AFRICAN LEADERS AT TRUE SONS OF THE DEVIL

Seventy percent of the world's poorest nations are in Africa.


The population of Africa's poorest people is growing too rapidly for governments to support their needs. In many of Africa's least developed nations, women average more than six children.
AIDS has become a pandemic throughout Central and West Africa. More than 21 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with the AIDS virus. This is more than twice the number of the rest of the world combined. The death rate among adults under sixty has risen more than fifty percent and has tripled in Zimbabwe. It is estimated that one of every five Zimbabweans have the virus. · African nations owe more substantial amounts of money to nations around the world, and are unable to pay what they owe.
Dictatorships which in most cases lead to ethnic rivalries and civil wars which have forced millions of Africans to become refugees is as a result of leaders using their tribes as a tool to grip onto power at what ever cost thus twisting the hands of others and force them in to subjugation.
A refugee is a person who has had to flee their home for safety. When civil disobediances occur, the same rougue governments would try put the blame on those who oppose them. Africa is a living hell under its dictatorial governments who care very less about the plight of their people.
If African leaders care then it should have been the other way roung, Africa should be giving aid to other continents even Europe and America and not otherwise. They are greedy bafoons who came from satan to cause havoc and mesery for all children of Africa
Famine and drought have plagued many of the nations of Africa. World organizations have attempted to help, but civil war and ethnic rivalries often keep food from reaching people who need it.
Madness isn't it?

Death Penalty Alive and Well in the Gambia

Death Penalty Alive and Well in Gambia

Capital punishment was abolished in 1981, but President Jammeh reinstated it in 1995 as punishment for murder and treason and was recently extended to punish drug trafficking offences.


Death penalty is a way of punishing a person by putting him to death. For ages, human societies used the death penalty to combat crimes.

Criminals are executed-shot, hang, decapitated or stoned to death by 'constituted authorities'. But in recent years, there has been a growing trend against the use of capital punishment. Many countries are beginning to realize the flawed nature of using death to punish 'criminals'. Many countries are abandoning and abolishing capital punishment.

Besides Lang Tombong Tamba and his seven co-accused, the country's death row holds, among others, Sulayman Bah, convicted of killing his housemate in a dispute over money, and Tabara Samba, a woman who convicted of killing her husband by pouring boiling oil over her. February 14, 2011: Sheriff Abba Hydara, 71, from Bakallar Village in the Upper Niumi District of The Gambia's North Bank Region was sentenced to death by Justice Joseph Enwa Ikpala of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Banjul for murdering his wife, Basara Hydara, on September 6, 2010. He allegedly shot her. The convict was also alleged to have unlawfully attempted to cause the death of his son, Marabel Hydara by shooting him with a gun on the said date and place.

Yet when it abolished the death penalty in 1981, the West African country was among the first African governments to do so. President Jammeh reinstated the death penalty in 1995 as punishment for murder and treason.

Two dozen people have been sentenced to death in Gambia since then. None have been executed in that time, but neither has anyone been pardoned or had their sentences reduced.

Since Gambian independence in 1965, a death sentence has been carried out only once, when Mustapha Danso was executed for killing the commander of the country's army, Ekou Mahoney, during a failed coup in 1981.

Baboucarr Ceesay, editor of The Daily News newspaper, says the death penalty has not contributed to reducing the murder rate.

"In fact before 1995, we rarely heard of someone being murdered," he says, "but it has hit the headlines frequently over the past few years."

Regarding treason, Ceesay cannot recall a coup attempt during the period when capital punishment was abolished. Since 1995, however, the Gambia has experienced at least four coup attempts since its re-institution.

In October, capital punishment was extended further to punish drug trafficking offences.

Musa Touray, a retired civil servant, says applying the death penalty to drug offences will do little to reduce the spiraling rate of drug trafficking.

