Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government has launched a fundraising drive for elections in 2020, presented as “voluntary” but condemned by rights groups as “organised robbery”. Western electoral aid was cut in 2015, when Burundi was plunged into crisis as President Pierre Nkurunziza sought — and went on to …
Read More »Trump denies watching 4-8 hours of TV a day
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Monday denied a New York Times story on his daily White House life that says he watches up to eight hours of cable TV news a day. “Another false story, this time in the Failing @nytimes, that I watch 4-8 hours …
Read More »Five things to know about India’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty
New Delhi, India | AFP | Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, was Monday named as the new leader of the main opposition Congress party, which has ruled the country for much of its independent history. Here are five key things to know about India’s most famous political …
Read More »Bwanika goes to court to block age limit debate in parliament
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Three opposition leaders have petitioned court to block the “age limit” debate that is set to resume in parliament today. Dr. Abed Bwanika-People’s Development Party, Asuman Basalirwa- JEEMA and John Ken Lukyamuzi- Conservative Party petitioned the High Court in Kampala on Monday, seeking orders …
Read More »Russian athletes ‘want to compete in Olympics’: official
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Most Russian athletes want to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang despite a ban on the country’s team, the head of the athletes’ commission at the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) said Monday. “We have talked to all the athletes in all the …
Read More »North Korea’s African friends face test of loyalty
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Old alliances between North Korea and several African nations forged at the height of the Cold War will not be swept away easily. While threats from the United States and UN sanctions have forced many governments on the continent to keep their distance …
Read More »Rethinking politics in Africa
How events in Zimbabwe expose the false assumptions that inform explanations of developments on this continent THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | There is a widespread assumption that presidents in Africa who rule for long do so out of personal greed for power. This accusation has been made against Robert …
Read More »KENYA: Odinga parallel presidential ‘inauguration’ postponed
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s opposition has postponed a ceremony to swear in its leader Raila Odinga as a parallel president after a controversial poll it boycotted, the party said Sunday. The National Super Alliance (NASA) had planned to inaugurate Odinga on Tuesday — Kenya’s independence day. The veteran …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Another date for Local council elections set
THIS WEEK: Another date for Local council elections set Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Court on Dec.04 issued an interim order pushing local council elections which were supposed to take place earlier in November to January 31, 2018. The order issued by High court’s Justice Stephen follows a petition …
Read More »Trump salutes civil rights heroes at boycotted museum opening
Jackson, United States | AFP | Donald Trump called for an end to racial hatred Saturday at the launch of a museum dedicated to victims of white-supremacist violence in America’s Deep South, a ceremony boycotted by several black leaders. The Republican president’s attendance at the gathering to open the Mississippi …
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