Africa, the forgotten continent?

[Dotini]

Gambia is in a "state of emergency" because the President lost the election in December and was due to leave office tomorrow (19th January). Yaha Jammeh has therefore declared a state of emergency so he can cling to power for longer.

The FCO has recommended Britons leave Gambia and flight operator Thomas Cook is sending out extra planes to deal with the flight.

Oh, Gambia you say? It's a very small country on the west coast completely surrounded by Senegal. If you were wondering here are Yahya Jammeh's necessaries:

+ Banned FGM and said it has no place in Gambia or Islam

- Has been in office since 1994
- Wants stricter LGBT laws than Iran
- Says he will slit the throat of anyone gay or lesbian in the country
- Says you are lower than a pig if you are not religious
- Ordered literal witch hunts
- Accused of orchestrating "disappearances"

This is exactly what we want - stupid, pliable dictators that will do our (US, European, Chinese) bidding when it comes to trade, mineral exploitation and military alliance. This has been the system for long, long time. Why break it now, and more importantly, how??

 

[Liquid]

I have a mild interest in Gambia because I went there om holiday as a wee lad in 2004.

 

[PeterJB]

Are the any countries in Africa with a stable government, or any kind of stability at all?

 

[xyloscissor]

Are the any countries in Africa with a stable government, or any kind of stability at all?

South Africa? Maybe. I came to post Gaddafi's name, love him or hate him, he was creating something for all of Africa and look at his country now.

 

[JKgo]

@Liquid It's actually The Gambia....

The president-elect is slumming it in Senegal, while his 8-year old son was "allegedly bitten to death" by a dog. Meanwhile, the loser declares a martial law to cling to power, and the neighboring nations begin to send military personnel around its borders....

Yep, it's business as usual, here in good ol' Africa. Nothing to see here folks.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Are the any countries in Africa with a stable government, or any kind of stability at all?

Botswana, and perhaps Ghana

There are a few others, but I can't recall who they are. And it really depends on stability, I don't feel comfortable with saying Egypt is one. However, I'm not a political science guru or historian so I can't say for certain at all either.

 

[mustafur]

Are the any countries in Africa with a stable government, or any kind of stability at all?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius

 

[Liquid]

Election winner Adama Barrow is due to be sworn in as Gambian President at the embassy in Dakar. Botswanna has withdrawn recognition of Yahya Jammeh as President and west African forces of ECOWAS say they will move in to order the transfer of power if necessary.

 

[UKMikey]

My dad is from The Gambia. I think he was glad he got out. I know I am. When I visited in 2010 the infrastructure seemed to have improved from when I was last there twenty years previously. Fewer powercuts and some of the holes in the road had been repaired.

 

[m8h3r]

Botswana, and perhaps Ghana

There are a few others, but I can't recall who they are. And it really depends on stability, I don't feel comfortable with saying Egypt is one. However, I'm not a political science guru or historian so I can't say for certain at all either.

Isn't Ghana the home of Sakawa and Internet Fraud. I watched a Documentary on it and they all said the same thing, there's simply no jobs there.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Isn't Ghana the home of Sakawa and Internet Fraud. I watched a Documentary on it and they all said the same thing, there's simply no jobs there.

I've read else where that they're actually pretty stable, and internet fraud happens every where even in the U.S. and Britain so that really doesn't tell me or anyone else much. We're talking about economic stability supposedly reported there and politically stable. The article below talks about it a bit as well, and their government.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-region-stable-ghana-heads-for-tight-election

 

[Liquid]

Internet Fraud. I watched a Documentary on it and they all said the same thing, there's simply no jobs there.

Dispatches: Post-Industrial Britain

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The constitutional crisis in the Gambia appears to have been averted, with Jammeh agreeing to go into exile:

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-21/the-gambias-jammeh-agrees-to-go-into-exile/8200062

 

[Dennisch]

The constitutional crisis in the Gambia appears to have been averted, with Jammeh agreeing to go into exile:

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-21/the-gambias-jammeh-agrees-to-go-into-exile/8200062

But before leaving, he emptied out the state treasury. All 500 million Dalasi.

 

[Liquid]

Gucci Grace: Mugabe's corpse could run for President and still win

Oh wait, but Zimbabwe is one of those awful countries which doesn't need democracy or liberation.