"The death penalty is not necessary," he says, "It is too heavy a penalty. What the government should do is to strengthen its surveillance mechanisms."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has noted that West Africa has increasingly become a transit point for drugs, with traffickers taking advantage of poverty and poor surveillance to move drugs from South America to Europe.

In June, a record two-tonne stash of cocaine was found in the Gambia, with an estimated street value in Europe of just under a $1billion according to newspaper reports.

The Gambia's amended act states that anyone caught with over 250 grammes of cocaine faces the death penalty if convicted. Those convicted of human trafficking will also face a death sentence.

"The menace of drug trafficking and the activities of major drug lords have started to rear their ugly heads in this jurisdiction in recent times," Attorney General and Justice Minister Edward Anthony Gomez told lawmakers.

"Therefore this bill seeks to nip the negative developments in the bud by providing sentences which will serve as deterent to anyone wishing to use this country either as a transit or destination point for hard drugs."

The bill also covers human trafficking, said Gomez. "Both the strategic location of The Gambia as a gateway to the Western world as well as our liberal immigration policy have attracted the attention of unscrupulous persons in using the country as a transit route for trafficking in persons."


As at today, 139 states have abolished the death penalty in law or practice and 72 have ratified the Second Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which provides for the total abolition of the death penalty. Unfortunately Gambia is not one of them. Gambia has yet to abolish the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, Gambia is a de-facto abolitionist state. The last execution was carried out in 1981. Thirteen death sentences have been passed in since the beginning of the year. In July, eight men accused of procuring arms, equipment and mercenaries to stage a coup against President Yahya Jammeh's government were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death in a trial.

Anna Jefferys/IRIN

The bill also covers human trafficking (file photo).

The theme of this year's 'World Day Against the Death Penalty' is "The Death Penalty casts a Shadow on Democracy". Indeed, capital punishment casts a long shadow on the democracy of any country. The observance of the death penalty is incompatible with democratic norms. The reasons for the abolition of the death penalty are so clear and compelling and should be given serious considerations by the government of the Gambia, and they are as follows:

1. No state should have the power to take a citizen's life.

2. It is irrevocable: no justice system is safe from judicial error and innocent people are likely to be sentenced to death.

3. It is inefficient: it has never been shown that the death penalty deters crimes more effectively than other punishments.

4. It is unfair: the death penalty is discriminatory and is often used disproportionately against the poor, the mentally ill, those from racial and ethnic minorities, and in some places in the world because of discrimination, because of sexual orientation or religion.

5. It does not offer justice to murder victims' families: the effects of murder cannot be erased by more killing, and the death system prolongs the suffering of victims' families.

6. It creates more victims: the death penalty inflicts pain on the families of those on death row.

7. It is inhumane, cruel and degrading: the dreadful conditions on death row inflict extreme psychological suffering and execution is a physical and mental assault.

8. It is applied overwhelmingly in violation of international standards: it breaches the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to life and that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is also in contradiction with the international trend towards abolition recognized by two votes at the United Nations General Assembly calling for the establishment of a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty (resolutions 62/149 and 63/168 adopted on 18 December 2007 and 2008)

9. It does not keep society safe.

10. It denies any possibility of rehabilitation to the criminal.

I must underscore the fact that we all can live without the death penalty. Many countries are already doing so. We can fight and prevent crimes in our societies without capital punishment. We can adequately punish those who commit murder, armed robbery and other heinous offences without putting them to death. The campaign to end the death penalty is not just a campaign to save lives; it is a campaign for justice, for human rights and dignity. The death penalty is an out dated form of punishment and should not be associated with the legal system in any civilized and democratic nation in this 21st century. The justice system in the Gambia is better of without it. Humanity is better of without capital punishment. Hence I urge President Yahya Jammeh to get Gambia to join other nations by abolishing the death penalty.

