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African journalism. November 7 2020 ISSUE NO. 28 The Continent with Ethiopia at war Peace Prize- winner sends in the troops (Photo: Eduardo Soteras/AFP) The Continent ISSUE 28. November 7 2020 Page 2 Share real news Inside: We believe that everyone COVER STORY: Ethiopia is on the brink deserves access to top- of civil war. We explain what exactly quality journalism, which is going on (p5) and how the country’s is why The Continent Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime is free to read. But if minister let it come to this (p26) you like our journalism, there is one thing you A day in the life of an African can do for us. Please opposition leader (p8) forward the publication Joe Biden is the likely president-elect. to your friends, family What does that mean for us? (p12) and colleagues – not What it was like to photograph Bob indiscriminately, but only Marley (p17) to those who you think A plague of locusts: That’s right, will value it. The best way they’re coming back for more (p22) to fight fake news is to Analysis: This is not the Tanzania that share real news. Nyerere promised us (p29) The Continent ISSUE 28. November 7 2020 Page 3 The Week in Numbers 10 94.3% 1,540,801 The number of species The share of the vote The number of people at risk of being won by President in Africa who have eliminated in or along Alassane Ouattara in recovered from the Mara River, which Côte d’Ivoire’s election Covid-19, according runs between Kenya last Saturday. The to the World Health and Tanzania, according vote was boycotted by Organisation. Some to a biodiversity report. opposition parties, who 44,244 people have died Hippos, shoebills, say it is unconstitutional and a total of 1,843,581 grey-crowned cranes, for a president to serve cases have been Victoria tilapia, three terms in office. recorded. Madagascar pond- herons and various killifish and crab species are under threat from pollution, poor land use and overfishing. 59 The number of Egyptians sentenced to 15 years in prison by a court in Cairo. They were found guilty of organising Photo: Nobel Prize Archives and participating in a protest against the military government in 48 years 2013. The protest was The time that has passed since Wole Soyinka violently dispersed by (pictured here in 1986) last published a novel. security forces, who The celebrated playwright and author has killed hundreds of announced that his new novel, Chronicles of protesters. The men the Happiest People on Earth, will be published who pulled the trigger in Nigeria before the end of the year. have not been charged. datadesk Datadesk, the M&G centre for data Brought to you by the Mail & Guardian’s Data Desk. journalism, produced this story FREE DELIVERY EVERY SATURDAY The Continent is an award-winning weekly newspaper designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. It showcases the best of African journalism. And it’s free. Get your copy delivered to your phone or inbox every Saturday. And if you like what you read, forward it to your friends, family and colleagues – not indiscriminately, but only with people who might appreciate it. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Email: [email protected] with ‘SUBSCRIBE’ in the subject box WhatsApp: Save +27 73 805 6068 on your phone, and send us a message saying ‘NEWS’ The Continent Share real news. with The Continent Page 5 ISSUE 28. November 7 2020 News Ethiopia “military confrontation”. Abiy Ahmed “I call on Ethiopians to remain calm, be on high alert and back the military won a Nobel effort,” Abiy wrote. Several commentators described this as tantamount to a peace prize. declaration of war against one of Ethiopia’s own regional states. Now Ethiopia About an hour later – still in the early hours of the morning – Abiy appeared is on the brink on state television. He said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – the of civil war party that governs the Tigray region – was guilty of “treason”. According to Ethiopia’s central Abiy, Tigray regional security forces had government has launched assaulted Ethiopian military bases in the a major military operation towns of Mekelle and Dansha, killing and injuring soldiers based there. – including airstrikes – The Ethiopian army’s Northern against one of its own Command, one of four regional regional states commands, is based in Mekelle, the Tigrayan regional capital which is more Zecharias Zelalem than 700km north of the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. t about 2am on Wednesday morning, Tigray’s regional government has AEthiopian Prime Minister Abiy announced the closure of its airspace, Ahmed took to his Facebook page to and claimed that the Northern Command make a grave announcement. will “stand with the Tigray people and the “The Ethiopian Defense Forces, run by regional government”. a command post, have been