Botswana's new president takes oath
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Ayaan Africa. I'm Clarisse Fortuné and these are our top stories.
00:07A new era for Botswana as new President Dumas Boko is sworn in after his landslide election victory kicked out the party in power for nearly 60 years.
00:18Meanwhile, tensions are still running high in Mozambique after the October 9th election, thus keeping the Frelimo party for another round in power after nearly 50 years.
00:29Post-electoral violence has so far claimed the lives of at least 30 people.
00:36And commuters on bicycles in the streets of Dakar, a growing but dangerous trend in Senegal with its chaotic traffic.
00:44Many are calling on authorities to do more to make the roads safer for bicycles.
00:53We start in Botswana where thousands of people attended the inauguration of our country's new President.
00:59Dumas Boko's umbrella for Democratic Change Party won 36 parliamentary seats and denied former President Mokwetse Masisi a second term.
01:09Addressing the nation in his first official speech as President, Boko called for unity after an election that wrought an end to the former ruling party's 58 years in power.
01:22The message I impart is unity, togetherness. We are the village that the future will look back to and either praise or look back in lamentation.
01:38And France 24's Cam Kennedy has more from Cape Town.
01:43Dumas Boko began this ceremony by circulating the National Stadium in Gaborone in this vehicle surrounded by white galloping horses.
01:53He then took the oath in front of thousands of people including presidents from neighbouring southern African countries like Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
02:02Now after this unexpected landslide victory begins this difficult task in uniting the country which he's promised to do in this speech.
02:11A massive part of that is going to have to come by addressing soaring unemployment rates which are at 27%.
02:17He's pledged to create about 500,000 jobs in the space of five years which is a massive task.
02:23It would essentially double Botswana's workforce.
02:27Now Botswana is hugely over dependent on the diamond mining industry but it's also crucial for jobs in the country.
02:34And he's pledged to finalise this ongoing deal with De Beers which was in jeopardy under former president Macisi.
02:43In terms of diversification this is expected to take place according to the UDC in the tourism sector which relies on luxury safaris
02:55which abide by this model of low volume and high value which means that a large part of the community doesn't see the benefits of those revenues.
03:04And moving away from that sort of model falls in line with Boko's popularity with lower income voters in Botswana.
03:13And we have to remember that whilst Botswana is one of the richest countries in Africa it's also one of the most unequal countries in the world.
03:22So addressing this economic inequality is what we can expect Boko to try to tackle in the first part of his presidential term.
03:30A peaceful transition there.
03:32Meanwhile in the same region it's a whole different atmosphere in Mozambique following last month's election.
03:38Daniel Chappot secured another five years to the ruling Frelimos party after nearly five decades in power.
03:44But since the results were announced three weeks ago people took to the streets across the country in protest.
03:50And the right group said at least 30 people have been killed.
03:54Let's bring in journalist Armando Nontumbo. He's a journalist from Maputo.
03:59Welcome Armando Nontumbo. First tell us about the current situation there.
04:05Good evening. Thanks for having me.
04:09Today it was a calm day in Maputo.
04:13We had no demonstrations.
04:15And this is explained by the fact that the opposition leader didn't call for another demonstration today.
04:23But yes yesterday it was a very chaotic day in Maputo.
04:29Thousands and thousands of people were protesting in Maputo and in the neighboring areas.
04:38And what people are saying here in Maputo is that we need our votes to be taken in consideration.
04:45People are saying that we want to be head.
04:47We want a democracy to function in this country.
04:51People are saying that are tired of having their electoral results in this country being decided by the electoral management board instead of the people.
05:06So this is what is happening in Maputo now.
05:09It's a very tense moment.
05:11People are protesting.
05:14Unfortunately the government, the policies are not responding to this in an appropriate way.
05:25But yes I was going to say according to the right group the latest death toll rises at least 30 people.
05:33In fact the security forces response is quite strong.
05:36Yes of course they are using tear gas against people.
05:43They are even killing people that are demonstrating.
05:47And this tells you the approach from the government about these demonstrations.
05:52They are not looking at the protesters as people who are demanding their rights.
05:58But they are looking at them as criminals who deserve to be killed.
06:03And this is part of the reason why people are demonstrating today.
06:09Let's be clear.
06:10This is not only about the electoral results.
06:14It's about the democracy in this country.
06:18People of course are saying that we are tired of the way that the ruling party has been governing the country in the last 14 years.
06:29A party that is seen as a corrupt party.
06:34A more authoritarian party.
06:37A party that is not delivering, is not addressing the concern of the people.
