African press review 14 July 2015

All change at the helm of the Nigerian military machine; local papers ask how much difference the new men are likely to make in the war aganist the armed Islamists of Boko Haram; and South African bosses warn that a new minimum wage deal will boost unemployment all feature in the African press today.

Yesterday's sacking by President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria's entire military high command is the top story in this morning's Guardian newspaper.

According to The Guardian, the 43-day waiting game for the Service Chiefs and National Security Adviser who served under Goodluck Jonathan ended yesterday when the new president relieved them of their jobs.

The appointments will be in an acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate.

Commentators say the changes were widely expected as Buhari tries to end the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.

The new army chief is Major-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, a native of north-eastern Borno State. He is currently commander of the anti-Boko Haram Multinational Joint Task Force which has its headquarters in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.

The Guardian also looks to Burundi, warning that President Pierre Nkurunziza may find his reelection later this month swiftly overshadowed by armed insurrection.

After weeks of protests against the president’s bid for a third term, a general involved in a failed coup says he is mobilising troops, there have been grenade attacks in Bujumbura and armed clashes in the north of a nation still scarred by civil war.

“We are heading for trouble,” says one senior Western diplomat, warning of a “slide back into a low-level conflict” just a decade after then end of Burundi's conflict between Hutus and Tutsis.

Opponents are boycotting the vote, now scheduled for 21 July, thereby assuring Nkurunziza of victory.

Regional newspaper The East African reports that an umbrella body of civil societies has sued the Burundi government at the East Africa Court of Justice over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term.

The East African Civil Society Organisations’ Forum and a group of Burundian lawyers argue that Nkurunziza’s bid is unconstitutional and a violation of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which brought an end to years of civil strife in Burundi.

The East Africa Law Society has supported the application, saying that the situation in Burundi is worsening every day and needed urgent intervention.

According to the front page of South African financial paper BusinessDay, yesterday's opening day of the Congress of South African Trade Union’s (Cosatu) special congress got off to a dramatic start with a battle over credentials.

Delegates supporting former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi argued for the removal of second deputy president Zingiswa Losi, who has been fired from the National Union of Metalworkers.

The start of the congress was delayed for more than two hours by the dispute.

The trade union federation has been wracked by internal conflict over missing money, suspended leaders and the start of a new breakaway union.

Members of the media were asked to leave the venue as the congress began.

Also in BusinessDay, a warning that increased unemployment will result from the imposition of a national minimum wage in South Africa‚ according to the National Employers’ Association.

The introduction of a basic wage is currently being discussed in the National Economic Development and Labour Council.

Cosatu wants a monthly minimum of the rand equivalent of 500 euros. Farm and domestic workers are proposing a national minimum wage of about 360 euros. Mineworkers want wages of between 500 and 900 euros.

The employers' organisation says it makes no sense to "reward" or protect an unskilled and poorly educated workforce with inflexible salary arrangements and high wages.

BusinessDay also reports that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has come under fire from the opposition and investors after ordering the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to stop investing in wind and solar power.

Abbott, who has described wind farms as "visually awful" and makes no secret of his desire to axe the CEFC put in place by the previous Labour government, argued the funds would be put to better use in less-established clean technology.

But opposition politicians, investors and green groups say the move would further isolate Australia ahead of talks due in Paris in December aimed at securing a United Nations climate deal.