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Violence rocked Guinea's capital Conakry on Friday as supporters of opposition leader Cellou Diallo clashed with security forces who tried to disperse them.
They threw stones and blocked roads. Police responded with teargas and bullets. The clashes erupted as soon as provisional results released by the electoral commission showed president Alpha Conde winning with a big margin.
Conde, 82, won twice as many votes as his nearest rival, opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo, with 37 of 38 districts counted, according to preliminary results from the commission.
Opposition supporters accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
Sekou Koundouno, head of mobilisation for the opposition coalition FNDC said Conde had committed 'high treason'.
"He is an illegal and illegitimate candidate who is stubbornly pursuing his obsession to turn Guin ea into a monarchy in which, by the way, he will dictate orders to his subjects," said Kounduno.
Diallo maintains that he won with a landslide despite irregularities, according to his own tally. He remains barricaded in his home which security forces have besieged since Monday.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
BERLIN (AP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to come together like they did in the spring to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as the country posted another daily record of new cases Saturday.
AFRO-POP singer and dancer Mzoe7, real name Mzobanzi Mlauzi’s fashion sense is as bold and attention-grabbing as his lyrics.Mzoe7, who choreographed for the RoilBAA and the Skyz Metro awards, believes the eye-catching fusion of bright colours in his apparel is his way of lighting up his present and future. BY SHARON SIBINDI The Asambeni hitmaker has a bubbly character as his dress sense.Mzoe7 said his fashion style started when he was in primary school and most people then didn’t understand him, but now they do. “My fashion sense started during my school days and I was one of the smartest and stylish students. I grew up with it and it's wise to dress up as a man. People love my style because I have put swag to it,” he said. “I am now a fashion consultant, stylist and I love fashion so much. I want to show creativity through it.”Mzoe7 said fashion runs in his family genes. “My father used to be a tailor, fashion designer and worked at Bhikha among other places, making designer suits and was doing this also in Malawi where we come from,” he said. Mzoe7 believes his colourful dressing makes him a winner every time and inspires him to create lyrical masterpieces from thin air. “I have praised the Fashion Maradona even in my music on Asambeni the line goes like … Fashion Maradona Diago … Then I bring the lyrics again on Qholoza where I am featured in Sandra Ndebele-Sibindi’s new track. The lyrics go like … Lingbize ngo Okocha, Fashion Maradona ngzoklimaza …” Known for also stomping yard and setting tongues wagging during his performances, Mzoe7 said he loves bright colours and has always praised “Fashion Maradona” in his music. “I am Lomwe, we are bright, we are joyful, and we love spreading love that is why you always see me in bright colours. I never had an easy upbringing, but now I light my present and future up with different colours,” he said. The singer said he is being dressed by Klobber Fusion as they understand his fashion taste and always get him unique stuff. “In my music videos I also make sure I bring out a different look always and award-nominated Puzzlemoment Pictures has also helped me establish the Fashion Maradona trademark. They have captured the best moments in high quality and it gets a lot of good feedback,” he said. The singer is the last in a family of seven and that is where he drives his moniker Mzoe.
Malawi’s electoral commission appealed for “peace and calm” on Wednesday as it counted ballots following a historic poll to re-elect a president after Peter Mutharika’s victory was overturned.
Voters in Malawi went to the polls on Tuesday for the second time in just over a year after the Constitutional Court dramatically ruled that last year’s polls were fraught with “grave and widespread” irregularities.
Results from the May 2019 election sparked countrywide protest that lasted months, a rare occurrence in the impoverished southern African country.
It took the top court six months to sift through the evidence before concluding that Mutharika was not duly elected and ordered fresh elections.
The chairman of the Malawi Electoral Commission, Chifundo Kachale, said tallying of the votes from 5,002 polling stations was underway.
“We appeal to Malawians to maintain peace and calm as the vote-counting continues,” Kachale told a news conference in Blantyre.
Mutharika has accused the opposition of inciting violence following isolated incidents which the police and electoral commission said had not affected the election.
“It’s obvious that the opposition is doing this,” he told reporters after voting in Blantyre, claiming some of his party monitors were “chased away, some were beaten”.
“It’s obviously people that are afraid of the will of the people that are engaging in these barbaric acts,” he alleged.
Mutharika, 79, did not take the decision of the constitutional court lightly when it overturned last year’s poll.
He accused judges of working with the opposition to steal the election through what he dubbed a “judicial coup d’etat”.
He had narrowly won the now-discredited election with 38.5 percent of the ballots, beating his closest rival Lazarus Chakwera, 65, by just 159,000 votes .
Victory in the rerun will be determined by whoever garners more than 50 percent of the votes — a new threshold set by the top court.
Some 6.8 million people were asked to vote between Mutharika, Chakwera and an underdog candidate, Peter Dominico Kuwani.
