Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Political players and commentators have described as impractical, illegal, biased and in bad faith, the pronouncement by the Electoral Commission to ban open-air campaigns in the run-up to the 2021 general elections. Electoral Commission chairman Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama announced on Tuesday that in …
Read More »Half year on, activists fear no justice for Iran protest killings
Paris, France | AFP | Half a year after protests which Iran has now acknowledged claimed more than 200 lives, rights groups fear the real toll from the crackdown was far higher and that nobody will be brought to justice. Protests erupted across Iran from November 15-19 after a sudden fuel …
Read More »Opposition groups challenge new EC roadmap
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Justice Forum-JEEMA has described the reviewed Electoral Commission roadmap as unconstitutional. Asuman Basaalirwa, the Justice Forum President says that the Constitution does not provide for the guidelines issued by the commission in preparation for the 2021 polls. The new roadmap which was released on …
Read More »Tanzania’s Magufuli dissolves parliament ahead of elections
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Tuesday dissolved parliament to allow for elections in October, pledging a “free and fair” vote in a country where the opposition has decried a climate of fear and violence. Magufuli, who took office in 2015 promising a crackdown on corruption but whose strongman …
Read More »Court quashes Democratic Party faction NEC elections
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court in Kampala has quashed the recent elections that were conducted by a section of Democratic party members to purportedly fill up vacant positions in the National Executive Committee. DP members led by Rajab Ssenkubuge convened a meeting on March 13, 2020, …
Read More »IN THE INDEPENDENT: Experts dig in on Uganda’s 45T budget
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | These are the top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY Tough budget: What finance experts say about Shs45.4tn, debt, taxes THE LAST WORD The trouble with URA: Why Museveni’s focus on corruption as the biggest problem of tax administration misses the big picture …
Read More »Ahead of vote, virus emboldens Serbian president’s one-man show
Belgrade, Serbia | AFP | An excuse to dominate the airwaves, sideline the opposition and cast himself as a saviour: President Aleksandar Vucic has emerged from the coronavirus crisis stronger than ever as he looks to extend his vice-like grip on Serbia’s troubled democracy. After flattening the infection curve and capping …
Read More »IN THE INDEPENDENT: We want elections on time!
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | These are the top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY We want 2021 elections on time: How People Power, JEEMA, FDC are uniting against Museveni THE LAST WORD Mr President, open boda bodas NOW: Why we need to examine the contribution of boda …
Read More »Malawi president lashes out against poll nullification
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | President Peter Mutharika has accused Malawi’s judiciary of agitating for regime change after the courts nullified last year’s presidential vote and ordered fresh elections by July 3. Malawi’s top court rejected Mutharika’s bid to overturn the landmark ruling quashing his controversial re-election, paving the way for a re-run, scheduled for …
Read More »Mozambique state calls for ‘conviction’ of police officers in poll observer murder
Xai-Xai, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique’s public prosecutor on Thursday called for an “exemplary conviction” of six elite officers accused of murdering a poll observer ahead of national elections last year, but denied any state involvement in the killing. Prosecutor Leonardo Cumbe’s remarks marked the end of a trial in the …
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