African press review 03 May 2011

Lots on Osama Bin Laden in the African press, but there's still plenty of room for other big stories....

In South Africa, the Star's main headline reads "World leaders hail Bin Laden death", and that just about sums up this morning's reactions. Nobody has seen fit to challenge US President Obama's assertion that justice has been done, but some observers are warning that the fight against extremism is not over.

In the Daily Nation in Kenya, some victims of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi say they feel American forces should have captured Osama bin Laden alive, so that he could be tried for his crimes.

President Kibaki said the killing of Bin Laden was an "act of justice" for the victims of the 1998 embassy bombing.

The Standard's main headline reads "Justice at last for US embassy blast victims".

In Nigeria, The Guardian reports that there are fears that, despite Bin Laden’s death, the world remains unsafe because of the presence of his global terrorist network and his likely successors who may be equally deadly. Such fears were expressed by diplomats, experts and world leaders as they reacted cautiously to the killing of the al-Qeada leader yesterday, says the Lagos paper.

The Guardian also reports that the killing of Osama bin Laden may have little effect on the day-to-day management of the al-Qaeda terror organisation. The paper suggests that his successor will be one of three men: Egyptian-born doctor and surgeon Ayman al-Zawahiri is the organisation’s second-in-command, and the most likely to take over. Saif al-Adel is a former colonel in the Egyptian army special forces and is accused of helping to mastermind the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was born in Kuwait and is regarded as a spokesman for Al Qaeda. He is one of America’s most wanted suspects.

The Daily Monitor in Uganda reports that there is vagueness in Kampala about the significance of Bin Laden's death, and contradictory local opinions.

A top Ugandan security analyst interviewed by the Monitor says the death of bin Laden affords the Obama administration in Washington the liberty to use its operational resources to chase other leaders. But, says the same analyst, the death strips dictators allied to the West of the most vital scapegoat they have employed to demonise opponents at home and solicit unconditional American support.

By siding with Washington early, says The Daily Monitor, Uganda’s security forces have been trained, have received logistical supplies, modern equipment and cash transfers. Until the walk-to-walk demonstrations erupted on April 11, President Museveni largely escaped public criticism by the US.

Speaking of walking to work, the Monitor's main story is headlined "Lawyers call strike over government brutality".

The small print tells us that a three-day strike beginning tomorrow has been announced by the Uganda Law Society as an expression of displeasure at the government’s clampdown on the walk-to-work protests against high fuel prices.

At an extra-ordinary meeting of the Law Society in Kampala yesterday, it was also agreed that other professionals would be asked to join in this show of disapproval against what the newspaper calls the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police, army and other security agencies in breaking up peaceful protests.

The lawyers warn that Uganda faces a crisis, and have demanded that Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki take action. The judiciary has been criticised by the Law Society for the “partiality” of some of its officers presiding over the cases involving opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Norbert Mao.

In a separate Monitor story, we learn that Democratic Party president Norbert Mao walked to freedom after Nakawa Magistrate’s Court last night dismissed all charges against him.

Mao says he will sue the government for wrongful arrest and detention.

The government’s handling of walk-to-work campaigners has been cruel, inhuman and degrading, according to the Uganda Human Rights Commission. The state-funded human rights body yesterday urged the authorities to ease the violent crackdown and commence dialogue with members of the opposition. The Commission specifically condemned the use of non-uniformed security operatives in handling protests, saying such people were not easily identifiable and thus could not be held accountable for their actions.

Meanwhile, according to the Johannesburg Star, ANC veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has criticised South Africa's ruling party for slow delivery, saying it had failed the people.

Speaking at a Workers’ Day rally in Pretoria, Madikizela-Mandela said the death of Andries Tatane in Ficksburg and service delivery protests in areas that were traditionally ANC strongholds were proof that the party had let down the masses.

She also claimed that public disputes between senior figures were a manifestation of a leadership crisis. Madikizela-Mandela said there was no guarantee that the alliance could withstand the storm.

The Standard in Kenya reports that International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has lost his bid to appeal against an order requiring him to disclose all available evidence against six post-election violence suspects.

The judge said she was not persuaded that disclosure of evidence against the six accused would unfairly hamper preparations for the trial.