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Provisional results Friday showed Mohamed Bazoum as having garnered 1.4 million votes, only trailed by former president Mahamane Ousmane with 675,000
\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.
An open letter to non-Black allies on how they can support the Black Lives Matter movement and follow the lead of Black activists who have been doing this work for years.
Following the announcement last Saturday of presidential election results in Malawi by the country’s electoral commission, the African Union Commission has published this statement, congratulating the winner – Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera:
“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, wishes to congratulate His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera upon his election as President of the Republic of Malawi following the successful conduct of fresh presidential election in the Republic of Malawi on 23 June 2020, and the subsequent official election results published on Saturday 27 June 2020 by the Malawi Electoral Commission.
“The Chairperson commends the outgoing President His Excellency Peter Mutharika for his stewardship of the Republic of Malawi over the years.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the African Union’s commitment to supporting Malawians in their quest to strengthen democratic and participatory governance and ensure sustainable socio-economic development in the country.”
Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote in last Tuesday’s poll, the electoral commission announced late on Saturday.
In February, Malawi’s constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika’s victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering.
Ugandan opposition leader and popular singer Bobi Wine has been freed after a brief arrest by the police. WIne had been taken away just after he was confirmed as a candidate in next year’s presidential election.
The local NBS Television, reporting from the scene, said the singer was put into a police van amid violent scuffles between police and his supporters.
Wine on Monday had gone to the nomination centre in Kyambogo in the capital, Kampala as Uganda’s electoral body started the nomination process for presidential candidates in the upcoming 2021 general elections.
Police fired tear gas to disperse his supporters who turned up to support him on nomination day.
Bobi Wine presented his nomination papers to the electoral commission to be cleared to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in next year's election.
Joel Senyonyi, spokesman for Wine’s NUP party, said “they [police] used a hammer and broke the windows of his vehicle and forcefully dragged him out … they bundled him into their own vehicle and took off”.
So far, 10 aspirants are vying for the top job. Others include former army commander General Mugisha Muntu and former Security Minister General Henry Tumukunde.
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for 34 years, was the first to be nominated. He warned that any opponents who destabilize the country will be dealt with.
One presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat was arrested at the headquarters of his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.
Soldiers and police officers have been heavily deployed at the party's offices, the Daily Monitor newspaper reports.
Mr Amuriat is reported to have vowed to defy restrictions on the number of supporters accompanying him to the electoral commission where he is scheduled to submit his nomination papers at midday. The newspaper has tweeted a video of his arrest.
These are some of the events analysts say makes the outlook of the politics tense as Uganda braces up for elections February next year.
Wine, 38, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, aims to end President Yoweri Museveni’s 34 years in power.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched an all-out effort to reopen schools this fall, arguing that some are keeping schools closed not because of the coronavirus pandemic, but for political reasons against the will of families. “We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it. It’s time to []
[Monitor] The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party yesterday challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) to summon all political candidates defying Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) during campaigns, including President Museveni.
In its 142-page decision the seven judges in Malawi's Supreme Court of Appeal, among them the Chief Justice, Andrew Nyirenda, are unanimous in upholding the finding of the Constitutional Court: the May 2019 elections failed in their aim of 'duly electing' a new President.
That's because the country's electoral commission, commenting on the Appeal Court decision, has suggested that it might not be possible to have the new President sworn in by the court's deadline if the original re-run schedule prevails.
In fact, it would be hard to read the Appeal Court's decision as anything other than a sharp rebuke to the commission about the way it handled matters, particularly as the votes were being collected and tallied, and then again when the validity of the polls was tested in court.
The position of Malawi's courts had been that if the results were not affected by irregularities, the elections should stand.
Stating its revised position on the matter, the judges said that it would be hard for a court in Malawi to uphold an election where its conduct was 'largely compromised', especially since voting numbers in such a case could be the result of flouting electoral law.
South Africa handed over limited powers to a new multiracial administration in 1985 (the previous government had enforced South Africas apartheid laws). Installation of this government ended South Africas direct rule, but it retained an effective veto over the new governments decisions. Finally, in 1988 a South Africa agreed to a plan for independence. SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma was elected president, and on March 21, 1990, Namibia achieved nationhood.
Nujoma was reelected in 1994 and again in 1999, after the constitution was amended to allow him to seek a third term. Nujoma announced in Nov. 2001 that he would not seek reelection when his term expired in 2004. In Nov. 2004, Hifikepunye Pohamba of SWAPO was elected president with 76% of the vote. He took office on March 21, 2005, and was easily reelected in 2009, taking 75% of the vote.
In 2004, Germany issued a formal apology for the massacre of Herero by German colonial troops between 1904 and 1908.
In a 2012 cabinet reshuffle, Hage Geingob became prime minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah foreign minister, Nahas Angula defense minister, and Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana home affairs minister. In 2014 presidential elections, Geingob won by an overwhelming 86.7% of the vote. His party, SWAPO, received 80% of the vote.
Geingob took office as president on March 21, 2015. He nominated Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as prime minister. A member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 1995, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also took office on March 21. She previously served as minister of finance from 2003 to 2015.
