Raila Odinga counts his losses at the African Union and cracks appear in Kenya’s political makeover at the parliament. The Argentinan president faces accusations of promoting a crypto scam and Trump initiates talks with Putin. Closer to home, M-23 rebels make moves towards Kinshasa and Uganda’s long-standing opposition leader protests his illegal detention.
Table of Contents
It happened in Kenya: Raila’s loss and upheaval in the National Assembly.
Raila’s ambitions were snuffed at the African Union Summit on Saturday, February 15, when he lost out on the AUC Chair seat to Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. Despite an expansive and outgoing campaign undertaking, Raila’s efforts were not convincing enough to African heads of state.
Raila trailed Youssouf in the fifth and sixth rounds of voting, but the latter gained the two-thirds majority votes required to win the seat in the final round.
The news of Raila’s defeat was received with mixed reactions from Kenyans and the international community at large. Raila’s supporters expressed their disappointment with the loss, welcoming him to pursue more political ambitions in Kenya and beyond. A proposal tabled by Nelson Koech, a Kenyan Member of Parliament, even suggested the creation of a Prime Minister post for Raila.
On the other hand, critics of Raila’s campaign effort also ‘celebrated’ his loss, particularly on social media, applauding Mahmoud Youssouf for stifling Raila’s political ambitions.
Raila was the more ‘influential and popular’ candidate for the AUC Chairmanship post. However, Youssouf was the more ‘qualified’ candidate, if you ask me, having served as a foreign minister for more than 20 years, with a working knowledge of most African languages. Raila has built much of his political influence domestically which, coupled with his advanced age, might have worked against him in his pursuit of the post.
At a guest’s dinner in Addis Ababa, Raila welcomed the outcome of the elections stating that despite the loss, he would ‘walk with his head tall’. He also absolved President Ruto stating that the President had done ‘everything possible’ in his power to ensure that Raila won the seat.
President Ruto expressed disappointment with the outcome of the campaign pointing out the fact Africa had lost out on a chance to be served by the ‘finest on the continent’.
Back home, the conduct of Raila’s campaign continues to raise questions. The campaign was a costly affair and the government has been very cagey about divulging the details of its spending. All at a time when Kenya’s health and education systems are underfunded, with the government withholding capitation to Kenyan public schools.
Raila’s stint at Addis Ababa was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Why would the government send a huge delegation of elected members and dignitaries alike to the Summit just to offer ‘moral support’ to the candidate? Were they sponsored on a state budget? Was this about sending the best candidate to represent the country in a continental role or was it about settling domestic political scores? What happens now that Raila is back in Kenya’s domestic political space?
These questions raise crucial points of concern, even as unrest arose at the Kenyan parliament. The Kenyan High Court had overturned the Majority Status of Kenya Kwanza, Kenya’s ruling coalition, in the National Parliament. A three-bench delivered the ruling, arguing that the Azimio Coalition, the country’s main opposition outfit (on paper, at least), has the requisite numbers to be on the majority side of parliament.
The question of the majority parties in parliament arose in October 2022, following the outcome of the August 2022 General Elections. 14 MPs from the Azimio coalition had jumped ship to join the Kenya Kwanza coalition, which is led by President William Ruto.
Moses Wetangula, the Speaker of the National Assembly, ruled on October 6, 2022, that the Kenya Kwanza coalition was the de facto majority party in parliament.
In addition to overturning this decision, the court also found Wetangula culpable of a constitutional offence, as he continues to head the Ford Party despite being the National Assembly Speaker. The ruling instructed him to relinquish his party leadership role.
Wetangula dismissed the court rulings as ‘legal commentary’ and disregarded them during the resumption of National Assembly sittings on February 11. Azimio MPs, who had occupied parliament’s majority side walked out in protest.
Kenya’s political atmosphere will definitely be an interesting watch in days to come.
Global Events: Did Argentina’s President promote a crypto scam?
Javier Milei, Argentina’s ‘chainsaw-wielding’ president came under huge backlash for supposedly promoting a crypto-currency scam on his X account.
Milei promoted the crypto coin, embedding the link to the so-called $LIBRA cryptocurrency project in a now-deleted tweet. The value of the coin would skyrocket from virtually nothing to a price of $5 following Milei’s tweet before it eventually came crashing down hours later.
Milei now faces accusations of promoting a pump-and-dump scheme. However, he quickly defended himself in a follow-up tweet on X stating that he was not directly promoting the crypto project and had no prior knowledge of it. He also tasked Argentina’s anti-corruption body with launching an investigation against it.
Nonetheless, the country’s opposition was not convinced threatening impeachment charges against him and accusing him of fraud.
Milei is not the first head of state to promote crypto. The El-Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele was the first ruling leader to allow the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender in his country. The United States President Donald Trump also has his version of a ‘meme coin’ (TRUMP Coin) in circulation.
Crypto is still a new technology that most regulatory experts have yet to comprehend. Its decentralized nature can also make it hard to regulate, hence why most governments are sceptical about recognizing it as a legal tender.
That said, Javier Milei remains a polarizing figure in Argentina and beyond. He was elected in November 2023 on a promise to undo Argentina’s economic woes and fix government inefficiency. The ‘chainsaw’ was the symbol of his campaign which symbolized his pledge to slash the public wage bill.
And slash the wage bill he did! He reduced government ministries from 18 to 8, laid off more than 30,000 government employees and suspended and/or removed most public subsidies. He also instituted measures to devalue the Argentinian currency to reduce inflation.
Milei’s efforts have reduced monthly inflation numbers from triple figures to a low of 2.7%. Nevertheless, the cost of living in Argentina has risen due to the devalued currency and the removal of subsidies. Many in the country are hopeful that Milei’s efforts will improve the country’s economic fortunes.
