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Uganda’s inter-religious council called off the eagerly awaited presidential candidates’ debate.
The council said the debate, that was due on Thursday 03 was cancelled due to limited resources.
Local media reported that a total of ten presidential candidates were expected to grace the occasion.
This comes amid numerous complaints majorly from the opposition who have constantly blamed the security apparatus for rights violations.
Uganda opposition have in most cases face wrath of the police especially the renowned musician-turned politician, Bobi Wine.
Two weeks ago, 54 people died in protests after Wines supporters called for his release following a brief arrest at campaign rally.
They have defended themselves by claiming that they were only implementing Covid-19 guidelines to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Bobi Wine was later charged with violating pandemic restrictions on gathering of crowds and granted bail.
The embattled singer later met the electoral commission and asked them to ensure that there should be equitable campaigns and police should be stopped from intimidating the opposition leaders and their members.
\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.
ANKARA, (Reuters) – NBA center Enes Kanter, an outspoken critic of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said yesterday his father had been acquitted of charges that he was a member of a terrorist group.
Mehmet Kanter, the father and a genetics professor in Turkey, was alleged to have supported U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who Turkey accuses of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.
Enes Kanter, a 28-year-old center for the Boston Celtics in the NBA, himself was indicted in Turkey in 2018 on charges of belonging to an armed terrorist group, which he denies.
Turkey revoked Kanter’s passport in 2017 and he has since been unable to travel abroad.
Enes Kanter’s parents publicly disowned him through a Turkish publication back in 2016, soon after the coup attempt.
[African Arguments] I was arrested and beaten last week for daring to contest the presidential election. This is not a fair fight, but I have no option but to be strong.
Main opposition parties in the Oromia region – Abiy’s home region – have kicked against the HoF decision calling it a unilateral and illegal extension of the term of government.
“A political consensus whereby the views of the opposition political parties were taken into consideration and a climate of trust and fruitful collaboration was promoted would have been more likely to create an environment where the promised peaceful and comprehensive democratic transformation of Ethiopia would have been possible,” their statement read in part.
He has serially insisted that he did not fear elections and was ready to hand over power if he loses
\tThe Council of Constitutional Inquiry held public hearings last month on possible next steps, though critics said these were insufficiently inclusive of opposition voices.
Dawud Ibsa, chairman of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front, told AFP Wednesday that the House of Federation vote “does not have any constitutional basis”.
If major opposition parties reject the recommendations from the Council of Constitutional Inquiry, “protests or election boycotts could become a reality, reducing the chances of successful competitive polls in 2021,” said William Davison of the International Crisis Group (ICG), a conflict-prevention organisation.
Facebook announced May 7 that it is awarding nearly $10.3 million to 144 local newsrooms through the company’s COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.
“We are honored to have been chosen to receive the Facebook Journalism Project COVID-19 program Grant,” Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Executive Editor and CEO of The Los Angeles Sentinel, told California Black Media.
The majority of the Black-owned California newsrooms that received over $300,000 in grants are located in Southern California around the greater Los Angeles area, including the L.A. Sentinel, the L.A. Focus Newspaper, the Los Angeles Wave and Independent News Paper Group and Black Voice News in Riverside.
The grant recipients were chosen from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants by the Facebook Journalism Project and its partners: The Local Media Association and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
In addition, to the COVID-19 relief grants, Facebook also awarded $5.4 million in grants to North American newsrooms that have participated in Facebook’s Local News Accelerator programs.
Guinea's main oppositon party published Friday a list of 46 people, aged between 3 and 70 years, killed during the repression of demonstrations after the October 18 election, officially won by the incumbent Alpha Condé.
Condé was declared re-elected on October 24 by the Electoral Commission for a controversial third term with 59.5% of the vote, but three of his opponents, including opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, are contesting the results before the Constitutional Court, whose decision is expected on Saturday.
Diallo's party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), denounced in a statement a \"wave of terror\" orchestrated by the government between October 19 and November 3.
\"The provisional toll of this repression is 46 dead, nearly 200 wounded by gunfire, about a hundred arrests and extensive material damage,\" according to the UFDG.
The opposition has so far reported a death toll of at least 27, while for the government, the post-election violence resulted in 21 deaths, including members of the security forces.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Africa Officer Ida Sawyer on Twitter on October 24 accused Guinean security forces of killing \"at least 8 people, including 3 children.