This was also worth noting:

"Anyone who was with Mugabe in 1980 has no right to tell him he is old. If you want Mugabe to go, then you leave together. You also have to leave. Then we take over because we were not there in 1980," she said, gesticulating towards herself.

I'd like to think she just meant people from a younger demographic or generation and wasn't actually suggesting that she herself take over.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Gucci Grace: Mugabe's corpse could run for President and still win

Yeah yeah, come back yesterday

 

[JKgo]

...Grace has been building her own power base steadily over the years. It shouldn't come as a surprise that she's probably behind many of Mugabe's current actions - he's 92 years old, for crying out loud. Can't see him effectively leading a country, regardless of how broken it is. Hell, he most likely can't even remember what he had for breakfast this morning!!

 

[JKgo]

...Uhh, it's happening?!

Zimbabwe: soldiers seen on the streets of Harare: Live feed.

 

[TenEightyOne]

It's being reported that soldiers have taken over the broadcast headquarters. General Chiwenga (head of the Zimbabwean army) was earlier accused of "treasonable action" by Mugabe after opposing Mugabe's sacking of Vice President Mnangagwa.

TLDR; this is all about succession. 93 year-old Mugabe isn't going to live forever (even if he orders it) and either the VP or Mrs. Mugabe will take over. My money's on Mrs. Mugabe but for now at least that's up in the air.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Mugabe has been "detained". More from Zanu PF on Twitter, because that's where world politics happens nowadays.

 

[Liquid]

I never thought I'd see the day Robert Mugabe was detained by his country's own army.

Wonderful.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I never thought I'd see the day Robert Mugabe was detained by his country's own army.

Wonderful.

The real test of the army's strength/resilience will be when they take Grace Mugabe's handcuffs off.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Question? Is Mugabe being usurped by a Military Coup an overall good thing? Or will it cause chaos on the short to long term?

 

[Scaff]

The real test of the army's strength/resilience will be when they take Grace Mugabe's handcuffs off.

If they take them off.

I've family in Zim, and work with a lady that also does.

This all kicked off when Mugabe fired ZPF's preferred candidate to succeed him (a bloke who's actually not a total nutter these days and one who has intervene on behalf of farmers in the past) in favour of his wife.

The army warned back on Monday that they were not happy with this.

So its likely that Mugabe and family will get house arrest for life or exile to ZA.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Question? Is Mugabe being usurped by a Military Coup an overall good thing? Or will it cause chaos on the short to long term?

The short answer is that things could barely be worse than they are now. If the army genuinely bring a new era of democratic freedom to the country in any small way then relatively that's a huge improvement.

It seems so long since Mugabe was the WHO's Goodwill Ambassador.

 

[Liquid]

It seems so long since Mugabe was the WHO's Goodwill Ambassador.

Mr Ambassador, you spoil us with your 15% incidence of HIV/AIDS, lack of treatment drugs and criminalisation of male homosexuality!

 

[JKgo]

...May I remind you, this isn't a coup, at least not according to the guys doing it. They are just "cleaning out the criminals" surrounding their aging leader.

The South African news media is having a field day here. The coverage is literally blanketing everything this side of the border. Will Jacob Zuma intervene, though? One of his wives just so happens to be related to Mugabe household...

Last time when there was a coup attempt at the doorstep of South Africa, Lesotho, the then-president Mbeki sent in his boys in green to quell the unrest super quick. But will Zuma do that, I wonder?

 

[TenEightyOne]

...May I remind you, this isn't a coup, at least not according to the guys doing it.

The suggestion is that this is to avoid following Egypt in expulsion from the African Union.

Still, if it looks like a coup and it acts like a coup and Grace Mugabe is going to kill you the moment you unlock her door...

 

[JKgo]

The suggestion is that this is to avoid following Egypt in expulsion from the African Union.

Still, if it looks like a coup and it acts like a coup and Grace Mugabe is going to kill you the moment you unlock her door...

...No, no. She's going to beat you in the head with an extension cord, instead. True story.

And some more development - South African ministers are indeed holding crisis talks in Harare, according to The Beebs.

 

[Dennisch]

a bloke who's actually not a total nutter these days

You might want to chance your stance on him. He was the man who carried out Mugabe's dirty work. He is a known illegal diamond dealer. And he is just as corrupt as his aging sugar daddy.