Gachagua’s much-anticipated address hints at the launch of a political movement. Trump continues firing salvos left, right and centre and one of Africa’s founding fathers passes away.
Table of Contents
It happened in Kenya: Gachagua’s big reveal.
Kenya’s political climate continues to heat up as the 2027 General Elections draw closer.
Although the elections are more than two years away, political campaigns have been underway for a long time, as is the norm in this country.
At the forefront of the opposition political movement is an unlikely character: the impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Gachagua was impeached in October 2024 following a fallout with President Ruto.
Following his impeachment, Gachagua has been hosting several delegations of leaders from all over the country in his rural home in Wamunyoro, Nyeri County. He has termed these delegations and meetings as an important aspect of determining his next political endeavour, which he had promised to deliver by December 31, 2024.
Despite the delays, he would deliver his findings and future political plans in a media interview at his Wamunyoro home on Sunday, February 9.
Gachagua called out Ruto’s government for neglecting the will of the people and has called for the re-orientation of the country’s political discourse. Nonetheless, much of his media address revolved around defending the interests of the Mount Kenya people (constituted of the Kikuyu tribe and other members of the GEMA community).
He started his regret for siding and campaigning for Ruto in 2022, and pushing the Mount Kenya region to vote for him. He also highlighted ‘his mistake’ of entering into a political alliance without the backing of a political party. Gachagua hinted at the formation of a new political outfit that would lead his new-found political movement into the next election cycle.
Gachagua faces backlash for fanning the flames of tribal and ethnic division in the country. He is the self-appointed kingpin of the Kikuyu tribe and his political ambitions align with defending the interests of his community only. Many will remember that his political rhetoric was ethnically charged even when he was still in government.
The political atmosphere that sowed the seeds of his fallout with President Ruto i.e. the ‘Gen-Z protests’ was a collective movement of young people from all tribes and walks of life who took to the streets to demand accountability from the government. Turning this into an argument about the interests of one specific tribe is quite the irony.
Gachagua was not the only politician whose political fortunes were transformed by the anti-government movements in 2024. Kenya’s long-standing opposition leader, Raila Odinga, entered into a reconciliatory agreement with Ruto’s government with some of his key allies getting high-ranking government positions in the new broad-based government. In return, Odinga received full backing from Ruto’s government to vie for the AUC chairmanship seat.
However, these political antics are a smokescreen which obscures the mismanagement of the country by President Ruto’s government. Kenya’s public healthcare system is in shambles as the Social Healthcare Insurance Fund (SHIF) continues to fall apart. Government schools are receiving record-low capitation from the government, which threatens the country’s education system.
Public debt is at an unsustainable level in the wake of high levels of corruption and a faltering economy. Dependency on economic aid is also becoming less of an option as Trump’s government in the United States cut funding to USAID, one of the biggest sources of foreign aid in the country.
Actually, speaking of Trump…
Global Events: Trump isn’t about to slow down
At this point, I should start a new publication and name it “Everything Trump has done in his first month of power”, just because keeping up with him is proving to be a real hassle.
Even before becoming President, Trump was already firing on all cylinders, promising to transform the United States and “Make America Great Again”.
After passing a slew of executive orders and directives, Trump turned his focus to settling political scores and as well as launching new political offensives.
In a nutshell, here’s everything Trump (or his government) has done or said he would do just this week;
- On Friday, February 7, Trump issued an executive order cutting funding assistance to South Africa. Trump disapproved of the country’s recent change to land policy (stating that is racist and disproportionately affects the white minority of the country) and its lodging of a case at the ICC against Israel. Trump was referring to a land appropriation policy passed in South Africa in January aimed at addressing the country’s land ownership policy that dates back to its apartheid days.
The executive order also provided for resettlement in the U.S. of “Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination” as refugees. Afrikaners are the white minority group resident in South Africa who are the descendants of Dutch colonial settlers in the country.