Leo Igwe is the director of the International Humanists and Ethical Union in West Africa

Somalia: Children Bear the Brunt of Conflict

http://allafrica.com/stories/201106040019.html

Hundreds of children younger than five have been wounded in the latest round of fighting in Mogadishu, accounting for almost half of all trauma cases in May, according to WHO

Hundreds of children younger than five have been wounded in the latest round of fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, accounting for almost half of all trauma cases in May, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In a press statement issued on 31 May, WHO said recent data showed that the main causes of death among under-fives were burns, chest injuries and internal haemorrhaging caused by blast injuries, shrapnel and bullets.




"Of the 1,590 reported weapons-related injuries in May alone, 735 cases, or 46 percent, were children under the age of five, compared to only 3.5 percent in April," the agency said.

Marthe Everard, WHO's representative for Somalia, said: "This is the highest number of injured children that has been reported since the beginning of this year."

Fighting between government troops, backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia, and Al-Shabab has intensified in Mogadishu in recent weeks, with government troops trying to dislodge the insurgents from several parts of the city that had been under their control.



UN Photo/Milton Grant

A Somali mother and two children waiting for food at a feeding centre in Mogadishu.

In the past week, the fighting has been mostly around Bakara, the largest open-air market in Somalia, with government troops seeking to oust Al-Shabab from the area.

Ahmed Dini of Peaceline, a Somali civil society group that monitors the welfare of children in the country, told IRIN the numbers would be even higher "if you take into consideration that many families are unable to access hospitals and are therefore keeping wounded children at home, taking care of them as best they can.

"Unfortunately, in every instance in Mogadishu, be it displacement, poverty or violence, children are more often than not the most affected," Dini said.

He said civil society groups had, on several occasions, appealed to the warring sides to stop shelling populated areas and to minimize civilian casualties.




"We are also asking them to allow access to those who cannot reach hospitals," Dini said. "We have reports of children dying because they could not [obtain medical care]."

According to WHO, health workers in Mogadishu are "stretched very thin" to treat the high number of war-wounded; in many cases, they lack proper equipment and means to cover all cases.

"Service delivery is hampered by accessibility issues, poor infrastructure and an insufficient number of health facilities," Everard said in the WHO statement. "Wherever health facilities are operating, they often lack very basic and essential medicines, supplies and equipment, operational and logistical support."

More wounded


Somalia: Children Bear the Brunt of Conflict
TOPICAL FOCUS — Somali Children Facing the Worst - UN

Abdirizaq Hassan Ali, head of Mogadishu's Benadir Children's hospital, told IRIN on 31 May that since the beginning of the month, more and more wounded children had been taken to the hospital.

"We are receiving on average 20 to 30 wounded children daily," Ali said.

Previously, he added, the hospital admitted about 10 war-wounded children daily.

Dini said the difference between the latest fighting and past conflict was that "this is more sustained and without let-up. Previously, we have had intense fighting but it would fizzle out after a few days, but now both sides are digging in."

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations

Cape Verde to Vote in New President

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108060008.html

The Cape Verde archipelago elects a new president Sunday as Pedro Pires steps down after two terms with his ruling party facing a split vote.

The former Portuguese colony off the northwestern coast of Africa, made up of 10 main islands and eight islets, is often lauded for its political and economic stability despite meagre natural resources.




The ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) won an absolute majority in parliament after February legislative polls in which Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves, the head of government, was re-elected.

The party has been buoyed by a decade of growth averaging six percent. But its candidate Manuel Inocencio Sousa faces watered down support with lawmaker Aristides Lima challenging him as an independent.

The main opposition Movement for Democracy (MFD), which is fielding former foreign minister and law professor Jorge Carlos Fonseca, hopes this will boost its chances.

"We will probably go into a run-off and we hope this contradiction will help us elect our president," MFD campaign director, Antoine Moricio Santos, told AFP by telephone.



U.S. Embassy, Cape Verde

Sea salt in Maio Island, Cape Verde.

The two parties have dominated Cape Verde politics since multi-party elections were first held in 1991, with each having ruled for about a decade.

