The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday called for a speedy withdrawal of a key UN peacekeeping mission that has been in the nation for nearly 25 years.

“It is time for our country to take full control of its destiny and become the main actor in its own stability,” Felix Tshisekedi told the United Nations General Assembly.

The final departure of the MONUSCO mission has been at the heart of debates on the DRC’s future for years, and a source of tension and populist rhetoric in the central African nation.

Tshisekedi said that the mission of some 15,000 peacekeepers “has not succeeded in confronting the rebellions and armed conflicts… nor in protecting the civilian populations.”

In 2020, the Security Council approved a plan for a phased withdrawal in DR Congo, setting parameters for transferring the responsibilities of UN troops to Congolese forces.

While the plan under discussion was to begin withdrawal in December 2024, DR Congo in September asked the Security Council to start the process in December this year, when Tshisekedi is running for re-election.

Tshisekedi said at the UN it was “illusory and counterproductive to continue to cling to the maintenance of MONUSCO to restore peace.”

The United States warned at a Security Council meeting in June against a hasty withdrawal of the mission, assessing that the country was not ready to part with the Blue Helmets at the end of 2023.

The discussions come as the United Nations has faced a series of attacks and demonstrations against the mission in the country.

Nearly 50 people were killed in a crackdown on an anti-UN protest in eastern DR Congo in August.

“The acceleration of the withdrawal of MONUSCO becomes absolutely necessary to ease tensions,“ said Tshisekedi.

The DRC’s east has been ravaged by militia violence for three decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the region, in place since 1999, is one of the largest and costliest in the world, with an annual budget of about $1 billion.

But the UN comes in for sharp criticism in the DRC where many people perceive the peacekeepers as failing to prevent conflict.

Ali Bongo Ondimba’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and several members of the deposed Gabonese president’s cabinet were jailed and charged on Tuesday with “high treason” and “active corruption”, the Libreville prosecutor told our journalist on Wednesday.

Ali Bongo’s eldest son, former presidential spokesman Jessye Ella Ekogha, and four other people were “indicted on Tuesday and remanded in custody”, said André-Patrick Roponat, the public prosecutor in Libreville, Gabon’s capital.

On 30 August, less than an hour after the announcement in the middle of the night of the re-election of Ali Bongo, in power since 2009 and accused of massive fraud, the military, led by General Brice Oligui Nguema, overthrew him, accusing his regime in particular of “massive misappropriation” of public funds.

On the very day of the coup, the military arrested one of the sons of the deposed head of state, as well as five other young senior officials from the office of the former president and his wife Sylvia Bongo Valentin. Searches of their homes, broadcast extensively on state television, showed them at the feet of trunks, suitcases and bags overflowing with bundles of banknotes.

Mrs Bongo Valentin is under house arrest in Libreville “for her protection”, according to the presidency, and “arbitrarily detained” according to her lawyers.

Ali Bongo, who was initially placed under house arrest in Libreville for several days after the putsch, is now “free to move about” and has the possibility of “travelling abroad”, General Oligui announced on 6 September.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced for the first time that he plans to run for a fourth term in next year’s elections.

“I am happy with the confidence Rwandans have shown in me. I will always serve them as long as I can. Yes, I am indeed a candidate,” Kagame, 65, told the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique.

In March, the Rwandan government decided to synchronise the dates of its legislative and presidential elections, due to take place in August 2024.

Until then, Kagame had not openly expressed his intentions, but he has made controversial constitutional amendments that have enabled him to serve a third term and could allow him to govern until 2034.

A former rebel leader, Kagame has been considered the country’s de facto leader since the end of the 1994 genocide.

He was returned to power – with over 90% of the vote – in the 2003, 2010, and 2017 elections.

While Rwanda now claims to be one of the most stable countries on the African continent, Kagame faces mounting criticism.

Human rights groups accuse him of ruling in a climate of fear. They say his government has targeted political opponents, including with extrajudicial killings, and muzzled the independent media.

The government has rejected these allegations.

Rwanda is ranked 131st out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index 2023.

The only other candidate so far in the presidential race is lawmaker Frank Habineza of the Green Democratic party.

He said he was not surprised by Kagame’s announcement and would continue to fight for democracy.

Ghana has maintained its spot as Africa’s most indebted country to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Ghana’s debt to the IMF increased by 35.55% over the time period under consideration, per data from the IMF’s Quarterly Finances for July-ending 2023.

This accounts for 9.55 percent of the 17.68 billion (Special Drawing Rights) SDR in total loans still owed by the Fund to African countries.

Out of the five categories of largest outstanding loans as of July 31, 2023, Ghana’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) stood at $1.689 billion, higher than the $1.246 billion SDR recorded as of April 30, 2023.

Ghana had repaid SDR 8 million to the IMF as SDR 1 equals US$1.34294.

As of July 31, 2023, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo held the second and third-largest outstanding loans to the Fund positions in Africa, respectively.

Kenya owed the IMF SDR 1.008 whereas the Democratic Republic of the Congo owed the Fund SDR 1.142 billion.

Sudan and Uganda, whose exposure to the Fund is projected at SDR 992 million and SDR 812 million, respectively, kept their positions of fourth and fifth.

The remaining 11.32 billion SDR were owed to the IMF by the rest of Africa.

The crash of a military helicopter in Kenya, near the border with Somalia, killed at least eight people, officials said Tuesday.

The cause of the accident in Lamu County, on the Kenyan coast, was not immediately clear. Kenyan defense forces operate in the region to help deter al-Qaeda- linked extremists from the Al-Shahab group, based across the border in Somalia.

The Defense Ministry said the Air Force helicopter crashed during a night patrol. A commission of inquiry was sent to the scene. A defense official and a police official said all military personnel and crew members aboard the helicopter had died.

Kenyan troops are also present in Somalia as part of the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia to help fight Al-Shabab. Kenyan forces deployed to Somalia in 2011, but there are now plans to withdraw multinational forces as Somali troops take over their country’s security.

Al-Shabab has increased attacks in Kenya in recent months, killing dozens of people in the border region, as the extremists feel pressure from a Somali military offensive launched last year.

The Congo-Brazzaville government has refuted recent claims of a coup attempt against President Denis Nguesso, who has held office for an uninterrupted 39 years.

These allegations surfaced on social media, suggesting an orchestrated effort by the military to remove the 79-year-old leader from power. President Nguesso was at the time of these rumors in New York, participating in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

In response to these allegations, Information Minister Thierry Moungalla took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday to unequivocally dismiss them, stating, “The government categorically denies the spread of false information. We wish to reassure the public of the prevailing tranquility and encourage everyone to carry on with their daily activities calmly.”

The government’s official website also published a statement reaffirming its rejection of any reports concerning an attempted coup.

Recent months have seen a surge in coup d’états across the African continent, with the most recent occurrence taking place in neighboring Gabon, where military forces assumed control in August.

Denis Nguesso ascended to the presidency of this oil-rich Central African nation through a military coup in 1979. Although he experienced a temporary setback in 1992 when he lost Congo’s initial multi-party elections, he later reclaimed power in 1997 following a period of civil conflict.