Libya: Ahmed Ibrahim sentenced to death

This week, the former Qadhafi loyalist and regime stalwart, Ahmed Ibrahim, was sentenced to death by a Misrata court. Ibrahim, who held a variety of posts under the former regime, including Education Secretary and more recently, Head of the World Centre for Research and Studies of the Green Book, was a close confidant of the former Leader and had a fearsome reputation as an uncompromising defender of Qadhafi's ideology. He was also a prominent member of the feared Revolutionary Committees Movement.

 

Ibrahim and five others were found guilty by the Misrata Appeals Court of killing members of a family in Sirte prior to the town's liberation. Ibrahim was also found guilty of undermining national security and plotting to kill civilians.

 

Ibrahim is the first senior Qadhafi-era official to have been handed the death sentence. Although the sentence will have to be upheld by the Supreme Court before it can be carried out, the passing of execution sets a worrying precedent for others awaiting trial. The move was strongly criticised by Amnesty International, which warned that “hundreds of former soldiers and supporters of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi are at increased risk of the death penalty” in light of the ruling.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Caspian: Oil struck at Zhambyl

Kazakhstan has struck new oil deposits in the Caspian Sea. Recently-appointed Oil Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said on 5 August that workers have located a significant deposit during exploratory work on the Zhambyl structure, being operated by a joint venture between KazMunaiGaz and a Korean consortium led by national player KNOC.

 

Assessment of reserves is ongoing, Karablin said, but “now one can talk about the discovery of a new deposit”, which he called a “joyful development”. The joint venture was established in 2008: Statoil had also been interested but withdrew as part of its Caspian retrenchment plans.

 

The announcement is good news for the Korean consortium as well as for Karabalin, who was appointed last month. Boosting exploration is a priority for the Oil Ministry as well as KMG as part of a plan to dramatically increase the reserves on the national company's balance sheet in the next few years.

 

Karabalin revealed the news at a meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbaev, where he also said that Kazakhstan produced over 40 million tons of crude in the first half of the year.

 

For more news and expert analysis about the Caspian region, please see Caspian Focus.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Ghana: Industrial action

 

University teachers declared a strike on 1 August after a meeting between the leaders of UTAG and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to discuss arrears ended inconclusively.

The UTAG embarked on industrial action earlier this year, along with teachers, doctors and pharmacists, demanding, among other things, that a 2010 wage policy be implemented in full, but they suspended action after government promises to resolve the teachers' grievances. The risks for the government are that this action could spread across the country's education system at the secondary and primary tiers as well.

Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister Murtala Muhammed told journalists that he was surprised the lecturers had declared a strike because the government has released GH¢25 million and the lecturers would start receiving their payment from the end of this week.

An online statement issued on 2 August from the office of President John Mahama said, “I wish to take the opportunity to appeal to university teachers who, I am told, have just commenced a strike based on some issues that I believe have been resolved.

“I will appeal to them not to continue with the strike, we have to ensure that the system goes on undisturbed.''

The lecturers are demanding full payment of their market premium arrears and allowances which have been outstanding for a year following Ghana's migration to the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

UTAG president, Dr Anthony Simmons, said on Friday 2 August that the strike would continue until the government has dealt with all its concerns.

“If the money hits the accounts, definitely we will take a decision, but until that is done, we still stand by the strike,'' he said.

The Federation of University Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSSAG) has also announced its intention to withdraw services over the government's failure to settle their annual base pay.

The Deputy Education Minister said that FUSSAG members should expect to be reimbursed within the next couple of weeks.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates

Nigeria: JTF claims anti-bunkering success

 

JTF claims anti-bunkering success, while the US joins a regional meeting on the growing threat off the coast.

 

A Joint Task Force spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, said that the JTF had arrested 608 suspected oil thieves in the first half of 2013. The JTF mission in the Niger Delta, code-named Operation Pulo Shield, has impounded 24 vessels and destroyed 748 illegal refineries over that period.

Nwachukwu said that the JTF patrols had notified oil companies of the breaches in its pipelines in Bayelsa in good time. He claimed that the companies had been slow to react, which led to the shutdown of 190,000 b/d.

 

The US and Nigeria held the Gulf of Guinea Regional Maritime Awareness Capability conference at Calabar in Cross River State from 29-31 July. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has surged in the past year, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting in mid-July that the waters off the Nigerian coast have become far more perilous than the Gulf of Aden. Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke said piracy in the Gulf of Guinea had cost the world economy between US$750 million and US$950 million in 2012.

 

The conference brought together 13 African countries and was attended by representatives from US African Command (Africom) and the US Navy. A panel of Nigerian and US naval officers proposed joint training and information sharing among the West African countries to better develop a cohesive response to seaborne lawlessness. The delegates agreed a communiqué calling for a common legal scheme for maritime security among the Gulf of Guinea states.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates

Suriname: Opposition VHP expresses displeasure at government's 'mismanagement'

Opposition VHP expresses its displeasure at government's 'mismanagement' after the last minor cabinet reshuffle.