See also Encyclopedia: Namibia
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Namibia
Central Bureau of Statistics http://www.npc.gov.na/cbs/index.htm .
[Monitor] The National Resistance Movement (NRM) is struggling to come up with a common mode of voting in their party primaries to identify their candidates for different elective positions in the 2021 General Election.
By the end of the 1980s, Benins economy was near collapse. As its oil boom ended, Nigeria expelled 100,000 Beninese migrant workers and closed the border with Benin. Kérékous socialist collectivization of Benins agriculture and the ballooning bureaucracy further damaged the economy. By 1988, international financial institutions feared Benin would default on its loans and pressured Kérékou to make financial reforms.
Kérékou subsequently embarked on a major privatization campaign, cut the government payroll, and reduced social services, prompting student and labor union unrest. Fearing a revolution, Kérékou agreed to a new constitution and free elections. In 1991, Nicéphore Soglo, an economist and former director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, was elected president. Although he enjoyed widespread support at first, Soglo gradually became unpopular as austerity measures reduced living standards and a 50% currency devaluation in 1994 caused inflation. Kérékou defeated Soglo in the 1996 elections and was easily reelected in March 2001. Term limits prevented him from running again. In April 2006, Yayi Boni assumed the presidency. The World Bank and IMF agreed to cancel much of Benins foreign debt after the country demonstrated significant economic reforms.
In 2010, floods destroyed 55,000 homes, killed tens of thousands of livestock, and displaced 680,000 people. There were 46 fatalities.
After two postponements, presidential elections were held on March 13, 2011. According to Benins constitutional court, incumbent Yayi Boni won 53% of the vote. His main challenger, Adrien Houngbedji, disputed the results, alleging fraud and claiming victory for himself. Parliamentary elections followed in April, 2011, and established a new government, including Pascal Koupaki as prime minister, Nassirou Bako Arifari as foreign minister, Benoît Assouan Degla as interior minister, and Adidjatou Mathys as finance minister; Issifou Kogui NDouro remained as defense minister.
Supporters of Malawi’s new president Lazarus Chakwera gathered for a fireworks display in the capital Lilongwe, celebrating his victory in a keen presidential election re-run.
Chakwera won with 58.57 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said Saturday.
It was a dramatic reversal of fortune for incumbent, Peter Mutharika, whose victory in the May 2019 election was overturned by the Constitutional Court, citing widespread fraud.
And on Saturday, electoral commission announced that Chakwera has been duly elected as the president of Malawi.
In office since 2014, Mutharika had won 38.5 percent of the discredited vote in which Chakwera garnered a close 35.4 percent.
The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is the westernmost point in Africa. The country, slightly smaller than South Dakota, surrounds Gambia on three sides and is bordered on the north by Mauritania, on the east by Mali, and on the south by Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Senegal is mainly a low-lying country, with a semidesert area in the north and northeast and forests in the southwest. The largest rivers include the Senegal in the north and the Casamance in the southern tropical climate region.
Multiparty democractic republic.
The Toucouleur people, among the early inhabitants of Senegal, converted to Islam in the 11th century, although their religious beliefs retained strong elements of animism. The Portuguese had some stations on the banks of the Senegal River in the 15th century, and the first French settlement was made at St.-Louis in 1659. Gorée Island became a major center for the Atlantic slave trade through the 1700s, and millions of Africans were shipped from there to the New World. The British took parts of Senegal at various times, but the French gained possession in 1840 and made it part of French West Africa in 1895. In 1946, together with other parts of French West Africa, Senegal became an overseas territory of France. On June 20, 1960, it formed an independent republic federated with Mali, but the federation collapsed within four months.
Although Senegal is neither a large nor a strategically located country, it has nonetheless played a prominent role in African politics since its independence. As a black nation that is more than 90% Muslim, Senegal has been a diplomatic and cultural bridge between the Islamic and black African worlds. Senegal has also maintained closer economic, political, and cultural ties to France than probably any other former French African colony.
Senegals first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, towered over the countrys political life until his voluntary retirement in 1981. He replaced multiparty democracy with an authoritarian regime. An acclaimed poet, Senghor sought to become
Burundi's electoral commission is to announce provisional results from last week's presidential election Monday, with the outgoing head of state's handpicked successor Evariste Ndayishimiye poised to be declared the winner.
Burundians voted last Wednesday to elect their president, lawmakers and local officials in a poll marked by allegations of fraud and conducted with scant attention to the coronavirus pandemic.
Partial results published by state media gave Ndayishimiye, 52, around 80 percent of the vote.
After a campaign marked by violence, the election was generally calm.
However, the CNL said several of its officials had been arrested and harassed, and alleged fraud.
Sir Shridath Ramphal, with support from several international lawyers, yesterday morning argued at a historic hearing before the World Court that it has the jurisdiction to decide that the Paris Award which settled the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela is valid and binding.
During the three-hour hearing Sir Shridath, Canadian Professor Payam Akhavan, US lawyer Paul Reichler and British-French lawyer Phillipe Sands presented the Court with a detailed history of the controversy beginning with the 1897 Treaty of Washington which established the tribunal that negotiated the award and concluded with Guyana’s application to the Court in 2018.
