Making sense of the Niger Crisis and the World Bank freeze on Uganda w/ Fred Golooba-Mutebi

The Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya

On the morning of the 26th of July, a group of Nigerien soldiers from the presidential guard detained president Mohamed Bazoum and his family. This action was then followed by Presidential guard commander General Abdurahaman Tchiani proclaiming himself the leader of a new military junta.

The events that followed included presidential guard forces closing the country's borders, suspending state institutions, and declaring a curfew.

This is the fifth military coup d'état since the country gained independence from France in 1960, and the first since 2010.

The coup has been widely condemned by Western powers and some African nations. In fact, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, led presently by Nigeria, is currently considering military intervention in the country, leading to the 2023 Nigerien crisis. If a military confrontation is to happen, it will pit 57,000 Nigerien soldiers on one side and potentially 245,000 ECOWAS troops on the other side.

To help us understand why a coup in one of the poorest countries in the world is such headline news, we are joined by Fred Golooba-Mutebi. Fred is a Political Scientist and researcher with a special interest in Political Economy.

He will also share his thoughts on the news that the World Bank has suspended all new loans to Uganda due to its anti-gay laws.

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