Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s opposition challenger Julius Maada Bio secured his first term in office as a civilian Wednesday when he was declared the winner of a controversial presidential run-off — but his opponent vowed to contest the result. Bio, a former soldier who briefly …
Read More »Former soldier Bio wins Sierra Leone presidential vote
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s opposition challenger Julius Maada Bio secured his first term in office as a civilian Wednesday when he was declared the winner of a controversial presidential run-off. Bio, a former soldier who briefly led a military junta more than two decades ago, won …
Read More »Guinea opposition leader calls for end to post-election protests
Conakry, Guinea | AFP | Guinean opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo on Monday called for an end to protests over disputed local election results that has left at least 15 people dead after violent confrontations with the security services. Former prime minister Diallo earlier met President Alpha Conde to discuss how …
Read More »French ex-president Sarkozy held over Gaddafi financing probe
Paris, France | AFP | French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy was detained for questioning on Tuesday over allegations the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi financed his 2007 election campaign, including with suitcases stuffed with cash, a source close to the inquiry told AFP. Sarkozy, 63, was taken into police custody early …
Read More »UBC appeals 80m shillings court award to Besigye
Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) Tuesday appealed the High court’s recent decision that directed the Corporation to pay former opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Dr. Kiiza Besigye 80 million shillings as damages, for refusing to run his Presidential Campaign advert messages in 2011. Last month, Justice Margret Oguli-Oumo …
Read More »Burundi compiles new electoral roll despite protest
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The inscription of voters for a constitutional referendum that could allow Burundi’s president to prolong his rule began Thursday in Burundi, the independent national electoral commission (CENI) announced. If accepted by the electorate, the constitutional change passed by the government last October would enable President …
Read More »Russia’s top court upholds election ban on opposition leader
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s top court on Saturday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny against a decision to bar him from running in the country’s 2018 presidential election. The Supreme Court agreed with Russia’s Central Election Commission that Navalny cannot register as a candidate due to …
Read More »Why not have an East African Supreme Court to decide?
Justice Kasule’s decent proposal on presidential election petitions Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Two weeks after Kenya’s repeat election held on Oct.26, Justice Remmy Kasule of Uganda’s Constitution Court, bounced a novel idea off another distinguished legal brain in the region— Dr. Willy Mutunga, former chief justice of Kenya. Justice …
Read More »India’s PM Modi faces test as his home state votes
Ahmedabad, India | AFP | Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat began voting on Saturday, in a key electoral test of his popularity after a series of controversial economic reforms. Voters, with their election cards in hand, started lining up at polling booths early in the morning …
Read More »Guinea president confirms February 4 local elections
Conakry, Guinea | AFP | President Alpha Conde of Guinea has given the green light for local elections to be held on February 4, 2018, the first such vote for the country’s 342 voting districts since 2005. Conde signed a decree released late on Monday that notified the National Independent Electoral …
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