Milei has also gained himself an admirer in Donald Trump and his economic management tzars; Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump has looked to Milei for inspiration in formulating policies for economic management.
Milei is scheduled for a US visit where he seeks to lobby funds from the IMF to his cash-strapped country. He has also built a close alliance with Musk and Trump as he seeks to attract US foreign investment into Argentina. All in all, Milei has visited the US no less than seven times since being elected president, including attending Trump’s inauguration.
To be honest, Milei and Trump have a lot in common; conservative politicians with brazen and offensive attitudes. Trump is on record applauding Milei for doing a ‘fantastic job’ as president. Ramaswamy, Musk’s co-chair at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) suggested implementing ‘Milei-style cuts’ to curb government spending in the United States.
Trump’s administration is also slated for a much-anticipated meeting with Russia in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, February 18. The two sides are expected to hammer out a deal to formulate a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.
The United States delegation will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Foreign policy experts and European leaders alike fear that Trump may make huge concessions with Russia over Ukraine, as there seems to be little involvement from European and Ukrainian leaders. Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had earlier stated that a peace deal for Ukraine ‘would not include a path to membership and no US peacekeeping troops would be involved’. Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg had also pointed out the possibility of European nations not being involved in the peace talks.
While both Hegseth and Kellogg seemed to retract their statements, Trump may still be sympathetic to some of Russia’s concerns. He has even suggested the reinstatement of Russia to the G8 grouping of industrialized nations, a grouping Russia was kicked out of in 2014 for its invasion of Crimes.
European nations are worried that Trump may hammer out a deal that appeases the Russians and compromises the interests of Ukraine and Europe at large. Trump’s anti-NATO stance has had much of Europe on edge, since the continent is heavily dependent on the United States for the defence partnership, particularly against Russia. As a result, French President Emmanuel Macron has been forced to call for an emergency meeting with some of Europe’s leaders to address Trump’s bromance with Putin.
Now to some good news.
Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 jet broke the sound barrier in its 13th and final test flight at California’s Mojave desert on February 13.
The jet hit a speed of Mach 1.122 (1,385km/h), all without producing the dreaded sonic boom associated with supersonic flights. Sonic booms are produced whenever a supersonic flight breaks the sound barrier.
Sonic booms can cause unwanted damage on the ground, as the wave produced travels down to earth causing noise pollution, cracking windows or shaking entire buildings. The production of sonic booms was a major factor that contributed to the failure of Concorde, the first commercial transatlantic supersonic jet. Concorde jets could only fly over ocean routes where the sonic booms they produced could wreak damage on human civilization.
However, Boom Supersonic, the company behind the XB-1 jet has managed to replicate the supersonic flights whilst eliminating the sound boom ‘problem’. It credits its ‘quiet’ supersonic flights to ingenious physics.
At higher altitudes, the air is thinner and sound travels more slowly. When a supersonic aircraft creates a sonic boom at this altitude, the sound travels downward towards the denser air that is closer to the Earth, which causes it to travel faster. The speed difference causes the air to bend upward, preventing the boom from reaching the ground.
Boom Supersonic will now shift its focus to developing Overture, its first supersonic commercial jet, which would allow for even faster travel times across most global destinations. The company hopes that the Overture jet will be ready for commercial use by 2029. The aircraft will have a carrying capacity of between 64 and 80 passengers and will optimized for flight speeds of about Mach 1.7 (2,099km/h).
Elsewhere in the region: M23 rebels march on
The Rwandan-backed M-23 rebels took control of yet another strategically important town in Eastern DRC. The rebel forces stormed into Bukavu, the administrative capital of the South Kivu province on Saturday, February 15. Bukave became the second strategically important town to fall after Goma fell to the M-23 rebels in January.
M-23 has now established control and influence in the Kivu provinces and may well be on its way to Kinshasa.
Despite huge international pressure, Rwanda has remained resolute in its support for M-23 rebels. As both Rwanda and DRC scramble to gain allies and support for their respective causes, there are genuine fears that a regional war could as well erupt in the region.
This would not be the first time that a Rwandan-backed rebel group has marched to Kinshasa from Eastern Congo. Back in 1997, Laurent-Desire Kabila led the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFLC), which was backed by Rwanda, to overthrow the then President of Zaire, Mobutu Sese-Seko, in what was the First Congo War.
Nonetheless, his victory in the war did little to whittle down the conflict. The country was later drawn into the Second Congo War (1998-2003) which became the single-deadliest conflict globally since the Second World War.
Uganda’s long-standing opposition leader, Kizza Besigye started a hunger strike in protest of his illegal detention. Besigye has been detained by government forces since November last year.
Besigye was abducted in a clandestine operation in Nairobi, which has caused massive speculation of collusion between Kenyan and Ugandan forces. The circumstances of his ‘arrest’ were uncalled for since he was in the country legally and was not engaging in any form of political activity.
He was initially charged in military court alongside his aide, Obeid Lutale, for the alleged possession of pistols and a supposed attempt to purchase arms internationally. Besigye has denied these charges.
In a landmark ruling, however, Uganda’s Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional for military courts to try civilians and ordered the transfer of all civilian court cases to civilian courts.
Following the hunger strike and consequent deterioration of his health, Besigye was supposedly rushed to hospital under tight security. Despite assurances from government officials about his well-being, a flurry of tweets from Besigye’s wife, Dr Winnie Byanyima seem to suggest otherwise.
Besigye’s abduction asks questions about Kenya’s ability to guarantee the protection of its political prisoners. His continued, illegal detention at the behest of Ugandan authorities should be condemned as it is an infringement on basic human rights!
That’s it for this week!
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