Trump took to Truth Social, his social media platform, to express his displeasure, sentiments that would later be reshared by Elon Musk on X. Musk is of South African descent and grew up in the apartheid era of the country. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio also cancelled his attendance at the G20 summit held in Johanessburg in light of these events.
The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, responded to Trump’s accusations stating that the country ‘would not be bullied’.
- Trump issued an executive order aimed at targeting “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government. The order is specifically targeted at the IRS, Department of Justice and the FBI and incentivizes the Attorney General to create a task force that will work “to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government”.
- Trump also signed an executive order issuing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what he terms as ‘illegitimate and baseless sanctions’ targetting the United States and Israel. These sanctions follow an arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the court on November 21, 2024. The two were indicted by the court for their alleged responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli forces in the Gaza War.
- Trump’s deputy and the United States’ Vice President JD Vance issued a statement bashing the judiciary for getting in the way of the ‘executive legitimate power’. While not pointing out a specific case, Vance may be referring to several United States Federal Court decisions that have placed a pause on several of Trump’s executive orders.
Some of Trump’s orders halted by the courts include Trump’s bid to halt birthright citizenship in the United States. The courts have also restricted Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system.
- Trump paused the 25% tariffs he’d imposed on Canadian and Mexican imports until March 1. Nonetheless, he also imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports on top of existing tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States. China imposed its own ‘tit-for-tat’ tariffs on goods from the United States; a 15% border tax on US coal and liquified gas products plus a 10% tariff on American crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine machinery. China also restricted the export of 25 rare earth metals to the United States and launched a probe into several United States companies for ‘monopolistic tendencies’.
- Trump threatened more tariffs for other regions and countries, such as the European Union, for what he termed as nonreciprocal levies placed on United States goods. Trump’s tariff-mania delivers on his campaign promise to impose tariffs on the same rates charged for US goods.
“Very simply, it’s if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said to reporters on the AirForce One whilst en route to the SuperBowl on Sunday, February 9.
- In the same address, Trump doubled down on his plans to have the United States redevelop Gaza terming the territory as a ‘big real estate site’. Trump pointed out his concerns about letting Hamas militants move back in alongside the returning Palestinians. More controversially, Trump stated his plan to have other Middle Eastern countries housing the displaced Palestinians while the United States moves in to develop Gaza.
Middle Eastern countries have rejected Trump’s proposal which, in their eyes at least, creates an existential crisis for them. The matter is expected to be top on the list of agenda as Trump hosts King Abdullah II of Jordan in the United States on February 11.
Trump had laid out his Gaza plan to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two leaders met at the White House on Tuesday, February 4. Netanyahu backed Trump’s plans, terming them as revolutionary and creative.
Trump’s plan goes against the United States’ long-lasting foreign policy of a “two-state nation of Israel and Palestine” which stems from a 1948 United Nations decision. United Nations Resolution 181 or the ‘Partition Plan’ is central to the peace process between Israel and Palestine.
Trump’s remarks come in the midst of an ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the main militant force fighting on behalf of Palestinian interests. The ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19 has brought a renewed sense of hope for the creation of a lasting peace in the region.
Read more: Details of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Israeli troops pulled out of the Netzarim Corridor, a six-kilometre stretch separating northern and southern Gaza on Sunday, February 9. This allowed thousands of Palestinians to move back into their homes in northern Gaza.
The withdrawal of Israeli troops is a major achievement in the ceasefire agreement and marks a key milestone in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement. Furthermore, Hamas released another 3 Israeli hostages in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel on the same day. This marked the fifth prisoner-hostage exchange this month.
All in all, the ceasefire agreement has been held up so far. Food and aid are now allowed into Gaza and displaced Palestinians have been allowed to move back into their homes (most of which were demolished by Israel’s airstrikes and invasion). Despite the pressing need for humanitarian assistance and an end to all fighting, a lasting peace in the region may well be on its way.
Following the fifth hostage release, Netanyahu sent a delegation to Doha, Qatar to facilitate negotiations for the next stage of the ceasefire agreement.
