Africa
Deby’s party secures majority in Chad election amid boycott

Deby’s party secures majority in Chad election amid boycott
Chad’s ruling party won two-thirds of the seats in the legislative election which was boycotted by many in the opposition last month, provisional results showed on Sunday, reinforcing President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s hold on power.
Results of the Dec. 29 election seal the oil-producing Central African nation’s transition to constitutional rule more than three years after Deby seized control following the sudden death of his father and long-standing predecessor Idriss Deby Itno.
The initiative, launched in December, explicitly aimed to make funds looted by the rapid support forces worthless.
Deby’s party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, secured 124 of the 188 seats at the National Assembly, the national electoral body said. The participation rate was put at 51.56%.
The vote, which also included municipal and regional elections, was Chad’s first in more than a decade.
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But opposition leader Succes Masra’s Transformateurs party and several others boycotted the election, saying the vote was skewed and lacked transparency. The government has denied this.
Deby was elected president in another disputed vote in May, three years after declaring himself interim leader when rebels killed his father on the battlefield.
Since Deby’s election, Chad – a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the Sahel region – ended its defence cooperation pact with France and threatened to withdraw from a regional multinational security force.
The severing of military ties with France echoes moves by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which all kicked out French troops and fostered closer ties with Russia after a string of coups in West and Central Africa’s Sahel region.
This week, security forces foiled an attack on the presidency that the government referred to as a “destabilisation attempt”.
Deby’s party secures majority in Chad election amid boycott
Africa
Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20 oil workers

Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20 oil workers
A small aircraft carrying oil workers in South Sudan’s Unity State crashed on takeoff from its oilfield airport on Wednesday, killing 20 people, the region’s information minister said.
The plane had departed for the capital Juba when it went down, Gatwech Bipal said.
The passengers were oil workers of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC), a consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corporation and state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation, he said.
Among the dead were two Chinese nationals and one Indian, he added.
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President Salva Kiir said engineers and technical staff were among the dead, and pledged a thorough and swift investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
Bipal gave no more details on the circumstances. Media reports had initially put the death toll at 18 but Bipal told Reuters two survivors had later died. One person survived.
Several air crashes have occurred in war-torn South Sudan in recent years. In September 2018, at least 19 people died when a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba to the city of Yirol crashed.
In 2015, dozens of people were killed when a Russian-built cargo plane with passengers on board crashed after taking off from Juba airport.
Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20 oil workers
Africa
S’African man gets life jail for stabbing ex-girlfriend to death

S’African man gets life jail for stabbing ex-girlfriend to death
A regional court in Western Cape, South Africa has sentenced a man, Jerome Windvogel, to life imprisonment after he was convicted for the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend.
The mother and sister of the deceased said Windvogel laughed while he stabbed Nelnisha Kortjie 39 times.
Windvogel, a member of the 28s gang, had a previous record of convictions, all for violent crimes committed between 2006 and 2018.
On February 17, 2023, Windvogel stabbed Nelnisha Kortjie 39 times after she failed to respond to his text messages.
Kortjie was on her way to the bus stop in Bonnievale when Windvogel approached her.
“He called her but she did not respond. He then chased after her as she turned to go home, took out a knife and stabbed her in the face, neck, upper body, lower body, arms, and legs,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Western Cape, Eric Ntabazalila.
Kortjie’s mother tried to intervene but Windvogel lunged at her.
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He then sat on top of Kortjie and continued to stab her.
Kortjie, aged 36, died at the scene.
“He was arrested that same morning after community members chased him,” Ntabazalila said.
During the trial, state prosecutor Elton Willmse said Kortjie’s murder was a fifth offence involving violence as an element and it was committed before the period of suspension, in one of his cases, had expired against the accused.
According to Willemse, Windvogel has a propensity to commit violent crimes.
He was previously convicted of an offence where violence was an element, as he did not want to accept that the relationship was over.
“Again, in this matter, he would not take no for an answer. He admitted to having a problem with controlling his anger yet he still armed himself with a knife,” he added.
The court noted that Windvogel gave no regard for the child they shared and Kortjie’s other two children.
S’African man gets life jail for stabbing ex-girlfriend to death
Africa
Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso officially exit ECOWAS

Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso officially exit ECOWAS
The three military-led West African nations – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – have officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger from ECOWAS has become effective today, 29th January 2025,” a statement by the ECOWAS Commission on Wednesday reads.
ECOWAS assured that passports and identity cards bearing its logo will remain valid for travel within the region.
Trade and economic activities will also proceed under the existing ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, allowing goods and services from the three countries to move freely.
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“Allow citizens of the three affected countries to continue to enjoy the right of visa free movement, residence and establishment in accordance with the ECOWAS protocols until further notice,” it further added.
More so, it urged members to continue providing full support and cooperation to ECOWAS officials from the three countries in the course of their assignments for the Community.
“These arrangements will be in place until the full determination of the modalities of our future engagement with the three countries by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government,” the statement clarified.
Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso officially exit ECOWAS
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