Tag: Mohamed Bazoum

Niger Military Coup | What They Are Not Telling You

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

On the 10th of April 2022, the former president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum posted on Twitter, that “about 30 senior state officials are guilty of embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds. One of them is Niger’s communications minister who had been detained in a high-profile embezzlement case dating from when he ran a state corporation that manages Niger’s mining sector. The 2 social activists that raised the corruption alarm, Abdoulaye Seydou and Adamou Idrissa, were later arrested and transferred to the high security prison according to their coalition.

Meanwhile, French Energy giant Orano announced that it was shutting down its second largest mine in Niger after 50 years of exploitation. Their reason was the uranium deposits at the sites have been depleted.

So in Niger, you have a country with its natural resources being depleted while senior officials in government are notorious and robbing the country. But there is more. According to a publication by Reuters, An audit by the Nigerien Budgetary Transparency Agency, reported a lack of documents to back several government spending and justify the cost of infrastructure projects. The report also noted fake public tenders, and the “granting of undue advantages to certain companies. However the former president Mohamed Bazoum maintained a clean posture that endeared him to the US and ECOWAS leaders.

The former president may not be the problem, but clearly his government was riddled with corruption.

In the morning July 26 2023, the Niger presidential palace and adjacent ministries were blocked off by military vehicles and palace staff were prevented from accessing their offices. The President Mohammed Bazoum had just been removed from office. Some civilian supporters of Bazoum tried to approach the palace, but were dispersed by the Presidential Guard with gunfire, leaving one injured. Elsewhere in Niamey, the situation was described as calm.

Later In the evening, Air Force Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane went on state television to confirm that Bazoum had been removed from power and announced the formation of a National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.

He also announced the suspension of all activities by political parties in the country until further notice.

Alarmed by the recurrence of military coup in the region, ECOWAS leaders swiftly responded and gave Niger’s coup leaders a one-week deadline to hand power back to Bazoum or face international sanctions and the region’s military intervention. However the defence minister of Neighbouring Nigeria, maintained the need for diplomacy. Present at the meeting to echo the fears of ECOWAS leaders that are grappling with similar corruption in their governments was Ghana defence minister.

Niger Military Coup | What They Are Not Telling You via Africa Views

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Why the U.S. Government Cares About the Coup in Niger + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Let us travel back in time to April 9, 1999. It was the middle of hot season in the West African country of Niger and 120 degrees in the shade. Jocelyn, one of the authors, was a newly minted Peace Corps volunteer and had recently arrived in a rural community 60 miles south of Niamey, the capital, where she would spend the next two years. That day, President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara and five other people were shot dead at the airport, a mutiny by his presidential guard. But there was no international outcry, no evacuation of Americans and Europeans. Jocelyn was told to stay put in the small community where she was living. Life went on as usual.

Why the U.S. Government Cares About the Coup in Niger | Opinion

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“Divide and Rule”: Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni Is Biden’s “Political Asset”. U.S. Behind Niger Coup d’Etat. America’s Hegemonic Wars Against Europe and Africa

EU Pleased Sanctions Cause Food, Medicine Shortages in Niger, Special Envoy Says

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

ROME (Sputnik) – On July 30, in response to a fresh coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended all financial aid, froze rebels’ assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country, as well as closed all borders. Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, cut electricity supply to the nation.

EU Pleased Sanctions Cause Food, Medicine Shortages in Niger, Special Envoy Says

Video via Wongel Zelalem

France furious with US over Niger, as US Considers Ways to Keep Its Military Presence in Niger

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Washington has chosen its own interests over its allies, a French diplomat has told the newspaper, following Victoria Nuland’s visit to Niger

France furious with US over Niger – Le Figaro

Related:

US Considers Ways to Keep Its Military Presence in Niger

Turse explained in a recent article that in 2002 and 2003, the first years of US counterterrorism assistance to Niger, the State Department counted just nine terrorist attacks in all of Africa.

“Last year, the number of violent events in Burkina Faso, Mali, and western Niger alone reached 2,737, according to a report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research institution. This represents a jump of more than 30,000 percent since the US began its counterterrorism efforts,” Turse wrote.

Why might Africa want France gone? + ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Let’s continue to follow the post-coup situation in Niger. We had Victoria Nuland travel to Niger, presumably to help organize the overthrow of the government since 1- that’s usually what a visit from Nuland portends and 2 – a “rebel movement” called the Council of Resistance for the Republic under the leadership of someone named Rhissa Ag Boula started just after her visit. If there is going to be a Western war over this coup, it is likely that Nigeria – the giant country in West Africa with 224M people, much bigger than all other countries in the region combined – will be a part of the intervention, as would France and presumably the US. Other countries of the region are lining up on one or the other side, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Algeria all lining up with the post-coup Niger government, so we are in a scary situation.

Why might Africa want France gone?

Related:

ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention

Niger’s Crisis: Why is Mohamed Bazoum Calling for Western Intervention?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Niger’s deposed president wrote an article in the Washington Post. It read as if it was prepared to fit the agenda of the US military interventionists. Mohamed Bazoum is either ignorant of history or he is not the one puling the strings. Here is my latest.

Niger’s Crisis: Why is Mohamed Bazoum Calling for Western Intervention? via Ramzy Baroud

Related:

President of Niger: My country is under attack and I’ve been taken hostage

Niger’s Detained President Pleads With U.S. and Others for Help

I don’t think he wrote the opinion article! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Niger Coup Leader Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou Was Trained By The US Military

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Intercept has verified that Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, the head of Niger’s Special Operations Forces and a key figure in the unfolding coup in Niger, received training from the U.S. military. Since 2008, military officers trained by the United States have been involved in 11 coups in West Africa.

Niger Coup Leader Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou Was Trained By The US Military

Related:

Army in Niger backs coup as U.S. forces in the country assess situation

Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) is home to the former School of the Americas.