Nonetheless, hostility is still high between Israel and Hamas. Israel’s far-right government is committed towards the complete annihilation of Hamas and views the ceasefire as a brief pause before the resumption of fighting. Hamas sees the ceasefire as a major win and counts it as a victory in strongarming the Israeli government at the negotiating table.
Well, now that I think about it, a lasting peace in the region may as well be an illusion.
Trump also stated that the United States is in talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, confirming that he and Putin had been in contact over the matter. He also confirmed that he was in talks with Ukraine as well, stating the urgent need to bring the war to an end.
However, the details of how exactly to end the war are scanty at best with Trump refusing to elaborate further. However, Mike Waltz, Trump’s National Security Adviser revealed that there were a lot of ‘sensitive conversations going on’ in an interview with NBC News.
Nonetheless, Trump has been to meet with Putin to have discussions about ending the war and has pledged to do so at an appropriate time. Trump is also likely to have discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over gaining access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral supply in exchange for security guarantees.
Elsewhere in the region: SAF makes gains in Sudan
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) made significant progress in regaining control of the country after gaining significant territorial wins in the capital and surrounding regions. The SAF has pushed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the northern districts of Khartoum and the state of Gezira, which gives it a vantage point to encircle the capital from the south.
SAF was handed a huge advantage when a faction of RSF militants led by the RSF commander Abu Agla Keikel defected to SAF. This allowed SAF forces to take control of Wad Madani, the Gezira State capital and a key outpost close to Khartoum.
The army has been engaged in a bloody war with RSF militants since April 2023 and has been pushed from much of the country. In recent months, SAF has made tremendous gains in taking back territory and is now making advances on the capital.
However, the RSF is now focusing its attention on the Darfur region looking to make up losses from elsewhere in the country. Darfur, which lies to the west of the country, has long been an RSF stronghold.
Back in 2013, the then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir instituted the formation of the RSF as a collection of ‘government militias’ to curb violence from and beyond the ‘anti-arab tribes’ living in the Darfur region. RSF quickly gained prominence during Bashir’s reign and following Bashir’s ouster in 2019 gained a key role in the country’s transitional council through its leader Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo.
In October 2021, the SAF commander-in-chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military takeover of the civilian transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. In the new military-led al-Burhan was deputized by Dagalo.
The Sudan conflict broke out in April 2023 after al-Burhan and Dagalo fell apart.
As SAF regains control in the central and eastern regions of the country, the RSF is keen to hold on to its strongholds in Darfur. In fact, there is already talk of the establishment of a parallel government backed by the RSF in the region.
However, experts and civilians alike fear reprehension by RSF forces and ethnic cleansing against the anti-arab populations living in Darfur. The SAF is also not off the hook as it has been accused of using food starvation as a war tactic. Both al-Burhan and Dagalo have been sanctioned by the United States for their roles in perpetuating war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict.
Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s ‘founding father’ passed on at the age of 95 on Saturday, February 8.
Nujoma was a leading activist and guerilla leader who led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. He was democratically elected as the country’s first president, ruling up until 2005.
He was a key founder of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), an independence movement turned political party formed in 1960. In 1966, upon being appointed as SWAPO’s leader in absentia, he led a guerilla warfare against the colonialist government until 1978 when a ceasefire recognized SWAPO as the representative of the Namibian people (the country then known as the South West Africa Republic).
SWAPO would transform into a political party to contend in the country’s first General elections, which it won and Nujoma was elected the country’s first president. SWAPO has retained power since.
Nujoma will be remembered for his role in fighting for Namibia’s independence and his implementation of democratic institutions in the country. However, his rule was not without controversy as he enacted several autocratic tendencies such as suppressing media freedom in the country. His handling of the Caprivi Uprising left a stain on his leadership legacy.
That’s it for this week!
Join us next week for another comprehensive breakdown of major events from Kenya and beyond.
Also, subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive a monthly breakdown of crucial events delivered straight to your inbox!
Adios. Stay safe.
Leave a Reply