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USA’S LAW PUNISHING COUNTRIES SUPPORTING RUSSIA

19/02/2023 07:54:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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MBABANE – Government officials understood to be aiding Russia are in trouble as USA has enacted a law to deal with them.

The law, the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, empowers the USA to also hold African governments accountable for supporting Russian activities. It was enacted to direct the secretary of State to develop and submit to Congress a strategy to counter the malign influence of Russia and its proxies in Africa. Malign means evil in nature or effect. So far, USA, along with its allies and partners, was reportedly working to ensure that the Russian Federation and the Lukashenka regime in Belarus pay a severe economic and diplomatic price for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Activities

On January 31, 2022, the Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted the draft African Union (AU) Declaration on the USA proposed ‘Countering Maign Russian Activities in Africa Act’. The summit was officially opened and chaired by Dr Hage G Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The SADC Summit urged member States to communicate SADC’s position, and reaffirmed the stance of non-alignment on conflicts outside the continent and the region at multilateral fora. It must be said that the proposed AU declaration that was not made public.

Meeting

Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Dlamini represented His Majesty King Mswati III at the meeting held in Namibia.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Times of Eswatini reported that the US Embassy dismissed statements made by the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Lavrov Sergey as misinformation. The embassy said Sergey’s visit to Africa was in the best interest of his country, not African nations, including Eswatini.

The Russian minister was in the country for two days on a State visit. He also visited Botswana, South Africa and Angola. He was in the country on February 23-24, 2022. He engaged PM Cleopas Dlamini and Thuli Dladla, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in talks.

Collaborate

It was reported that the talks were centred on how the two countries would collaborate in several areas such as energy, military and trade. At the press conference, the Russian minister accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) of misinforming the world about Russia and luring Ukraine into them. He invited African countries to join BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

It was reported that, with or without Russia, the US was reportedly keen to expand its investments in Eswatini.
Section 2 of the Act states that it is the sense of Congress that the United States should regularly assess the scale and scope of the Russian Federation’s influence and activities in Africa that undermine the USA and interests.
The Act empowers the United States to determine how to address and counter such influence and activities effectively, including through appropriate USA foreign assistance programmes.

It also allows the USA to determine how to hold accountable the Russian Federation and African governments and officials who are complicit in aiding such malign influence and activities. Section 3 states that the secretary of State must produce a strategy and implementation plan on how to monitor and report on Russian political influence and disinformation operations and activities of Russian, Russia-connected or Russia-funded private military contractors in Africa.

Transparency

The strategy and implementation report states how to strengthen democratic institutions, improve government transparency and accountability. The report must seek to improve standards related to human rights, labour, anti-corruption initiatives, fiscal transparency, monitor natural resources and extractive industries, and other tenets of good governance. It is provided in the legislation that the report required shall include the following -
An assessment of the scope and nature of the Russian Federation’s malign influence and activities and related diplomatic, economic and security priorities and strategic objectives of such engagement in Africa, including influence and activities that involve Russian proxies, such as Russian oligarchs, Russian-funded private military contractors.

Other individuals and entities directly or indirectly employed by or financially or politically associated with Russia and its officials, who are involved in or aid activities to, among other things:- (i) Manipulate African governments and their policies, as well as the public opinions and voting preferences of African populations and diaspora groups, including those in the United States; and (ii) Invest in, engage, or otherwise control strategic sectors in Africa, such as mining and other forms of natural resource extraction and exploitation, military basing and other security cooperation agreements, and information and communications technology.

Others factors to be considered are:-

A detailed account of United States foreign assistance and other initiatives developed and implemented during the preceding three fiscal years to address Russia’s malign influence and activities in Africa, including the objectives and details of planned programmes and initiatives;
An analysis of policy and programmatic limitations, gaps and resource requirements to effectively counter Russia’s malign influence and activities in Africa;
An overview of other initiatives and assistance programmes funded by other international donors and partner countries to counter Russia’s malign influence and activities in Africa;
An identification of African governments and government officials, Russian Government officials, and other individuals and entities that have facilitated payments and other prohibited activities that benefit United States-sanctioned individuals and entities tied to Russia, including in violation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328;22 USC.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), Executive Order 14024 (86 Fed. Reg. 20249; relating to blocking property with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation), and Executive Order 13848 (83 Fed. Reg. 46843; relating to imposing certain sanctions in the event of foreign interference in a United States election),
A detailed overview of United States efforts to hold such governments, officials, and other individuals and entities complicit in violating or facilitating the evasion of United States sanctions against Russia and its proxies accountable through sanctions or other restrictions.

Reverend Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Press Secretary, said the United States diplomacy and democracy was one of the most advanced in the world. He said they needed no one to tutor them on the rights of sovereign States to make decisions on who to align themselves with - within the international diplomatic system. Nxumalo mentioned that the Kingdom of Eswatini had a long standing diplomatic relations with the USA. The government press secretary mentioned that there was no doubt that it could not hamper or hinder countries to exercise their rights in choosing their diplomatic friends.

He said the Kingdom of Eswatini was not aiding or being complicit to malign Russian activities in Africa.
He pointed out that the Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act remained only an American instrument to advance their own respective foreign policy objectives. Therefore, he said the Government of Eswatini had no doubt that the United States of America would continue to respect and honour the existing diplomatic relations.

Interests

He said such diplomatic relations would enable the USA to engage Eswatini if there were any matters of mutual interests which they might perceive to be most likely compromised by the Kingdom’s diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Russia. During a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, some nations told him they did not want to be bullied by the US to support Washington and Brussels in the Ukraine war situation.

Marisa Lourenço, a Johannesburg-based Political and Economic Risk Analyst told VOA that SADC’s position was not an ‘anti-US’ rhetoric, but that the group wanted to ‘dictate their own futures’. Africa is divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was reported that 26 African countries voted in favour of a United Nations (UN) resolution rejecting Moscow’s controversial referenda in four Ukraine regions – and 19 others abstained.

Abstained

Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe were among the African countries that abstained. Eritrea, which had previously voted to reject the UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also abstained. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome were absent from the UN General Assembly.