The electoral commission has until July 3 to unveil the results, although the announcement is widely thought likely to come this week.
Kachale says the commission will only announce results after dealing with all the complaints.
AFP
The materials have been sent- the ballots, and the ballot boxes are in place. Over 90% of the electoral voters' cards have been distributed.
According to Mamadi Kaba, spokesperson for Guinea's National Independent Electoral Commission (Céni), everything is ready for the country's presidential election.
But maybe not really.
On the eve of the crucial election, some members of the National Independent Electoral Commission (Céni) have raised issues about the electoral process. A surprise declaration signed by four commissioners of the institution list on five pages alleged breaches and violations of the electoral code.
Their report still points to duplicates, voters with several cards, but also cards that have disappeared in some localities. In conclusion of the statement: “Doubt is settling on the credibility of the process. This opens the door to probable post-election disputes\".
- A campaign that had started timidly -
Twelve candidates are in this race for Guinea's presidency. Over the last two week of campaigns, they have given many speeches, and amid exacerbating intercommunal tensions, violent incidents were recorded. Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana's convoy was attacked en route the central part of the country to campaign on behalf of the outgoing president.
A few days later, main opponent Cellou Dalein Diallo in turn encountered hostility from people blocking his route to the Kankan region, the stronghold of President Alpha Condé. The UFDC party headquarters in the region was ransacked.
Homes and shops of people perceived to be pro-opposition were torched and or vandalized. This violence was unanimously condemned by local authorities and political parties.
- Sunday's election -
There are some 5.4 million registered voters in Guinea, many of whom are expected to cast their ballots on Sunday. President Conde who is 82 is running for a controversial third term. For nearly a year the country was plagued by massive demonstrations against his candiacy.
But it remains to be seen how things would play out during the votes and how credible it would be.
Initial results are expected to be announced several days afterwards.
A law expert has said the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah just weeks into a crucial presidential election has plunged the country into yet another electoral crisis.
Justine Dzonzi: Fresh elections are court sanctioned polls therefore do not disrupt the electoral process
Justin Dzonzi of Justice Link says it will not be possible for a new commission to hold an election in two weeks' time.
The term of office for Ansah--a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal--was set to expire in October this year while that for her eight commissioners is ending on June 5 this year
\"This means in two weeks' time, we will have no commission at all.
\"Take into account that we will have an election on 23 June, this is an electoral crisis,\" he said.
The judgment was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal, the country's top judicial authority, after an appeal by Mutharika and the electoral body.
With just over a week to go before the Primary Election, Baltimore Votes is on a mission to make sure that every voter feels ready to head to the ballot box.
Tune in live all day
Greater Baltimore Committee CEO Don Fry and WBAL NewsRadio host Bryan Nehman will co-moderate a debate of the leading Democratic candidates for Baltimore City Mayor.
22 candidates for Mayor of Baltimore City participated in the forum, which was moderated by WYPR’s Tom Hall and Lisa Snowden-McCray of the Baltimore Beat and the Real News Network.
Baltimore Votes and Black Girls Vote are both nonpartisan organizations and we do not want to influence your vote for any particular candidate or political party.
At this time, we cannot deliver boxes outside of Baltimore City.
By NICK PERRY Associated Press AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a second term in office Saturday in an election landslide of historic proportions. With most votes counted, Ardern's liberal Labour Party was winning 49% of the vote compared to 27% for its main challenger, the conservative National Party. Labour was on target to win an outright majority of the seats in Parliament, something that hasn't happened since New Zealand implemented a proportional voting system 24 years ago. Typically, parties must form alliances to govern, but this time Ardern and Labour can go it […]
The post New Zealand's Ardern wins 2nd term in election landslide appeared first on Black News Channel.
… concentration as one of three African American students.
"It was a … with his experience as an African-American man in the United States … Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities, he learned that Black …
Western Bureau: With some reports suggesting that as many as 50 per cent of the students in Hanover have not been benefiting from the teaching-learning process since the start of the new school year, several prominent stakeholders in the parish,...
The Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has waded into the political crisis that has gripped the country calling for a divorce between the two coalitions running the affairs of the state.
On Tuesday (June 30) Archbishop of Kinshasa, Frindolin Ambongo has called for the dissolution of the political alliance between President Tshisekedi and his predecessor Kabila.
The cleric cited mistrust among members of Kabila’s Common Front of Congo, FCC and the president’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress, UPDS.
He noted the current political tension has been stoked by MPs of former president Joseph Kabila’s Common Front for Congo which has a parliamentary majority.
Monsignor Ambongo also accused the president of the Congolese national assembly of ‘contempt’ by renewing the mandate of the head of the country’s electoral commission.
