Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon’s constitutional court on Monday dissolved the national parliament and called on the government to step down, criticising its failure to organise legislative elections as required. The court announced that President Ali Bongo Ondimba would nominate a new ministerial team answerable directly to him, …
Read More »Court seizes houses linked to Nigeria’s former first lady
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A judge on Monday ordered the seizure of two properties linked to the wife of Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan, in the latest legal case since her husband left office. Judge Nnamdi Dimgba, sitting at the Federal High Court in Abuja, upheld a request from …
Read More »Comoros president eyes controversial second term
Moroni, Comoros | AFP | Comoros President Azali Assoumani is considering announcing and contesting nationwide elections in 2019 if a controversial constitution-altering referendum is passed in July, one of his advisers said Monday. Assoumani is believed to be seeking to consolidate his power with the constitutional changes so that he …
Read More »Chad lawmakers to vote on new constitution
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chadian lawmakers vote Monday on a controversial change to the constitution that will bolster President Idriss Deby’s powers and which opposition groups warn will damage democracy in the landlocked African state. The text, which received the green light from the government earlier this month, must …
Read More »Madagascar’s president rules out resignation despite protests
Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Madagascar’s President Hery Rajaonarimampianina on Sunday refused to yield to opposition demands that he resign from office, following eight days of anti-government protests in the capital. “I am president by the will of the Malagasy people. There are millions of people who voted for me, it …
Read More »Malawi ex-president Banda says ‘no fear’ of arrest after return
Domasi, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s former president Joyce Banda said Sunday she was not afraid of being arrested despite an outstanding warrant over corruption allegations, a day after she returned home from four years in self-imposed exile. “I am not afraid. If they want they can come and arrest me …
Read More »Museveni wants seven year term
MUSEVENI 7-YEAR-TERM: Details of how his team plans to get it Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Just days after the Constitutional Court sitting in Mbale completed hearing of a case challenging amendments passed last year to remove the 75-year constitutional age limit to allow President Yoweri Museveni to contest again …
Read More »N. Korea to rejoin South’s time zone in conciliatory gesture
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would move the country’s clocks 30 minutes forward to unify with the South’s time zone as a conciliatory gesture after Friday’s inter-Korean summit, Seoul said Sunday. The two countries on the divided peninsula have had different …
Read More »Nigerian president’s US visit to focus on security, economy
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, the first African leader to be received by Trump’s White House administration. All eyes will be on Trump after he earlier called African nations “shithole” countries, a damaging remark he has …
Read More »MAMA BACK: Malawi’s ex-president Banda returns after four-year exile
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s former president, Joyce Banda, returned home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile, despite facing the threat of arrest over corruption allegations. Banda, 68, fled the country in 2014 when she lost power after being embroiled in the so-called Cashgate scandal, in which …
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