Amnesty International for its part accused the same security forces of firing live ammunition at demonstrators, without giving a detailed account.
The Ministries of Security and Territorial Administration did not immediately respond to the multiple requests for a reaction from the AFP to the UFDG document.
This document includes a list of names, usually with age, profession, circumstances of death, contacts of a relative, and photos showing these people, dead or alive. In about fifteen cases, these are photos of bodies showing traces of violence.
Most of the presumed victims are young men and women between 15 and 30 years old: motorcycle cab drivers, mechanics, students...
The youngest are a boy and a girl of 3 years old, Mamadou Midiaou Diallo and Mariatou Bah, and the oldest Mamouna Camara, a housewife of 70 years old.
The UFDG also states that \"the overwhelming majority of the victims (...) belong to the same ethnic group as the opposition leader,\" in a country where community affiliations play an important role in elections.
The Electoral Court has granted the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) permission to postpone by-elections in the country due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus.
This after the commission approached the court seeking a postponement.
\"As required in law, the municipal elections will be proclaimed by Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after her consultations with the Electoral Commission.
\"In this regard, the Electoral Commission has begun consultations with the minister.
These matters are not a prerogative of the Electoral Commission, but require a collaborative effort and national consensus,\" she said.
The Rwanda Biomedical Center, RBC; tweeted that the tests at the Kigali Amahoro National Stadium is expected to serve 5000 people in all districts of the city and at all its entry points.
Confirmed cases = 1,042
\t\tActive cases = 559
\t\tRecoveries = 480
\t\tNumber of deaths = 3
\t\tTotal number of tests = 147,904
\t
Rwanda MOH stats valid as of July 1, 2020
June 30: Cases pass 1,000 mark
\tOn the 25th of June, authorities in Rwanda introduced total lockdowns in parts of the capital Kigali citing surge in COVID-19 cases.
In a space of four days, the country has recorded over 150 cases taking the tally of confirmed cases as of yesterday (June 29) past the 1,000 mark according to the Ministry of Health tallies.
Confirmed cases = 1,001
\t\tActive cases = 556
\t\tRecoveries = 443
\t\tNumber of deaths = 2
Rwanda MOH stats valid as of June 29, 2020
VIDEO
June 1: Rwanda records first virus death, govt ‘rethinks’ easing restrictions
\t“After reassessment, transportation between provinces and the City of Kigali, as well as passenger motor services, will remain closed until further notice in the interest of public health.
On the last day of May 2020, Rwanda recorded 11 new cases on the same day the first casualty was buried in the outskirts of Kigali.
Uganda's top opposition leaders — Robert Kyagulanyi of the People Power Movement and Kizza Besigye of the People's Government — announced Monday they are joining forces to demonstrate against President Yoweri Museveni’s administration.
The singer-turned-legislator and longtime opposition leader Kizza Besigye are urging Ugandans to take part in a peaceful protest Tuesday against the government and its response to COVID-19.
Wine and Besigye’s cooperation comes less than eight months before Uganda’s general elections.
Colonel Shaban Bantariza, the deputy government spokesman, said Besigye and Wine should not tempt the population to protest, saying these activities are against law and order.
The opposition want an independent body established to guide the country into a recovery process from damages caused by COVID-19 and audit the government response and use of COVID-19 funds.
President Donald Trump has decided to reschedule his first rally since the coronavirus emerged from the original date of June 19th to the next day, June 20th, “out of respect” for the Juneteenth holiday according to CNN.
Based on the date Trump decided to hold his first rally, especially in light of the recent protests taking place worldwide fighting against police brutality against black people and racial injustice, people have been critical of Trump for planning his return on that date.
In a perceived slap in the face to black people, the rally was also scheduled to take place 99 years after the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 where, in May of 1921, black citizens in Tulsa were massacred at the hands of white mobs in what was known as The Black Wall Street.
The president took to Twitter to announce the rescheduled date:
The Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, has also released a statement regarding the changing of the date of the rally.
“I am thankful President Trump recognizes the significance of June 19 and has chosen to move his campaign rally out of respect to Oklahomans and the important Juneteenth link
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
July 10: Buhari approves Magu’s suspension
Nigeria’s anti-corruption chief has officially been suspended days after he was invited by a panel at the presidency and subsequently detained.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate suspension of Ibrahim Magu as Agcting Chairman of the EFCC in order to allow for unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws,” the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami said in a statement on Friday.