 

As was to be expected after the last government reshuffle (see Suriname Politics & Security – 22.07.13) the opposition fiercely criticised government policy. For the Progressive Reform Party (VHP), the largest opposition party, the dismissal of the tenth minister in three years was a reason to respond through its chairman, Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

 

“Sending ministers home and replacing them with others is not a solution. Corruption must be fought. The security situation needs to be improved. And most of all: the government must render account,” said Santokhi. “Changes cannot be achieved with a switch of ministers but only with good governance. And this is exactly what is lacking with this government. The VHP will offer an alternative to the voter, because in three years the government has not lived up to the many promises they made."

 

Analysis: It is indeed true that the objectives in the crowded "Things to do" list, presented by the president when he took office, are still far from having been achieved. But what is clear is that the current government is doing considerably more than the previous administration of former president Ronald Venetiaan, in which the VHP held an important position. Santokhi - who was Minister of Justice and Police in the previous cabinet - described crime as a serious matter. But, according to international statistics, Suriname is one of the safest countries in the Caribbean. The criticism can be seen as preparing the party for the elections of 2015. According to current polls, Bouterse's NDP will be the largest party. The VHP, now in opposition with the shrunken NPS former coalition partner, is according to reports expected to leave its alliance and form a government with the NDP in two years' time.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Suriname, please see Suriname Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

The future of the Muslim Brotherhood

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi remain defiant. They insist he be restored to power. They say they will continue their protests until he is. However, the transitional authorities have made clear that it is not an option. The Muslim Brotherhood is being pulled in different directions. There were already splits between those who wanted a more political role, who formed the Freedom and Justice Party, and the old leadership around the Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie. Mr Badie said the army's removal of Morsi was equivalent to destroying one of Islam's holiest sites, the Kaaba in Mecca. "I swear by God that what Sisi did in Egypt is more criminal than if he had carried an axe and demolished the holy Kaaba stone by stone."

 

There have also been defections over the past to different splinter groups but the security services have targeted these, too. They have detained the leaders of the moderate al-Wasat party, Aboul-Ela Madi and his deputy Essam Sultan, charging them with responsibility for the death of protesters during recent violence.

 

There is always a risk that some members will split off and pursue their political ends of confrontation with the state through violence - a tactic adopted by the extremist Gamaat al-Islamiyaa in the 1990s with disastrous consequences.

 

Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy has said that turning to violence would be political suicide, and that the Brotherhood should be part of the country's political future. He warned that deepening political divisions would lead "ultimately to more tragedies". He accused the Brotherhood of inciting violence, posing a threat to the security of the country. "If they decide to withdraw from politics, it will be disappointing. If they decide to pursue violence, then you are looking at a completely different confrontation. Even if I personally reject their positions or ideology, they have to find their place in Egypt's political life. We are looking for reconciliation among all Egyptians; I don't think we are at a situation where we will allow the situation to get out of hand."

 

That reconciliation appears a long way off with the polarisation of political forces over the past two years. The military and the security establishment have resumed the old talk of the Muslim Brotherhood posing a security threat to the state - justification for the harsh measures, the detentions and the violent crackdowns they have introduced.

 

Already human rights activists are warning that the army action is not only putting the clock back to before the fall of Mubarak but even earlier to the repressive Nasser period.

 

The president has given Prime Minister Hazem el-Belbawi the power to grant the military the right to arrest citizens - but the military has shown it is more than capable of doing what it wants, including removing the president without recourse to such legal niceties.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

GIPC expecting high volumes of FDI from Singapore

The Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) is expecting high volumes of FDI from Singapore in the coming months.

 

Singapore is expected to invest in light manufacturing, ports and logistics and agriculture, as well as in the country's ailing power sector.

 

“There are a number of business-to-business discussions currently on-going between Ghanaian businesses and their counterparts from Singapore. We expect those discussions to lead to increased investments in the coming days,” Mawuena Trebarh, GIPC's CEO said at a 23 July press briefing announcing a memorandum of understanding between GIPC and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

 

IE Singapore's CEO Teo Eng Cheong told the press briefing, “A lot of Singaporean companies have expressed interest in investing in Ghana and they are looking almost at all sectors, especially the oil and gas, agriculture and infrastructure, among others … Singapore has a lot of interest in Africa and we think that setting up in Ghana and in South Africa is the best way to send that signal,” he said.

 

Trade between Ghana and Singapore currently stands at around US$1 billion, and FDI inflows amounted to US$250 million in 2012, according to data. “Our desire now is to build on this success by creating the right atmosphere for businesses from Singapore to invest in the country,” Mrs Trebarh said.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates