African Media Coverage

November 16-30, 2008

Rwanda: The New Times
“Darfur: Mission accomplished”
Published: November 29, 2008

A contingent of 155 soldiers of the 35th battalion of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) returned home yesterday, after serving a year in the joint United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) mission in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur. This is part of the rotation exercise that started last month.

Receiving the troops at Kigali International Airport, senior army officials praised them for their role of bringing back hope and security to people living in North-western Darfur where, their leaders said, they had been instrumental in reducing violence, such as burning of people’s houses and the rape of  women.

“Your contribution was commended by both Rwandans and the Sudanese. You did what you were supposed to do,” the chief of the RDF’s J4-army, Maj. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba said as he welcomed them. He implored the soldiers to be vigilant in their work, now that they were back home.

Read the article here.

South Africa: The Star
“‘Obama not Africa’s cure-all savior’”
Published: November 21, 2008

Two weeks after Africans danced for joy to see a black man elected president of the United States, a Kenyan newspaper columnist has delivered a crisp warning to this complex and troubled continent: "Obama is not the Great Black Hope."

Africans will have to look for solutions within themselves, not abroad, Priscah Edith Awino wrote in the Daily Nation, the leading newspaper of Barack Obama's ancestral land.

The self-help theme has become increasingly prevalent with the recognition that 50 years of Western aid and emergency rescues of famine, disease and war victims have failed to cure Africa's ills, and may even have held the continent back.

So, rather than expect Obama to be a cure-all, Awino wrote, his election "should inspire us to build institutions that will produce leaders with Obama's greatest strengths - his dignified bearing, statesmanship, brains, know-how and depth".

Many of the remedies Obama has said he would apply to Africa's miseries will sound familiar: aid twinned with an emphasis on fostering entrepreneurship; tough talk for dictators; and commitment to fighting Aids.

Read the article here.

South Africa: News 24
“Watchdog welcomes ICC move”
Published: November 20, 2008

A top rights watchdog on Thursday welcomed a request from the International Criminal Court prosecutor for arrest warrants against Darfur rebel commanders over an attack on African peacekeepers.

Nevertheless the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) drew a sharp distinction between attacks on peacekeepers, which although "serious crimes" were not on the same scale as "atrocities" committed as part of the government's campaign.

"Civilians rely on peacekeepers for protection and any hope for restoring security for civilians in Darfur depends on peacekeepers being able to do their job," said Richard Dicker, head of HRW's International Justice Programme.

"These warrant requests send a strong message that such crimes will not be tolerated," he added in a statement.

Read the article here.