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AFRICA IN BRIEF April 13-18 2022 Weekly Digest 2

Jacob Zuma corruption trial South African ex-convict

postponed pending latest appeal gives up his mayor salary

The corruption trial in
A former convict who
1 South Africa of former 4 was recently appoint- cal media outlets report.
Mr McKenzie confirmed his
President Jacob Zuma
pledge with a tweet on Tuesday,
ed as mayor of a South
has been postponed African municipality has that added that "taxpayers looked
again pending the outcome pledged to give up his salary and after me in jail, I'm free now".

of the ex-leader’s appeal to have other trappings of the o ce. Social embed from twitter
the state prosecutor removed In his inauguration speech, Gay- Mr McKenzie promised to inten-
from the case. ton McKenzie of the Patriotic Alli- sify the fight against illegal immi-

Zuma was not present in the Pi- ance (PA) party said nothing from gration.
etermaritzburg High Court due to Central Karoo district will be spent He served seven years of a 15-
a “medical emergency”, his law- on him during his tenure. year sentence for armed robbery
yer Dali Mpofu told the court on This includes not having a may- after being arrested in 1996. He was
Monday. Zuma accuses Downer of oral vehicle and bodyguards. released from prison in 2003.
bias against the former leader, and He used his funds to pay for the
has pleaded not guilty to charges food eaten at his inauguration, lo- — BBC
of corruption, money laundering
and racketeering over a $2bn arms
deal in the 1990s. The case is set to
resume on May 17.
The delay is the latest of many
– it has been nearly 17 years since
Zuma was first charged in the con-

troversial 1999 arms deal. He is
charged alongside French arms
manufacturer Thales, which is ac- While Zuma has publicly said he wants his day in court, he has over the
cused of paying bribes to Zuma years launched numerous legal actions that have delayed the start of the

through his former financial advis- trial
er Schabir Shaik, who was convict-
ed on related charges in 2005. could lead to frustrations, the cur- last year, which set o days of ri-

South Africa’s National Prose- rent delay was unavoidable as the oting in the KwaZulu-Natal and
cuting Authority opposed the ap- court had to await the Supreme Gauteng provinces in which shops,
plication for the postponement, Court of Appeal’s decision. Zuma, warehouses and factories were
accusing Zuma of delaying tactics 79, is currently on medical parole looted and many burned. More
to prevent the start of the trial. from a 15-month prison sentence than 300 people died in the un-
While Zuma has publicly said following his conviction last year rest. About three months later
he wants his day in court, he has of contempt of court for defying a Zuma was released on medical pa-
over the years launched numer- Constitutional Court order to ap- role, for an undisclosed health con-
ous legal actions that have de- pear before a judicial commission dition. A subsequent court judge-
layed the start of the trial. Deliv- investigating corruption during ment ruled the medical parole was
ering his judgement on Monday, his presidential term from 2009 to invalid, but his lawyers are appeal-
High Court Judge Piet Koen said 2018. ing that judgement.
that while the delay of the trial Zuma was imprisoned in July of — Aljazeera

Afghan refugees languish in Madagascar

Bibi Maria fled Af-
2 ghanistan shortly af- Madagascar, an island nation o to the United States under the US Gayton McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance (PA) entered into a coalition with the
ruling ANC party
the coast of southeast Africa that
Refugee Admissions Program, she
ter the Taliban killed her
she had never visited and where
wondered if she made the right
husband, a supplier for she knew no one, but where she choice. “Here we have become
US and NATO troops. and her four children could get a beggars,” Maria told Al Jazeera,
That was in 2018, and the mother visa on arrival. But four years lat- wearing a black niqab and hold- SA storms fuelled by
of four said she felt it was a mat- er, with her adult children unable ing in her arms the infant daugh-
ter of time before threats against to continue school, receive prop- ter of another Afghan family, in an climate change - study
the rest of her family were realised. er healthcare, or make money in apartment in a central neighbour-
With few countries open to Af- the country, and no updates on hood of the capital Antananarivo.
People in Madagascar
ghans, she decided to travel to her 2019 application to relocate — Aljazeera 5 on a boat after floodin- the bodies to burials.

