December 2006 in Africa

December 3rd

  • Madagascar: presidential election. According to the complete provisional results published by the ministry for the Interior on December 10th, the outgoing president Marc Ravalomanana was re-elected as of the first turn with 54,80% of the voices. The candidates of the opposition disputes the legality of this election and deposited recourse to the High constitutional court

December 4th

  • Mauritania: second turn of the legislative elections. The Coalition of the forces of democratic change (CFCD) arrives slightly at the head with 41 seats against 39 for the regrouping of independent, the majority resulting from the old party in power and 7 for the old party in power, the Republican party for the democracy and the revival.

December 6th

December 9th

  • Mali: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, president of the National Assembly and the Rassemblement for Mali announced during a meeting with Bamako its will to be candidate with the presidential election of 2007.

December 10th

  • Benign: the president Boni Yayi launched the festivities commemorative of died of the king Béhanzin, who reigned of 1890 with 1894 and was opposed to French colonization.

  • Mali: the Alliance for the Democracy and Progress was created in order to give their support for a candidature of the president Amadou Toumani Touré for the presidential election of 2007. It regroupe14 political parties Malians: the Adéma-Pasj; the Bdia; CNID; the Miria; MPR; PCR; PDR; PIDS; PDP; RND; UDD; the UMP; URD and Custom-GDR.

  • Mauritania: The Forum of the national organizations of human rights (FONADH) request to the authorities of transition Mauritanian the respect from the “contained disposals in the various declarations, pacts and international conventions promotion protection of the human rights”, and in particular the organized return of the deportees and refugees Mauritanians being to the Senegal and the Mali and the engagement of judicaires continuations counter the presumed authors of the violations of human rights between 1986 and 1992, as well as the effective abolition of slavery.

December 12th

  • Ivory Coast: In an official statement, read by their door word the colonel Babri Gohourou, the Defense forces and of safety denounces the preparation of a coup d'etat having to be held between the 12 and on December 17th. The following day, Sidi Konaté, spokesperson of the new Forces denounced a “political operation aiming at blocking the political process”

  • Ethiopia: justice recognized guilty the former dictator Mengistu Hailé Mariam and eleven other fellow accused, of 211 criminal charges - of which tortures, assassination of the Emperor Hailé Sélassié Ier, sequestration, spoliation, summary executions - gathered in four categories: genocide, homicide, abusive imprisonment and torture, and confiscation of goods. Mengistu Hailé Mariam, in exile with the Zimbabwe, was judged by contumacy and risk the capital punishment. Its lawyers have 16 days to present extenuating circumstances in order to attenuate its sorrow.

December 13rd

  • Burkina Faso : A demonstration, with the call of the Collective of the democratic organizations of masses and political parties (CODMPP) gathered several hundreds of people with Ouagadougou to protest against the withdrawal of case pronounced by justice in the business of the assassination in December 1998 of the journalist Norbert Zongo.

  • Botswana: The court of Lobatse recognized with the Bushmen the right to turn over to live on their ancestral ground in the central Reserve of the Kalahari where they had been expelled by the government in January 2002. However the court did not considered to be illegal the decision of the government to put an end to the basic services (water, food…) provided to the bushmen in the reserve.

December 15th

December 17th

  • West Africa: Joined together with Bamako, the leaders and representatives of the parties ecologists of West Africa, Gathering of the ecologists of Burkina, Left ecological of the Ivory Coast, Left ecologist Mali, Gathering for the Sahel green green-Party of Niger and Rassemblement of the ecologists of Senegal have, in a declaration, to pose the bases of a Federation of the parties ecologists and West Africa green-Area (FéPEV-RAO) of which the Congress constitutive would meet in August 2007 in Abidjan

December 18th

  • Burkina Faso : During the opening ceremony of the tenth conference of the ambassadors and general consuls, the president Blaise Compaoré denounced the perverse effects of “ a universalization without human ideal, of a generating market of new alienation, of a crumbling of the international solidarity, nourished with the source of individualism and selfishness of the nations ” and, condemning terrorism, it has to affirm that “ the important remainder to attack its germs and fundamental causes which are misery, the educational inequalities, exclusions, deviances, religious intolerance and the historical injustices ”.

