Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Opposition leader Raila Odinga returned to Kenya on Friday only to have his welcome party in Nairobi broken up by police firing tear gas at his convoy and supporters, an AFP reporter saw. Odinga won an unprecedented court victory overturning the result of the August …
Read More »Kenya’s Supreme Court to rule Monday on election appeals
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s Supreme Court said Thursday that it would issue its ruling Monday on challenges to the validity of the October 26 presidential re-run election won by incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. Chief Justice David Maraga said the six-judge bench would hand down its decision by Monday, the constitutional …
Read More »US joins calls for Liberia to hold presidential run-off
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | The US embassy in Liberia on Thursday expressed “confidence in the integrity” of first-round voting in the country’s presidential election, urging political leaders to allow a “timely conclusion” of the vote. A second round of voting to choose a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was …
Read More »DR Congo makes arrests ahead of anti-Kabila protests
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Dozens of people were arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, following warnings from authorities that they would break up planned protests against the extended rule of President Joseph Kabila. The Lucha citizen movement said at least 27 were detained by police in …
Read More »International pressure ramps up over Liberia election delay
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | The European Union on Tuesday joined an international chorus urging Liberian political parties and its electoral commission to end “unnecessary delays” and elect a new president. A second round of voting to choose a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was suspended indefinitely by the …
Read More »COMMENT: Contextualising Odinga’s struggle
Why Kenya’s opposition resistance movement could be important for democracy COMMENT | SEKOU TOURE OTONDI | In his last address at Uhuru Park on the eve of Kenya’s October 26 election re-run, Raila Odinga announced the creation of what he called a National Resistance Movement. In a later interview with CNN, he clarified …
Read More »Vote counting begins after breakaway Somaliland’s presidential poll
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Officials began counting votes in the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland after residents on Monday took part in its third presidential poll, hoping to bolster its democratic credentials and strengthen the case for independence from troubled Somalia. The northern territory, which is more tribally homogenous and stable …
Read More »Breakaway Somaliland votes for new president
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Residents of the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland voted Monday in its third presidential poll, hoping to prove its democratic credentials and strengthen the case for independence from troubled Somalia. The northern territory, which is more tribally homogenous and stable than the rest of Somalia, broke away …
Read More »E.Guinea ruling party expected to maintain grip as nation votes
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Voting in Equatorial Guinea ended Sunday, with the opposition alleging fraud and irregularities in elections that the ruling party was expected to sweep and maintain its firm grip over the tiny oil-rich country. Internet access was completely cut in a country where opposition websites …
Read More »‘Instagram president’ wins Slovenia runoff
Ljubljana, Slovenia | AFP | Slovenia’s internet-savvy President Borut Pahor on Sunday won a second term in a runoff vote that was marred by an abysmally low turnout. Centre-left ex-premier Pahor, 54, had been touted to win in October, but a record low 44-percent turnout triggered a repeat vote, with 1.7 …
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