A fourth independent candidate, former soldier and veteran of the independence war, Joaquim Jaime Monteiro, 70, is also in the race.

"It is a very lively presidential election, especially with the PAICV split into two clans," said journalist Nelio dos Santos on national radio.

Lima, a former parliament speaker, decided to run on his own after losing an election to be the ruling party's official candidate.

"I am determined to contribute to Cape Verde continuing on its development path to peace and political stability," he said announcing his candidature.




His party rival Sousa, 60, who is minister of infrastructure, transport and maritime affairs is a Netherlands-trained civil engineer.

Since coming to power in 2001, the ruling party has overseen a spate of development work including the construction of three international airports, ports, and hundreds of kilometres of roads.

Lauded for its stable democracy and peaceful elections, Cape Verde in 2008 became only the second ever country after Botswana to be promoted by the United Nations out of the ranks of the 50 least developed countries.

However despite impressive growth rates it is still vulnerable and highly dependent on international aid.

Fonseca, 60, who lost a presidential bid in 2001, has vowed that if elected, he will focus on social issues and problems concerning youth, women and workers.


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"We need development, unemployment is too high, especially for the youth," said his campaign director Santos.

Unemployment in Cape Verde is officially pegged at 13 percent although the opposition has put it as high as 18 percent, and more of its nationals live abroad (700,000) than at home (500,000).

The archipelago of sandy beaches, lush valleys and arid volcanic rock has an economy dominated by the service sector, which represents 85 percent of GDP. Tourism contributed 25 percent to GDP with 400,000 visitors in 2010.

Just over 300,000 people have registered to vote in the election and some 900 polling stations have been set up on the islands and 35,300 in Africa, America and Europe to cater to the diaspora, said a source from the electoral commission.

AFP

Amnesty International: The Gambia is a Torture Chamber

http://www.africandictator.org/?p=3314

Amnesty International: The Gambia is a Torture Chamber
July 24, 2011 | Filed under: The Gambia | Posted by: MarieC
Friday 22 July marks the 17th year of Dictator Yahya Jammeh’s rule in The Gambia. Amnesty International has used the occasion to warn the international community that the dictator’s period of leadership has been marked by torture, murder, imprisonment and disappearances of critics.

God’s Dictator?

The Gambia is currently facing forthcoming presidential elections, elections which Jammeh has bragged he will win, as it is the will of God. Watchdog groups, however, are saying that it is because Jammeh has effectively destroyed the opposition with a campaign of violence and suppression. Critics have been arrested and intimidated, or forced into exile.

Jammeh’s highly militarised country is run by gangs of thugs authorised by the dictator to hunt down those brave enough to speak out.

Even those who have his favour risk being thrown into prison should they deviate from his wishes.

Amnesty’s report comments that: “Life in the Gambia for people who are perceived to belong to the opposition or journalists who have issued statements that are perceived to be critical of the authorities is quite bad. Most people end up in prison, in Mile Two prison, where they are subjected to torture. A lot of people have to flee the country, and a lot of people are currently living in exile,” [AI Deputy Africa Director] Hondora said.


Jammeh: “Too Much Expression”?
President Jammeh has responded to criticism in the past by accusing campaigners for what he calls “so-called human rights” of trying to undermine his government. He has restricted press freedoms, saying Gambia suffers from “too much expression.”

He goes on… “Human rights groups have pressed repeatedly for a full investigation into the killing of newspaper editor Deyda Hydara. Amnesty International calls detained journalist Ebirma Manneh a “prisoner of conscience.”

The Vanishing Opposition

Hondora says those who oppose President Jammeh risk being picked up by security forces and never seen again.

“Some people have ended up disappeared. These are people who are arrested by security forces and nothing is heard about them. And this extends to journalists, extends to opposition political party supporters or members, and including people in the security forces who are considered to have turned against the regime in Banjul,” Hondora said.