This was followed in quick suc-
gImage source, AFP
Nigeria: VP Yemi Osinbajo to thousands homeless across south- cession by Batsirai, Dumako, Em-
nati and Gombe.
Image caption,
Storm Ana made tens of
In the study the scientists ana-
lysed weather patterns today com-
run for president in 2023 ern Africa pared to the past, however they say
"the precise contribution of climate
Climate change fuelled heavi-
er rainfall during a series of storms

that battered southern Africa earli- change to the event could not be
quantified, due to the absence of
Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osin- er this year, scientists say. comprehensive historical records
bajo has declared he will run Analysis from the World Weather of rainfall in the region".
3 for the country’s top job Attribution group also showed that weather stations in a ected are-
They say that just four of the 23
such extreme rainfall was more

next year, when incum-
bent President Muham-
The results of this study show
madu Buhari is scheduled common now. as of Mozambique had data going
back to 1981, while neither Mada-

to step down. that the damage inflicted by gascar no Malawi had any weath-

Osinbajo becomes the latest fig- storms in the region was exac- er stations with suitable data for
ure from the two main parties to join erbated by global warming, re- the study. One of the scientists in-
the race to lead Africa’s most popu- searchers said. volved in the study confirmed to

lous country and biggest economy. The region was hit by three cy- the BBC that climate change was
First elected as Buhari’s deputy in clones and two tropical storms in making the storms worse.
2015, Osinbajo made the announce- six weeks. "The rainfall associated with such
ment on Monday after months of In total more than one million storms has become more likely and

speculation on whether he planned people were a ected by extreme more intense," Dr Friederike Otto

to succeed his boss. rainfall and floods in the region, from Imperial College London said.
In a statement, the senior lawyer with 230 reported deaths, World “What we can say for sure is, the
and former university teacher said Weather Attribution (WWA) said. damages of such storms have be-
his years of stewardship under Bu- However, the scientists say they come worse,” Dr Otto continued.
hari had made him the best man for cannot directly link the frequen- The scientists behind the study
the job. cy of the storms to climate change had strong words for global lead-
“Which is why I am today, with ut- due to a lack of long-term data. ers, urging them to act to curb cli-
most humility, formally declaring my Osinbajo has promised to continue with Buhari's policies and pro- The devastating storms began mate change.
intention to run for the o ce of the grammes, including huge projects of new roads and railways in January when storm Ana caused “Again we are seeing how the

President … on the platform of our widespread damage in Madagas- people with the least responsibility
great party, the All Progressives Con- campaign in the northeast, violent tice commissioner in Lagos for eight car, Mozambique and Malawi. for climate change are bearing the
gress,” Osinbajo said. criminal gangs in the northwest and years. Osinbajo lacks a political base Dozens were killed with tens of brunt of the impacts. Rich coun-

He promised to continue with Bu- separatist tensions in the southeast. of his own and would need to build thousands cut o from assistance tries should honour their commit-
hari’s policies and programmes, in- Osinbajo joins an array of aspir- a strong coalition of supporters with as roads and bridges had been ments and increase much-need-
cluding huge projects of new roads ants from the ruling APC to vie for the deep pockets to take on the politi- washed away. ed funding for adaptation, and for
and railways. party’s ticket. APC leader and former cal machinery of Tinubu, who helped In Malawi the president declared compensating the victims of ex-
A key issue ahead of the February Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu has al- campaign and deliver victory to Bu- a state of emergency and the roads treme events driven by climate

2023 election is security, with Nige- ready announced he would run. Os- hari during elections in 2015 and 2019. were so severely a ected that rela- change,” Dr Otto said.
ria’s armed forces battling an armed inbajo served under Tinubu as jus- — Aljazeera tives of the deceased had to carry — BBC