By CARLO PIOVANO Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Europe's economy was just catching its breath from what had been the sharpest recession in modern history. A resurgence in coronavirus cases this month is a bitter blow that will likely turn what was meant to be a period of healing for the economy into a lean winter of job losses and bankruptcies. Bars, restaurants, airlines and myriad other businesses are getting hit with new restrictions as politicians desperately try to contain an increase in infection cases that is rapidly filling up hospitals. The height of the pandemic last spring had caused […]
The post Dark déjà vu for European economy as virus cases spike appeared first on Black News Channel.
(Barbados Nation) Canada was placed in the category of high risk in the latest update of Barbados travel protocols effective yesterday.
The article Barbados deems Guyana high-risk COVID country appeared first on Stabroek News.
As the world continues to battle one deadly virus, the Nobel Assembly is honoring three scientists who discovered another. The assembly announced it was awarding the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.
Agathon Rwasa, Burundi's opposition leader and deputy speaker of Parliament has filed a petition at the country's constitutional court disputing the win of the ruling CNDD-FDD party's Evariste Ndayishimiye.
Mr Ndayishimiye won the May 20 presidential election with 68 per cent of the vote against Mr Rwasa's 24 per cent.
\"If the constitutional court rules in their favour I will move to the African Court because all the results that were announced by the electoral commission were wrong,\" said Mr Rwasa.
The country's Catholic Church deployed 2,716 observers countrywide, and has also expressed misgivings on the election process and its outcome.
However the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Pierre Claver Kazihise, said that members of the Catholic church observer mission weren't well educated and informed about the electoral process.
[Monitor] Kampala -- The Electoral Commission (EC) has rolled out nominations for the local government councils.
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A New York tabloid's puzzling account about how it acquired emails purportedly from Joe Biden's son has raised some red flags. One of the biggest involves the source of the emails: Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani has traveled abroad looking for dirt on the Bidens, developing relationships with shadowy figures, including a Ukrainian lawmaker who U.S. officials have described as a Russian agent and part of a broader Russian effort to denigrate the Democratic presidential nominee. Yet Giuliani says foreign sources didn't provide the Hunter Biden emails. He says a laptop containing the emails […]
The post Biden email episode illustrates risk to Trump from Giuliani appeared first on Black News Channel.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, says the Ministry is looking to launch a Community COVID Conversation Programme.\tHe said the initiative, which would incorporate youth leaders, aims to educate persons in communities...
Government will have to purchase over 137,000 television sets if they are to facilitate distance learning as proposed by President Museveni.
In his televised address on Monday, Mr Museveni postponed the partial reopening of schools for another one month but said \"children must continue studying under the distance learning programme\" on televisions and radios.
He made a number of proposals to facilitate the programme, among them; provision of two television sets to each village and a radio set to each home.
Mr Museveni says much as there are fears that the TV sets could bring about congregation, thereby undermining social distancing of the children, he is optimistic that it is easy to identify any child who has the virus since they are from one village.
\"Children from the same village, if they have sickness it would have already shown up,\" added Mr Museveni.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought countries to a standstill. In many places, as countries reopen, Covid-19 cases are on the rise. Follow here for the latest.
Among likely voters, 57% say they back Biden and 41% Trump in the poll that was conducted entirely after the first debate and mostly after the President's coronavirus infection was made public.
Regardless of Biden's national lead, the race for the White House will ultimately come down to a handful of swing states that will drive the outcome in the Electoral College. The former vice president leads in several of those critical battlegrounds, but by more narrow margins than his national advantage. A poll is not a prediction of how the election will ultimately turn out but instead is a snapshot of the race as it currently stands.
View 2020 presidential election polling
Likely voters broadly prefer Biden over Trump on a number of issues that voters consider critically important in the race, including the coronavirus outbreak (59% prefer Biden, 38% Trump), health care (59% to 39%), racial inequality in America (62% to 36%), nominations to the Supreme Court (57% to 41%) and crime and safety (55% to 43%). The two are about even over who would better handle the economy (50% say Biden, 48% Trump), similar to where they have been among registered voters in recent polling.
Biden's favorability ratings have also improved, with 52% of Americans now saying they have a positive impression of the former vice president, compared with 39% who have a positive view of Trump.
Likely voters are more apt to consider Biden the candidate who would unite the country (61% Biden to 33% Trump), who is honest and trustworthy (58% Biden to 33% Trump), who cares about people like you (58% Biden to 38% Trump), who has a clear plan to solve the nation's problems (55% to 39%) and who would keep Americans safe from harm (55% to 43%).
Although this is the first national CNN survey to report results among likely voters, a comparison of results among registered voters now to those from a survey about a month ago reveals Biden has made substantial gains in support among several key voting blocs.
