AFRICA

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa will learn Monday if a parliamentary vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma will be by secret ballot, a move that could encourage ANC lawmakers to oust him. Tuesday’s vote has become a test of African National Congress (ANC) unity …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi and the nation’s opposition chief Afonso Dhlakama met Sunday for the first since 2015, a step toward peace after years of instability. The men spoke in the remote Gorongosa mountains, where Dhlakama retreated in October 2015 with 800 former fighters demanding a …

 ANALYSIS: What will decide the Kenyan election? | A dose of faith, tribe and hard cash Nairobi, Kenya | JOSEPH WANDERA | After accepting his nomination as the presidential candidate of the main opposition coalition; the National Super Alliance (NASA), Raila Odinga likened himself to Joshua, the biblical figure who led the Jews to the …

Why Kagame won 99%  | How Rwandans reacted to the west’s war against the symbol of their nation’s success Kigali, Rwanda | ANALYSIS | ANDREW M. MWENDA  |  Last week, Paul Kagame won presidential elections in Rwanda by 98.6%. Historically, such margins have only been won in countries like Saddam …

Warri, Nigeria | AFP |  Twelve worshippers were shot dead at a church in southeast Nigeria on Sunday, with authorities suggesting the bloodshed was due to a local feud. At around 6:00 am (0500 GMT), five gunmen opened fire at St. Philip’s church in Ozubulu, near the city of Onitsha, …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Raila Odinga, Kenya’s veteran opposition leader and one-time prime minister, is taking his fourth tilt at the presidency in next week’s election. The 72-year-old has been a mainstay of Kenyan politics since the 1980s but has never achieved his presidential ambition. His career emulates that of …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai re-united with his former allies on Saturday to forge a coalition aimed at ending President Robert Mugabe’s near four-decade hold on power in elections next year. Mugabe, in power since independence from British colonial rule in 1980, has been …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two foreign nationals working on the opposition’s poll campaign are being deported from Kenya, the opposition and the US embassy said Saturday, just three days before a general election. In a tweet the US embassy in Nairobi said an American and a Canadian had been detained …

Presidents Museveni, Magufuli lay foundation stone for crude oil pipeline construction Tanga, Tanzania | PPU | President Yoweri Museveni and his Tanzania counterpart Joseph Pombe Magufuli have commissioned the construction of the 1,445km-long East African crude oil pipe line from Hoima district in Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. The …

  Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  Rwandans on Saturday celebrated the third term victory of President Paul Kagame who pledged to continue transforming the nation after winning re-election with a record 98 percent of the vote. “I am very pleased. I had hoped for this victory,” said Yvette Uwineza, a …