Gambian Dictator Yahya Jammeh

West African nations, members of a bloc known as ECOWAS, have launched a military operation in The Gambia on Thursday aimed at toppling the dictator Yahya Jammeh. The troops, led by Senegal, have the approval of the African Union and the United Nations Security Council. 

Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Settled Kleptocracy Case in US in 2014

The first French trial against African kelptocrats has opened on January 2, 2017. It targets Theodore Nguema Obiang Mangue, the Vice-President and son of the long term tyrant of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Emmanuel Niyonkuru, Burundi water, environment and planning minister

Emmanuel Niyonkuru, Burundi  water, environment and planning minister has been shot dead in the capital Bujumbura, Police spokesperson and public information officer, Pierre Nkurikiye has said in a tweet, early Sunday on January 1, 2017.   According to the sources in Bujumbura, Minister Emmanuel Niyonkuru was killed shortly after midnight,  a moment into the new year.

"Minister of water and environment killed  with a pistol on  his way home to Rohero, around 00:45 ... a woman who was with him was detained for further investigations, " Pierre Nkurikiye tweeted.

DRC deal finally reached in plan B

Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians have reached a deal  for Joseph Kabila to step down after 2017 elections. Announcing the deal, Marcel Utembi, president of Congo's Catholic Bishops' Conference, CENCO, said: "The government is asked to take all steps so that the elections are organized by the end of 2017 at the latest.".

Under the accord, Joseph Kabila will not be allowed to  change the constitution to allow him to stay in power for a third term.

Now the next question could be: will the DRC deal boost chances for democracies in Central African dictatorships of Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda? Will the pro-democracy activists and politicians in those African countries get inspiration from the deal.

CENCO Dialogue: Bishops Utembi and Ambongo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Bishops' Conference, known as the CENCO, appears to have made possible the almost impossible: reaching an accord that was improbable a couple of days ago. On Thursday, Dec 22, 2016, the CENCO held all-day talks with representatives of the government and the opposition. According to sources in Kinshasa,  contacted by AfroAmerica Network early today, a memorandum of understanding has been agreed to.

Pope Francis' and General Paul Kagame's cartoon in Ugandan New Vision, Dec 20, 2016

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, the state-owned Ugandan daily New Vision  retracted and apologized for a cartoon about the 1994 Rwandan inter-ethnic massacres, after a forceful media and diplomatic attack from Rwandan officials working in the office of the  Rwandan dictator General Paul Kagame.