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African press review 21 January 2017

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, who now says he accepts the results of last month's poll. Why has the Ugandan parliament suspended its investigation into the Kasese killings? And what has South Africa's finance minister done now?

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Where is Yahya Jammeh?

That's the question posed by the top story in this morning's regional paper the East African.

According to the daily, a motorcade carrying a delegation of west African leaders left Gambia's presidential residence yesterday. The delegation had been trying to convince Jammeh, who lost last December's presidential poll, to step down and go into exile.

It was not immediately clear if Jammeh was aboard one of the two dozen vehicles seen leaving the compound.

According to the same report, Adama Barrow, who was sworn in as president in neighbouring Senegal on Thursday, has hinted that he may be on the point of leaving Dakar to return home.

Kasese killings probe collapses

The Ugandan parliamentary probe into the Kasese killings has collapsed. This is the main story in the Kampala-based Daily Monitor.

Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs Committee yesterday called off the investigations into the violence in Rwenzori area that claimed the lives of more than 100 civilians and security personnel last month.

Committee chairperson Judith Nabakooba confirmed the suspension of the probe but denied claims that she had been influenced by President Yoweri Museveni.

A source on the committee had alleged that the president was concerned about what the committee would do with its report in the face of the ongoing criminal trial and investigations by security agencies.

Millions of Somalis face food and water shortages

Drought has left hundreds of thousands of Somalis facing severe food and water shortages.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, five million people - 40 percent of the Somali population - are in need of humanitarian assistance while more than 1.1 million of these in the “crisis” and “emergency” categories.

Gordhan versus the Gupta family

South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is back on the front page of BusinessDay, this time because of his legal row with the rich and influential Gupta family.

Yesterday, lawyers for the Guptas answered a court action brought by the minister, accusing him of using the judiciary to settle political scores.

Last October Gordhan applied for an order confirming that he could not intervene in a dispute between the family’s Oakbay Investments and four major banks that closed the company’s accounts.

Gordhan’s application contained details about “suspicious” bank transactions by Gupta-owned companies totalling almost seven billion rand‚ a revelation which BusinessDay suggests could have contributed to the banks closing accounts belonging to the Guptas.

In its affidavit, Oakbay claimed “sources” had revealed that Gordhan told a group of South African businessmen that steps had to be taken to “clip the wings” of the Gupta family.

Oakbay accuses the minister of politically motivated interference, claiming that it is part of the Gordhan’s ongoing plan to diminish the Oakbay Group and the Gupta family.

Second Darfur rebel group to sign Doha peace deal

The Sudanese government and Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (Second Revolution), will sign a peace agreement in the Qatari capital, Doha next week according to a report in this morning's Sudan Tribune.

Qatar brokered the Darfur peace negotiations, which resulted in the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement in July 2011. However, the major rebel groups didn’t join the deal.

Next week's deal will mean that the Sudan Liberation Movement now joins the original Doha agreement, including clauses on security arrangements, the voluntary return of internally displaced persons and power sharing.

Three rebel movements continue to reject the Doha document.

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