06:42So these demonstrations are about these concerns of the people in Maputo and Mozambique.
06:49And so far any reaction to this criticism from current president Filipe Niusi or even from president-elect Daniel Chapo?
06:58No, they are all quiet.
07:02Today we have seen the president visiting some police members that were injured yesterday during the protesters.
07:09He was visiting them in hospital.
07:12But he said nothing about more than 30 people who were killed and more than 100 people that are injured during these protests.
07:28Just yesterday we had more than 60 people injured by police.
07:33And police are firing tear gas even to residents in Maputo.
07:39So people who are not protesting are also being targeted by the police.
07:46And the president, the government is saying nothing about these people.
07:51Thank you very much for this update.
07:53Journalists Armando and Antubu who were joining us from Maputo and will be monitoring the situation there as it develops.
08:02Now to DRC.
08:03A Belgian national working for the DR Congo's intelligence agency was sentenced to death in connection to an attempted coup in May in Congo.
08:12At an appeal he argued that he is innocent and he is being pursued for political motives.
08:18Emmett Livingston in Kinshasa has more.
08:24Jean-Jacques Wando, a Belgian citizen who was born in Congo,
08:27was arrested following an attempted coup d'état in Congo on May 19th which was led by political exile Christian Malanga.
08:33Wando was a security analyst who had recently returned to Congo to work in its intelligence agency as an advisor on reform.
08:41In September he was sentenced to death alongside dozens of others in a military tribunal.
08:46But the trial was criticized for ignoring exculpatory evidence.
08:49Wando, for example, didn't take part in the coup itself but is accused without direct proof of having been its mastermind.
08:56On Friday an appeal hearing took place in the capital Kinshasa and Wando's lawyers again highlighted the lack of evidence.
09:03The prosecution has pointed to a picture from 2016 showing Wando and the coup leader Malanga together.
09:08But the prosecution hasn't been able to demonstrate any direct link to the coup attempt itself.
09:13Wando, for his part, told the military court on Friday that he had met Malanga only briefly and that he considered him mentally unstable.
09:21He also said that he'd met every major Congolese political figure and that his inclusion in the coup case is politically motivated.
09:28The case has caused friction between Congo and its former colonial power Belgium which has expressed its deep concern over Wando's sentencing.
09:36A death penalty isn't expected to be carried out but some people are still worried about the possibility.
09:41Congo only lifted a moratorium on carrying out executions earlier this year.
09:47Now, people in Senegal do like to exercise.
09:50Just visit Dakar and you'll see many people running or lifting weights on a beachfront.
09:55And now a growing number of residents are turning to cycling for their daily commute.
10:00But the city with its dense and chaotic traffic remains a dangerous environment for those on two wheels.
10:06Many are calling on authorities to do more to make the roads safer for bicycles.
10:11Laurent Bestecher has the story.
10:14Clad in an orange safety vest, Philippe Moreira straps on his helmet and heads out on his daily commute.
10:22A dangerous, panic-inducing weave through the chaotic traffic of Dakar, which requires constant focus and attention.
10:30There's an issue with how drivers behave because they still don't consider cyclists as part of the traffic.
10:39So we face a lot of challenges and have to be extremely cautious around cars.
10:45This is also a problem simply because there's been no planning for cyclists, like bike lanes, for instance.
10:54Moreira is part of a growing community of urban cyclists
10:58who are turning to bicycles as a cheaper and eco-friendly alternative to motorized transport.
11:04But the Senegalese capital is far from equipped for this surge, and mentalities have yet to adapt.
11:10The sprawling megacity only sports a few bike lanes, which are often used by speeding motorbikes.
11:17In this beginner's class, students are learning the basics of cycling,
11:21but also how to deal with other drivers' aggressive behavior.
11:26Sometimes you get shoved around, especially by men on motorcycles.
11:31They'll nudge you, push you a little, so you're forced to stand your ground on the road.
11:36In an effort to meet the growing demand,
11:38Senegalese authorities announced plans to build a massive cycling lane network by 2035.
11:45But the opening of the first section has already been delayed by several months.
11:52And before we go, a final word about Rachid Mekloufi.
11:55For those too young to know who he was,
11:57Mekloufi was one of the greatest footballers to play for French team AS Saint-Étienne in the 1950s and 1960s.
12:05He was a former striker who also played for Algeria,
12:08and many see him as a symbol of the fight for Algerian independence.
12:12He died at the age of 88.
12:17And this concludes our edition of Eye on Africa.
12:19Stay tuned to France 24. More news still to come.
12:25France 24