According to the statement, President Buhari has also approved that the EFCC Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar, should take charge and oversee the activities of the commission pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and further directives in that regards.
This is contained in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice made available to newsmen on Friday the 10th day of July, 2020.— Government of Nigeria (@NigeriaGov) July 10, 2020
July 7: Magu invited, quizzed, detained
Local media widely reported that Buhari has suspended the acting EFCC chairman on charges of embezzlement. Magu was on Monday invited to appear before a Presidential Panel that reviews the agency’s activities.
His summons is believed to have been the result of a recent petition from Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami.
The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was questioned for hours by an inter-agency committee led by a former Court of Appeal judge, Ayo Salami.
He was subsequently detained for further questioning.
Ibrahim Magu has been the EFCC’s acting chairman since 2015, with his appointment twice rejected by Nigeria’s Senate due to a damaging report about his suitability for the role.
But many observers say Magu’s suspension is politically motivated adding that many Nigerian elites want him sacked.
99 years ago in 1921: l Prompt action to stop what might have been a veritable flood of fake $20 bills in Warren was taken by police and three of the fakers w
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.
A new major publication - the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics - contains many important chapters that make the same point on a wide variety of topics.
Yet, while the continent features more than its fair share of authoritarian repression, in some respects African countries are leading the way.
In all these cases a combination of good leadership, institution building, and the support of ordinary people for democratic values has enabled African states to change their futures for the better.
A major casualty of the tendency to overlook the creativity and contributions of African leaders and intellectuals is the neglect of African political thought.
This is one reason why many African intellectuals have been attracted to the idea of the African renaissance.
Foreign Currency Account holders with Zimbabwean banks – among them units of Standard Bank, Standard Chartered and Nedbank – have expressed apprehension about what they fear could be a run on their funds by the government, as the central bank kicks in new monetary measures.
Chiedza Madzima, the head of operational risk for Fitch Solutions, said Zimbabwe's foreign currency accounts were facing pressure as depositors rushed to withdraw US dollar funds \"amid much lower market confidence.\"
Standard Chartered Zimbabwe last month told local media that \"the Covid-19 induced lockdown has resulted in some constraints in cash importation\", while some bank chiefs say they have been asked by the central bank to prioritise foreign currency allocations.
They are prioritising those accounts which have cash deposits, and now I am stuck because I cannot access my funds and at the same time I cannot convert into local currency at the official rate, which is much lower,\" said an FCA account holder at foreign-owned bank in Harare.
Banks such as Stanbic Zimbabwe and Standard Chartered have been touting alternatives to cash withdrawals such as internal transfers, online and mobile application payments for FCA accounts.
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.\"
Recalling a major security incident that took place on Friday, 12th October 2012 – a month before elections were held in Sierra Leone, right in the heart of the business district of Freetown, involving the heavily armed motorcade of president Ernest Bai Koroma and the convoy of the then opposition SLPP presidential candidate – Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, which could have led to catastrophic loss of life on both sides and another bloody civil war.
Thanks to the foresight, fortitude and cool-headedness of president Ernest Bai Koroma, and his quick decision to avert a bloody and catastrophic shoot-out between the heavily armed State security personnel and Maada Bio’s personal guards, the police successfully negotiated the traffic, bringing the standoff to a satisfactory end without a single shot fired, nor was Maada Bio arrested.
Palo Conteh (Photo) walked into State House with his shoulder bag carrying his gun, wrongfully bypassing the security scanner at the entrance, just as Maada Bio in 2012 wrongfully – and some may say foolishly, drove his convoy straight into the direction of the oncoming motorcade of the sitting president – Ernest Bai Koroma.
Maada Bio may have been able in 2012 to plead mitigating circumstances or ignorance of the president’s route of travel, but there is no doubt he made the wrong decision, just as Palo Conteh did on the 19th of March 2020 – carrying his gun into State House.
If found guilty by a justice system that is polarised by politics, he will face the gallows where he will be hanged until he draws his last breath – just for mistakenly and foolishly walking into State House with a gun which he handed over to security for safe keeping before his meeting with president Julius Maada Bio on the second floor.
