Why our everlasting obsession with the state, its leaders and politics as the problem is misguided THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M MWENDA | There is a near unanimous view that the problems of our nations in Sub Sahara Africa are a result of leaders, specifically our presidents. Others broaden …
Read More »Malawi suspends updates of election results after disputes
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s electoral board on Friday said it was suspending updates of results from this week’s elections in order to resolve complaints raised by some of the parties. A count of votes tallied in three-quarters of the country’s polling stations, released Thursday, found incumbent president Peter Mutharika …
Read More »Ramaphosa sworn-in as president of South Africa vowing ‘new era’
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | Cyril Ramaphosa vowed a “new era” Saturday after he was sworn in as president of South Africa at a colourful ceremony in the capital, as he looks to revitalise his push to revive the economy and fight corruption. Foreign heads of state from more than …
Read More »Equatorial Guinea struggles for place in world tourism
Sipopo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Gleaming but eerily empty, the luxurious Sipopo resort with its five-star hotel and exclusive facilities rises from a tropical beach, symbolising the dilemma of Equatorial Guinea — a notoriously closed country that has turned to tourism to help fill its coffers. The purpose-built town was …
Read More »Uganda, Rwanda in row over border killings
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | A President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda President Paul Kagame tete-a-tete as Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as president of South Africa early on Saturday, has been overshadowed by accusations after two men at their border. Analysts had hoped the surprise ‘meeting’ in Pretoria, would signal a thaw in relations …
Read More »South Africa: The five labours of Cyril Ramaphosa
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | Newly-elected South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces herculean tasks after he gets down to work after Saturday’s inauguration. They include: – Fixing the economy – South Africa has the most advanced infrastructure in the continent, but its commodities-dependent economy has been in a …
Read More »Ramaphosa to be sworn in as president of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | Cyril Ramaphosa takes the oath of office today Saturday as president of South Africa, facing a brew of expectations and scepticism after vowing to reform the country and revive its economy. Foreign heads of state will be among 36,000 people expected to witness the ceremony …
Read More »High-security Ebola burials spark dismay, anger in DR Congo
Butembo, DR Congo | AFP | People in Ebola-hit eastern DR Congo are struggling to come to terms with high-security burials that are part of a hard-pressed strategy to roll back the disease. Anyone who dies of the highly infectious haemorrhagic fever has to be buried in carefully-controlled conditions designed …
Read More »Public housing in Equatorial Guinea a mirage for the poorest
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | In a country awash with oil, the poorest survive in shantytowns a stone’s throw from smart modern apartments and family homes supposedly built to help those most in need. The government of Equatorial Guinea had billed the rows of state-subsidised housing as never-to-be-missed home-owning opportunities for the poor. But …
Read More »South African parliament re-elects Ramaphosa as president
Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | South African lawmakers on Wednesday re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the nation’s president, two weeks after the ruling ANC party returned to power in legislative elections. Ramaphosa was “duly elected president of the Republic of South Africa,” chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told parliament. Ramaphosa …
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