African press review 17 February 2012

Nigeria's army goes through a shake-up as the country asks who is behind Boko Haram. Ugandans ask if they should be involved in Somalia. Is Kenya's police force rotten? Is the ANC women's wing still an effective force in SA politics? 

In Nigeria many of the dailies including This Day and The Vanguard lead with the news that there has been a massive shake-up of the army.

This is an attempt to tighten up security in the wake of a series of failures regarding the Boko Haram group which has has launched a series of attacks, over the past few months. 72 generals have been redeployed.

The Daily Nation has another interesting angle on this story of relations between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram.

They report that former Nigerian military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida has denied claims he was behind the sect. He was responding to claims made by Sheik Sani Haliru, a Boko Haram leader who is currently in Niger, who did an interview that was posted on the internet.

Babangida responded swiftly and blamed the allegations on unnamed agents of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. But, as The Daily Nation points out, there are still unanswered questions.

On several occasions, the State Security Service has said in public statements that "prominent Nigerians" are involved in the violence, but they refuse to reveal any names. The information the security service has obtained has supposedly come from call logs revealed by forensic experts.

In the Ugandan paper, The Monitor, there is some soul-searching regarding the country's involvement in the fight against al-Shebab in Somalia.

In an opinion article, Captain Henry Obbo warns that Uganda should prepare itself for image problems in Mogadishu.

He writes that the Ugandan forces have behaved in a respectful way towards the residents of the Somali capital and earned their trust but that there are still huge challenges, especially from suicide bombers.

He urges Uganda not to forget its past experiences of conflict at home and prevent any atrocities in its Somalia mission.

In neighbouring Kenya the Daily Nation reports on how a national police appointments process has revealed the "rot" which has pervaded the police.

The process is to select the National Police Service Commission which will oversee staffing in the force and in which many former police bosses have been questioned.

According to the chief interviewer, Ms Alice Kagunda who is leading the process, 57 senior officers were dismissed in 2004 with no explanation. A former Administration Police commandant revealed how politicians influenced policing in Kenya by “doing business” with senior officers.

It was also disclosed that senior officers interfere with investigations, the traffic department is notorious for bribery; female officers are sidelined in key appointments and new officers are not recruited properly.

South Africa's Mail and Guardian continues its analysis of the ANC Women's League staging a march later today to protest against the victimisation of women who wear miniskirts.

Michael Fitzpatrick mentioned the story yesterday in his press review. The South African daily says that the Women's League has taken a low profile in the past few years and it question the league's ability to affect change.

But spokesperson Troy Martens retorts that rather than "shouting and screaming", they are trying to be the voice of reason.

The paper also raises a few interesting points about women's rights in the country, particularly the case of President Jacob Zuma who was accused of raping a family friend in 2006.

The woman was also HIV-positive. Zuma was acquitted of the charges, but, the Mail and Guardian points out that the woman in question was vicitmised throughout the trial.

Another women's rights activist, Collen Lowe-Morna, complains that the issue of gender inequality has become distorted into a deabte about rich men who have multiple wives or eat sushi off women's bodies.

And just one quick story from The Daily Nation that the Congo-Kinshasa government has switched off broadcasters linked to the opposition leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, one of which belongs to the Catholic church.

The radio stations claim that there suspension is ahead of a march planned for last night to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the so called "Christian massacres" in 1992 in Kinshasa.

So that is a worrying sign for freedom of speech in the country which held tense elections at the end of last year.