AI and other human rights groups are calling for massive reforms in the country, and for international pressure on Jammeh, who has been relying on foreign aid. Jammeh himself is incredibly wealthy, having claimed huge tracts of land for himself.

Will The Gambia be able to free itself after 17 years of Jammeh-hell? His autocratic rule may make it impossible for a functioning opposition to offer an alternative, but there is a climate of change in the country as Gambians grow weary with his tyranny.

•Indicators: Yahya Jammeh has crushed the opposition- not with his leadership abilities, but with his

•systematic oppression of critics, whom he tortures, murders or imprisons

Gabon Buys Former Kennedy House for US$6.5 Million

http://www.africandictator.org/?p=3382


Gabon Buys Former Kennedy House for US$6.5 Million
July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Gabon | Posted by: MarieC

Son of a devil always a devil. Omar Bongo's flamboyant son who succeeded him as ruler of Gabon,.

The Republic of Gabon,s pFlamboyant leader is the buyer of the Kalorama Heights mansion that once belonged to Senator Ted Kennedy in Washington DC, United States.

The West African dictatorship paid $6.5 million for the six-bedroom home, significantly less than the $8 million it was originally listed for.

Sources said that the home would likely be used by visiting dignitaries and ambassadors, or that it would make a pleasant home for the Gabonese ambassador to the US.

Lovely Bathrooms, Fireplaces and Arnie’s Gym

The white mansion with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, five fireplaces, an indoor swimming pool and a gym kitted out with equipment selected by Arnold Schwarzenegger who is in the process of divorcing Kennedy’s niece Maria.

Dictator Ali Bongo of Gabon made all the wrong headlines last month when he was received by US President Barack Obama- international media branded Ali Bongo a dictator, and slammed Obama for meeting with him.

Ali Bongo wasn’t worried- the oil-rich tyrant presides over a government (and family) which controls almost all of the tiny country’s wealth.

Mansions vs. Poverty

A large percentage of Gabonese live in absolute poverty, although the revenue from oil skews the GDP- so vast is the revenue, that it makes it appear that the per capita income is far more evenly divided than it is in reality.

Perhaps Ali Bongo can do some renovations to his latest mansion, and add on a few extra bedrooms for some of his poorer people.

•Indicators:
•Ali Bongo is investing millions in mansions in foreign countries while his own people starve.
•His oil wealth buys him a place in the most powerful arena in the world.

You’re Under Arrest, Mrs. Dictator

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=52848
You’re Under Arrest, Mrs. Dictator
April 13, 2011 | Filed under: Cote d’ Ivoire | Posted by: MarieC

Simone Gbagbo is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a Vice-President of the FPI. As the wife of Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d’Ivoire, she was also first lady prior to their arrest by Pro-Ouattara forces.

As is often the case with dictators, their wives have no small amount of power of their own, and Mrs. Gbagbo has held her own in public office. Sometimes known as the Hillary Clinton des tropiques, she has always been at the midst of controversy. In addition to numerous arrests during the 70s as a militant trade unionist, Gbagbo and her husband were arrested for allegedly inciting violence in February 1992 and spent six months in prison.

She has also been investigated by the UN for allegedly organizing death squads and for other human rights abuses during and after the civil war in Cote d’Ivoire. She is said to have organized the death squads, while the UN report also mentions the mass executions of opponents, as well as the stirring up of hatred of certain ethnic groups in the unstable country.

Simone Gbagbo was questioned by a French legal representatives in connection with the disappearance (and presumed death) of French-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, who vanished while on his way to a meeting with her brother-in-law. Her role in the disappearance is disputed, and she has since filed a defamation suit against a former member of the Ivorian Security Services who accused her of being involved.

The 61 year old wife of Laurent Gbagbo now faces charges of her own, and, should the expressed intentions of Cote d’Ivoire prosecutors be carried out, be held accountable for her reign of terror as first lady of a dictatorship.

She is succeeded by Dominique Ouattara, wife of President-elect, Alassane Ouattara.