“Guyana’s case is based in the plain text of the Geneva Agreement by which the parties expressly consented to accept the decision of the SG on the means of resolution of (the controversy) over the validity of the 1899 award including judicial settlement by this Court and that the (controversy) shall be settled by the International Court of Justice if that be the means chosen by the SG,” Sir Shridath stated.
“[After] almost 60 years of Venezuela trying and failing to spoil the sanctity of the Treaty of Washington and to nullify the Paris Award, the Secretary-General of the United Nations indicated to the Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela in these words and I quote ‘I have fulfilled the responsibility that has fallen on me within the framework set by my predecessor and significant progress not having been made toward arriving at a full agreement for dissolution of the controversy, I have chosen the International Court of Justice as the means that is now to be used for its solution.’
Reichler told the Court that this entirely new reading of Article IV (2) is not only inconsistent with the text which refers to the SG choice as a “decision” but is also contrary to the position of their then Foreign Minister who in 1966 told the National Congress that “there is an unequivocal interpretation that the selection of the means of settlement will be made only by the Secretary General of the United Nations.”
The Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday conducted a pilot voters' registration exercise at the Accra Ridge Church to test its Biometric Verification Systems for the upcoming December polls.
The pilot was to ascertain the durability of the equipment towards a successful registration exercise scheduled for June 30.
The prospective voters spent about five minutes to go through the electoral processes at either of the two registration centres mounted at the premises, with a maximum of 20 voters observing COVID-19 precautionary measures and hygienic protocols.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times, the Public Relations Officer of the Commission, Sylvia Annoh said the exercise was smooth and was to ensure the commission identified any challenges that might occur during the actual registration and find ways of addressing them before and during the exercise.
She explained that the registration officers did not encounter any challenges during the processes or the equipment breaking down, saying, \"We are adhering to the protocols to ensure no one got infected with the virus.\"
On #BlackOutDay2020 We're Showing Just How Powerful The Black Dollar Is
A cloud of anxiety hangs over Burundi as the electoral agency continued counting votes days after Wednesday’s election that is guaranteed to end the 15-year rule of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
The main opposition party, National Congress for Liberty (CNL), in a tweet claimed that vote rigging was ongoing, as the country awaited provisional results expected to be announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) on May 25 or May 27.
Burundi five years ago descended into violence after President Nkurunziza, who ascended to power in 2005, announced he would vie for a third term in office.
He decided to end his rule in this year’s election and threw his weight behind an ally, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is a former Minister of Interior and Public Security and currently runs the department of military affairs in the president’s office.
“These elections will go down in history as I am the only president who completed 15 years while in office,” said the president in Bujumbura.
[DW] On October 31, Ivorians will elect a new leader. President Alassane Ouattara is running for a third controversial term. The opposition is urging supporters to shun the poll -- a political crisis appears imminent.
Erray commended the privileged level of cooperation relations uniting the two countries, expressing his gratitude for the support given by South Korea to Tunisia to face the current economic and development challenges.
Erray called on South Korean companies and businessmen to intensify their investment in Tunisia and to develop economic and commercial cooperation, especially in high value-added sectors such as information and communication technologies.
Tunisia is working to encourage its partners among Asian countries, notably South Korea, to take advantage of Tunisia's strategic location to expand the areas of triangular cooperation in Africa, he said.
For his part, the South Korean ambassador underscored his country's commitment to support Tunisia's efforts on more than one level to promote its economy and attract investment.
\"South Korea is determined to diversify the various aspects of bilateral cooperation in several areas, such as artificial intelligence, renewable energies, education and training,\" he pointed out.
And now just emerging from no contact with voters, there are concerns about whether the election calendar and roadmap as set by the National Electoral Commission in December 2018 is still viable considering the time \"lost.\"
\"The Commission has to fulfil Section 8 of the Presidential Elections Act and Section 9 of the Parliamentary Elections Act that provide appointment of nomination days and time,\" reads the commission document, \"for campaigns for presidential elections to commence latest by first week of September 2020 nomination of presidential candidates must have been completed latest third week of August.\"
The first round of nominations must have been completed latest third week of July 2020, while nominations and campaigns for parliamentary elections \"should commence latest by second week August 2020.\"
Sam Rwakoojo, the Secretary to the Electoral Commission told The EastAfrican that the roadmap has been disrupted and some special interest group elections that should have been held around this time (end of May to beginning of June) can't take place, yet they contribute to the national elections and the consequences of those delays are not clear at the moment.
Mr Rwankoojo said no concrete proposals can be generated on specific dates for certain activities because, \"we don't know yet how this disease and lockdown will go,\" he said, adding that while the Constitution is clear on when to hold certain processes, the only available leg room is to determine which activities or elections can be held together to remain within the confines of the law.
\tCASTRIES, St. Lucia, Jul 7, CMC – The St Lucia government says it will on Friday lift the curfew that had been imposed as part of the measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.\tPrime Minister Allen Chastanet...
[Monitor] By Simon Peter Emwamu
After four months Kenya is reopening its airspace for domestic and international travel, giving a reprieve to airlines whose financial have been on a nose dive since their aircraft were grounded in March.