Biden has expanded his edge over Trump among women, from 57% to 37% in September to 66% to 32% now. That shift includes substantial gains for Biden among white women with college degrees and women of color. Among people of color generally, Biden's advantage has increased from 59% to 31% in September to 69% to 27% now. The former vice president has also made gains among younger voters, moderates and independents over the last month.
It is important to note that these increases in support for Biden have not come alongside substantial decreases in backing for Trump. The President's core supporters remain as supportive of him as they have been, if not more. Among white men without college degrees, for example, Trump's support has increased from 61% in September to 67% now. But Trump does not appear to have made any gains among the groups his campaign needs to attract in order to dent Biden's longstanding lead.
Compared with the last national CNN poll, the partisan composition of this poll is only slightly more Democratic (33% of all adults say they are Democrats no
Thursday (Oct.16), mobile games developer and publisher Big Run Studios, in collaboration with mobile game platform Skillz, announced it is teaming up with Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch to celebrate the one year anniversary of the game Blackout Bingo.
The observers recognise that an electoral system governed by a whole series of constantly changing pieces of legislation \"responds to the outcome of political dialogue between the main parties, Renamo and Frelimo, rather than taking a holistic review of the electoral framework.\"
Stop the inclusion of fraudulent results: Under Renamo pressure, the parties agreed an electoral court system which could intervene to redress misconduct and errors by election commissions, STAEs, and polling stations.
Civil society members to be non-partisan
Members of the National Elections Commission (CNE) \"do not represent the public or private institutions or political or social institutions they come from, and defend the national interest\", says the electoral law.
For the 2008-9 elections, parliament (AR) agreed a dramatic change - a majority of CNE members, including the chair (presidente) were nominated by Civil Society Organisations (CSO) to try to force some independence and neutrality.
But this agreement between Frelimo and Renamo to select party aligned CSO members is not specified in the electoral law and clearly goes against the spirit of the law.
In a statement, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Gauteng accounted for 32.4% of the confirmed cases, while KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 17.5% and the Western Cape 16.3%.
President of the People’s National Party (PNP), Dr Peter Phillips, is demanding assurances that the legal and technical issues involved in staging both the local government and general elections on one ballot be ironed out before concluding on what would be a historic move.
Addressing PNP councillors and councillor caretakers at The Mico University College on Sunday, Phillips said that the Government had formally engaged the Electoral Commission of Jamaica on the cost-saving measure.
“The Electoral Commission has identified a number of technical and legal issues that they are examining, and certainly, we would need as a party to be entirely clear that all the arrangements are in place are legal and constitutional and, in fact, are practical, if we are to agree to do it, and that is being done,” Phillips said.
The PNP president told Comrades that the slate of 63 prospective parliamentary candidates was the “best” ever assembled, adding that a majority of the party’s local government standard-bearers were in place.
He said that the electorate was looking for the PNP “... to provide a set of representatives in local and central government whose only objective is to serve the people of Jamaica and not to serve themselves or to secure personal benefit for themselves.
[Daily News] Zanzibar -- ZANZIBAR Electoral Commission (ZEC) has announced September 11, the official day for commencing election campaigns, which are scheduled to last after 46 days.
Malawi's governing party has called for a third presidential election, citing irregularities and intimidation in this week's re-run vote as unofficial tallies show incumbent President Peter Mutharika losing to the opposition leader.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has asked the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to report the state agency to the police if the party has any evidence to back its election rigging allegations made against the Authority on Thursday, 14 May 2020.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), at a press conference, raised fears that the decision of the Electoral Commission to compile a new register of voters using passports and the NIA's Ghana card as proof of eligibility may give undue advantage to the governing New Patriotic Party and President Nana Akufo-Addo and also help the incumbent to rig the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2020.
According to the biggest opposition party, over 10 million Ghanaians are unable to retrieve their Ghana cards from the NIA several months after they were registered, a situation which the Chairman of the party, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, said will make it impossible for them to be captured on the new electoral roll.
At a counter-press conference on Friday, 15 May 2020, the Executive Director of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah, said it was a \"disturbing allegation that the NIA, in consent with the Electoral Commission, embarked on an election-rigging agenda in order to benefit the New Patriotic Party, and most disturbingly, to disenfranchise a significant portion of the Ghanaian populace from their rights to exercise their franchise\".
\"I want to assure the good people of this country that the NIA is not involved in any such criminal design or enterprise with the EC, with the government of Ghana or any with any person or entity whatsoever described.
President Donald Trump is making a late reelection pitch to voters Saturday in Michigan and Wisconsin, states in the Upper... View Article
The post Headwinds for Trump in bid to repeat Upper Midwest victories appeared first on TheGrio.
Automotive consumers by no means had a straightforward time discovering a good automotive mortgage if their credit score wasnt as much as snuff. However these days, theyre needing more cash…
