damaged coastal land and recreate its success.
Mikoko Pamoja, Swahili for ‘mangroves together’, centered its efforts on protecting the
small communities in Gazi and Makongeni villages from coastal erosion, loss of fish and climate change. It was dubbed the “world’s first blue carbon project” and earned the community of just 6,000 global fame, accolades, carbon cash and greater living standards.
“Mikoko Pamoja has led to development of projects in the community, including installation of water,” Iddi Bomani, the village chairperson of the Gazi community, said. “Everyone has water available in their houses.”
“It especially leads to improved livelihoods through job creation when done by communities,” Laitani Suleiman, a committee member of the Mikoko Pamoja, added.
Several other projects have come to fruition since. In Senegal, 79 million replanted mangrove trees are projected to store 500,000 tons of carbon over the next 20 years. Neighboring Gambia launched its own reforestation effort in 2017, with Madagascar following suit with its own preservation project two years later. Egypt is planning its mangrove restoration project ahead of hosting the United Nations climate conference in November this year.
The projects have sparked a clamor for the sale of carbon credits, a type of permit that allows for a certain amount of emissions as remuneration for forest restoration or other carbon offset projects. Gabon was offered a recent pay package of $17 million through the Central African Forest Initiative due to its protection efforts, but complaints persist on the low prices offered to African governments.
“Africa remains excluded from a lot of financing available under climate change” Jean Paul Adam, head of the climate division at the Economic Commission for Africa, said, adding that a lack of financing means nations on the continent are unable to build up their resilience to climate change.
He added that “nature-based solutions and advocating for a fair development price of carbon” would propel the African economy.
“Restoring and protecting our marine habitats plays a key role in maintaining the health of our planet,” she said, adding that mangroves alone store up to four times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests. The Global Mangroves Alliance also estimates that mangroves reduce damages and flood risk for 15 million people and can prevent over $65 billion of property damage each year.
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Ethiopian Herald 7 May 2022