tasked with Tigray is home to about six million saving the country,” he said. of Ethiopia’s population of 110-million The regional government of Tigray, a people, and is located in the north-east of northern province, was guilty of “crossing the country, along the border with Eritrea. a red line”, he said, and Ethiopian troops On Friday, Abiy told reporters that had been ordered to commence a airstrikes had been launched against The Continent ISSUE 28. November 7 2020 Page 6 targets in and around Mekelle in what he described as “the first round of operations”. He said the airstrikes destroyed rockets and other heavy weapons. There was no mention of casualties. A dramatic escalation Tensions between the federal government The ‘peacemaker’: Prime Minister in Addis Ababa and Tigray’s regional Abiy Ahmed has ordered military government have been running high strikes against the Tigray region. for some time, and relations had soured (Photo: Eduardo Soteras/AFP) considerably in recent months. Although this escalation remains shocking, analysts troops heading northwards were have warned for months that conflict was reported in the days before. Meanwhile, looming. last Sunday, Tigray regional president Efforts by the Mail & Guardian Debretsion Gebremichael announced to contact residents in Tigray were that his forces were prepared for conflict, fruitless, because internet and phone stating that “if war is imminent, we are lines were not functioning. Internet prepared not just to resist but to win”. tracking organisation Netblocks revealed A year ago, few could have predicted that there was a considerable drop in these developments when the prime Ethiopia’s internet usage that began minister of Ethiopia posed for cameras about an hour before the prime minister’s in Oslo at the award ceremony after announcement. As such, Abiy’s claims receiving the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. remain difficult to authenticate, and the Hailed for bringing two decades of region is virtually cut off from the outside military hostility with neighbouring world. Eritrea to an end, the peace deal in BBC journalist Desta Gebremedhin, 2018 sparked wild celebrations in both from the BBC’s Tigrigna language desk, countries and was a rare feel-good story was able to make contact with a relative from the often conflict-ridden region. in Mekelle on Wednesday. “My cousin in Yet already the seeds of conflict with Mekelle could hear the raging gun battles,” Tigray were being sown, as Abiy moved he said. This indicates that the fighting to consolidate his authority – in the is within the vicinity of a major urban process alienating the TPLF, which had centre. dominated political life in Ethiopia for Despite the prime minister’s claims that decades. ■ his soldiers were ambushed and pushed into the war, preparations for the eventual Abiy Ahmed’s declaration of war against escalation were made days in advance. Tigray is a gamble on the future of Ethiopia Large-scale movements of Ethiopian itself. Find out why on page 26. The Continent ISSUE 28. November 7 2020 Page 7 Côte d’Ivoire face a minimum of 10 years and as long Prosecutor as life imprisonment if found guilty. According to the prosecutor, Bédié does accuses not face arrest or house arrest. The National Transitional Council was opposition of formed by several opposition groups and is led by Bédié, a former president, with ‘terrorism’ the objective of forming a transitional government and organizing fresh Leanne de Bassompierre in Abidjan elections. Shortly after the announcement, the government warned that it was illegal ôte d’Ivoire’s public prosecutor on and that the public prosecutor would be CFriday accused opposition leaders investigating. of acts of terrorism and murder. The accusations came after the opposition At least 10 people launched a civil disobedience campaign have died in election- and announced the formation of their related violence own National Transitional Council, following last Saturday’s presidential Former rebel leader Guillaume Soro, election which they had boycotted. who is living in exile in France, urged These actions were intended to the Ivorian military to back the so-called “undermine the authority of the state in National Transitional Council proposed order to achieve the overthrow of the by the opposition. “You must act to restore Republic”, prosecutor Richard Adou told our constitution to its former glory,” he reporters. said in a statement on his Facebook page At least 10 people have died in election- on Wednesday. “Put an end to the spectre related violence since Saturday, according of civil war that threatens our country.” to government estimates. The court action is likely to enflame On Tuesday, 21 people were arrested at tensions in the West African nation the home of President Alassane Ouattara’s after last week’s vote, which was won by main rival, Henri Konan Bédié.