The Supreme court has today given its detailed reasons for their ruling in the Uganda Presidential Election Petition No 1 of 2016 and identified 10 key reforms that it wants the Attorney General to implement ahead of the next elections. “The Attorney General must follow up the recommendations made by this court with the other …
Read More »Zimbabwe police fire tear gas, beat anti-Mugabe marchers
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Riot police in Zimbabwe fired tear gas, beat up protesters and blocked off the site of an opposition rally in Harare on Friday, the latest in a string of demonstrations to hit the country. The rally — which was authorised by a court — …
Read More »Olympics protest runner Lilesa fails to return to Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa failed to return to Ethiopia Monday night despite assurances he would not be punished for his Rio protest over political repression in his country. An AFP journalist at the airport in Addis Ababa said Lilesa was not onboard …
Read More »Machar arrives in Khartoum for ‘medical treatment’
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s former rebel leader Riek Machar has arrived in Khartoum for “medical treatment,” the Sudanese government said Tuesday, after he escaped to the Democratic Republic of Congo following deadly clashes last month. Machar was replaced by Taban Deng Gai as South Sudan’s first vice …
Read More »Sarkozy: Abrasive, divisive and running again to lead France
Paris, France | AFP | Nicolas Sarkozy, who has launched a bid to regain the presidency four years after telling voters they had seen the back of him for good, is one of the most abrasive figures in French politics. Beaten in 2012 by Francois Hollande, Sarkozy, 61, returned to …
Read More »Bogus elections, costly by-elections
Electoral Commission criticized as cost of elections to be repeated nears Shs30bn About 25% of the outcomes of the 488 parliamentary elections conducted in February are being challenged in courts of law. That is not to mention the main one; the presidential election, which was also challenged in court. If …
Read More »Opposition mayor elected in South African capital
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s ruling ANC lost control of the capital Pretoria for the first time since the end of apartheid two decades ago, as an opposition councillor was elected mayor on Friday. Solly Msimanga, 36, of the liberal centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), was elected unopposed …
Read More »Council repeals decision to split Kasese District
NBS: A highly charged Kasese District council sitting Wednesday passed a motion to revoke a 2010 council resolution that was intended to curve two more districts out of Kasese. NRM Councilors stormed out of the session in protest – accusing their colleagues from the FDC – who form the majority …
Read More »Weapons of the poor
THE LAST WORD: By Andrew M.Mwenda How do you govern a country that has average public spending per capita of $450 annually in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)? Is it possible to govern it using the same strategies as a country whose public spending is $22,000 per person annually? Yet all …
Read More »Zambia opposition leader angered by vote results delay
Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambia’s opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Sunday blasted the national election commission for slow progress in releasing results from this week’s closely-fought presidential vote. Hichilema, the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) who has alleged fraud in Thursday’s vote, demanded to …
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