December 19th

  • Ivory Coast: The president Laurent Gbagbo, in a speech with the nation diffused by public television, proposed with the new Forces “ setting-up, for disarmament and of the reunification of the country, of a direct dialog ”. He also proposes the suppression of the “ zone of confidence ”, demilitarized zone between the north controlled by the new Forces and the south of the country, the introduction of a national civic service and a general amnesty. The afternoon even, the Republican guard had prevented the entry of the representatives of the new Forces to the first meeting of the work group on disarmament.

December 20th

  • Burkina Faso : Disorders took place with Ouagadougou caused by soldiers of the Camp Guillaume Ouédraogo against the police force following a brawl opposing soldiers and elements of the republican Company of safety which made a death, military side. Soldiers occupied the streets of the capital, drawing in the air with light weapons. The tops of the Economic community of the States of West Africa (CEDEAO) and the economic Union and monetarist West African (UEMOA) envisaged Friday and Saturday with Ouagadougou were cancelled. Two police officers and three soldiers were killed and several others, as well as civilians, were wounded. According to sources close to the gendarmerie, 614 prisoners are escaped House D `stop and of correction of Ouagadougou whose grids were smashed by soldiers. Among the escaped prisoners, was cut down, five seriously wounded and 21 others caught up with.

  • Liberia: The Safety advice of the United Nations adopted a resolution unanimously prolonging for 12 months the embargo on the weapons and for 6 months the embargo on diamonds all while being pleased with the progress made by the bast government in the rebuilding of the country and the implication in the international process of certification of diamonds, said Processus of Kimberley.

  • Somalia: Combat violent one between islamist militiamans who control major the part of the country and the army loyal supporter burst in the south of Baidoa.

December 21st

  • Ghana: The National democratic congress (NDC, democratic National congress), principal party of the opposition, appointed the former vice-president John Atta-Millet candidate with the presidential election of 2008.

December 22nd

  • Guinea: the president Lansana Conté proceeded to a cabinet reshuffle by replacing in particular Aboubacar Sylla, Minister for the Information which had publicly denounced corruption and the public basic diversion by Boubacar Yacine Diallo, previously president of the National council of the communication. Fodé " Chapeau" Touré becomes Minister for Safety to replace Ibrahima Dieng, recently deceased.

December 23rd

  • Nigeria: The president Olusegun Obasanjo withdrew all the rights and preferences whose Atiku Abubakar in its quality enjoyed vice-president whereas the day before, the popular Democratic party (PDP, with the capacity) declared this vacant post. Atiku Abubakar, on vacation with the the United States, has to denounce this dismissal and called the Nigerians with regarded as a coup d'etat against the constitution. 20 February 2007, Court of Appeal of Abuja considering that “According to the Constitution, the Head of the State does not have the capacity to declare vacant the function of vice-president”, considers illegal this dismissal.

December 24th

  • Somalia, Ethiopia: The engagements between the islamist army loyal supporter and militiamans extend in the center from the country. Berhan Hailu, Minister Ethiopian for Information recognized for the first time the intervention of its country to with dimensions of the forces loyal supporters. Air raids were started against the militiamans in several points of the country.

  • Chad: An peace agreement was signed with Tripoli between the Head of the State Idriss Déby Itno and the chief rebels Mahamat Nour under the aegis of the Libyan president Mouammar Kadhafi.

December 27th

  • Mauritania: The former Head of State Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla which had directed the country between 1980 and 1984 and had been reversed by Maaouiya Ould Taya, and Brahim Ould Abdallahi, journalist announced their candidature for the presidential election of 2007.

December 28th

December 30th

  • Senegal: Oumar Lamine Badji, president of the District council of Ziguinchor and member of the management Committee of the Senegalese Democratic party (PDS), was killed by men armed claiming Mouvement with the democratic forces of Casamance (MFDC).

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