AFRICOM, the U.S. Military Africa Command receives our attention in this web posting; intro to AFRICOM followed by reports on two of the more active areas of the U.S. military engagements -- Somalia and the Sahara region – both positioned to combat the growth of the al-Qaeda in Africa - READ MORE

KENYA

Seventy percent of Kenyan voters endorsed new laws in a referendum on a new Constitution that will shake up both the political system and the party fiefdoms. Kenya's President, Mwai Kibaki declared: "The successful and peaceful conclusion of this referendum shows that our democratic institutions have come of age." Those who led a campaign against the draft have conceded defeat paving way for dramatic political reforms in the East African Nation. The vote passed peacefully without the violence witnessed in the 2007 General Elections.

ZIMBABWE

Although the Kimberly Process group has declared the Zimbabwe mines as conflict-free, and thus allowing Zimbabwe diamonds to be sold on the international market and not labeled as ”blood diamonds”, Rapaport Diamond Trading Network (RDTN), an industry diamond price and information provider, with over 10,000 members rebuked the ruling. The Rapaport group stated that it does not guarantee the stones as "free of human rights violations" and vowed to publish the names of members knowingly trading in diamonds from the diamond fields near the Zimbabwe eastern city of Mutare. Respected human rights groups have documented severe abuses at Mutare diamond fields since their discovery in 2006 — one of the biggest diamond finds in southern Africa in a century. Those allegations include the killing of at least 214 allegedly illegal miners by the military and "rampant abuses of forced labor, child labor, beatings, smuggling and corruption." RDTN announcement comes after international regulators declared the stones from the Zimbabwe mines conflict-free, backing off a ban they imposed in November and allowing 900,000 carats of diamonds to be auctioned in last few weeks, with a second auction scheduled for this September.

COTE D’IVOIRE

Oil trading company Trafigura was fined $1.28 million for exporting hazardous waste that allegedly left 15 people dead and thousands ill in Cote d’Ivoire. The prosecutors accused Trafigura Beheer BV of putting profits ahead of safety by hiding the waste in a ship that docked in Amsterdam in 2006 and then exporting it illegally to Cote d’Ivoire, where it was dumped around the capital of Abidjan. Trafigura has already paid euro152 million in 2007 to help the clean up around Abidjan, and last year agreed to a settlement in Britain with 30,000 Abidjan residents who claimed the waste made them ill and who received $1,500 compensation checks There is evidence that the reported deaths and adverse health consequences are related to the dumping. Thus far, 15 people died and 69 were hospitalized after the waste was offloaded in Abidjan in August 2006. In Ivory Coast, the court ruling against Trafigura was greeted as a moral victory. "Finally, Trafigura has been called out in a court of law," said Eliance Kouassi, President of the National Federation of Toxic Waste Victims in Ivory Coast. "It's a real victory for us," he said.

SUDAN

Leaders from northern and southern Sudan are negotiating on how to run the country after next year's referendum that will determine if the south becomes an independent state. Talks recently are focusing on a range of unresolved issues between the two sides -- including demarcating the border, citizenship and the sharing of oil revenues and Nile water resources. The semi-autonomous south is scheduled to hold a referendum January 9 on whether to become an independent state.  The vote was a key part of the 2005 agreement ending Sudan's north-south civil war. Much of Sudan's oil wealth lies along the disputed border. The oil-rich Abyei region holds a separate referendum January 9 on whether to be part of the north or the south.

RIVER NIGER

Some five thousand people in Niger lost their homes and crops after the River Niger burst its banks recently. The West African country is already suffering from severe food shortages caused by recent drought. Another 20,000 people are at risk of displacement in the event of further heavy rains. Heavy rainfall has also caused flooding across other parts of West and Central Africa and threatens to worsen the food crisis in the region. Millions of people are without food in the region after droughts over the last year depleted stocks, the UN World Food Program warned. "Rain in the Sahel is much welcome but it needs to be properly distributed over time and over space which is the major issue now," the WFP's Naouar Labidi stated. The UN said that 30,000 animals had died in the flooding and carcasses could be seen floating near water points, spreading further fears of outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Meanwhile, the authorities in Ghana issued a flood warning for three northern regions because of rising water levels at two dams in neighboring Burkina Faso. According to the UN, 40 people have already died in flooding in Ghana in June and July. In Burkina Faso, the agency reported that 14 people had died last month in floods and many people were sleeping in schools and other public buildings.

NIGERIA

An influential political group in northern Nigeria has called on all parties to field northern candidates in next year's presidential election - a move that would exclude current President Goodluck Jonathan.  The Arewa Consultative Forum said recently that political parties must choose candidates from the north to ensure Nigeria's "federal character" is maintained, and in the interest of "social justice, equity, fairness and stability." Nigeria's dominant People's Democratic Party usually alternates the presidency between the mainly Islamic north and mainly Christian south.  The 2007 election was won by a northern Muslim, Umaru Yar'Adua.  But he died earlier this year and Mr. Jonathan, a southern Christian, became President.  President Jonathan has not said whether he will run for a full term.  Many northerners oppose nominating Mr. Jonathan in 2011.  At the meeting of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Nastura Shariff, a youth leader, said northerners must not accept any attempt to "shut the door of the presidency, just when it is our turn." A group of youths protested outside the meeting and accused the group of preparing to endorse Mr. Jonathan for 2011.

GUINEA

The second leg of its Guinea Presidential elections will take place September 19. A run-off between the two top-scoring candidates originally was set for July 18, but many first-round candidates contested provisional results.  It was only on July 20 that the Supreme Court overruled those challenges and announced official results.  In the run-off, former Prime Minister Cellou Dallein Diallo will face long-time opposition leader Alpha Conde. Some Guineans, including Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore, called for the run-off to be pushed until after the month of Ramadan.  Others, including Diallo, had called for the election to take place in August. Spokesman for Diallo's party, El Hadj Saliou Diallo, says some of the arguments for pushing back the vote - such as the month of Ramadan and the heavy rains seen at this time of year - were correct.  He says what is most important now is that this poll date was chosen by consensus.  Conde's assistant campaign manager, Kiridi Bangoura, says Conde wants a free and transparent election that will bring true democracy to Guinea, and distance the country from any unrest that could lead to civil war.  Many hope the poll will be Guinea's first free and fair presidential poll since independence and will mark an end to more than 50 years of authoritarian rule. Both candidates have been building coalitions and galvanizing supporters, but many observers say Dial, who led the first round of voting, has a strong chance of winning.