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Chadian opposition politician, Yaya Dillo Djérou, has publicly requested an "inclusive dialogue" with the transitional military council towards peace.
\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.
The new Malawi Electoral Commission, MEC, chief Chifundo Kachale also urged the public to observe necessary legal processes in dealing with electoral grievances.
June 23: Malawians vote in crucial presidential poll rerun despite virus
\tVoters in Malawi have already started casting their ballots today in crucial presidential election rerun pitting incumbent Peter Mutharika and opposition coalition leader Lazarus Chakwera.
Malawi joins a number of African countries that went ahead with elections despite the virus .
Confirmed cases = 749
\t\tActive cases = 480
\t\tRecoveries = 258
\t\tNumber of deaths = 11
\t
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 22, 2020
\tU.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on “all political actors and stakeholders to renew their commitment to credible and peaceful elections, while observing all preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19,” the U.N. spokesman said.
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\tA number of local and international organizations will observe the new elections, in an effort to make sure that they are free and fair, the newly-elected chairman of the Malawi Electoral Commission Chifundo Kachale said.
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.\"
With popular frustrations running high, and opposition leader Agathon Rwasa warning that he will not accept a \"stolen\" election, fears are mounting that a contested poll could lead to violence along the lines of what the country saw in 2015, when Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term prompted street protests, a failed coup, a crackdown and the exodus of over 400,000 people.
It now also appears that the EAC will be unable to send an observation team in time for the elections; Burundi's authorities have cited the COVID-19 outbreak as a reason to quarantine the observers for fourteen days upon arrival, though it is unclear whether the decision was genuinely made for legitimate public health reasons, given that the government has otherwise played down the outbreak.
Ruling-party nominee Ndayishimiye and long-time opposition leader Rwasa, who both fought as rebels in Burundi's 1993-2005 civil war, are the clear front runners, and emblematic of the former fighters' continued influence in national politics.
They say Nkurunziza, who pushed for the selection of his ally Pascal Nyabenda, the president of the National Assembly (the lower chamber of Burundi's parliament), only agreed to Ndayishimiye's candidacy after intense lobbying by generals.
While Rwasa has announced that he will not allow the election to be \"stolen\", CNDD-FDD officials believe that their party structures and ability to register and mobilise voters across the country cannot but deliver victory.
Tunis/Tunisia — The Amal political grouping pleaded, on Monday, for the establishment of a coherent roadmap with the help of national organisations, the presidency of the Republic and the parties represented in parliament for the formation of a small government with national competences.
Led by Selma Elloumi Rékik, former Minister of Tourism, the party called in a communiqué for the Third Republic based on the values of justice, solidarity and democracy, recalling, in this sense, the \"successful experience of 2013.
The Amal party, which is not represented in parliament, also proposes the creation of a commission to make the necessary changes to the 2014 Constitution.
The aim is to establish a new regime and organise elections under the Third Republic.
In the same vein, the party considered it \"essential\" to amend the current electoral law to ensure the stability of parliament, calling for the amendments, once drafted, to be sent back to the House of People's Representative for adoption.
Confirmed cases = 18,630
\t\tActive cases = 4,467
\t\tRecoveries = 14,046
\t\tNumber of deaths = 117
Ghana Health Service stats valid as of July 1, 2020
June 25: 15,473 cases; mask arrests, apex court ruling
\tCase load as of today hit a total of 15,473 cases with 11,431 recoveries and 950 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Confirmed cases = 15,473
\t\tActive cases = 3,947
\t\tRecoveries = 11,431
\t\tNumber of deaths = 95
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 12, 2020
June 22: 14,154 cases; how recoveries jumped
\tGhana recorded a boom in recoveries over the weekend as over 6,000 patients were added to the tally which now stands at 10,473 according to authorities.
Confirmed cases = 14,154
\t\tActive cases = 3,596
\t\tRecoveries = 10,473
\t\tNumber of deaths = 85
John Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 21, 2020
June 15: 13,203 cases; law enacted to penalize mask flouters
\tCase load hit a total of 13,203 cases with 4,548 recoveries and 70 deaths, according to stats released Friday evening by the Ghana Health Service.
Total confirmed cases = 12,193
Total recoveries = 4,326
Total deaths = 58
Active cases = 7,809
\tFigures valid as of close of day June 16, 2020
June 15: 11,964 cases; schools reopen, masks obligatory etc.
Confirmed cases = 11,964
\t\tNumber of deaths = 54
\t\tRecoveries = 4,258
\t\tActive cases = 7,652
\tJohn Hopkins Uni stats valid as of June 14, 2020
June 13: 11,118 cases, NDC advocates mass testing
\tGhana’s case load as of this morning stood at 11,118 cases with the disclosure of 262 new cases.
[Nation] The appellate court will conclude hearing the case against the damning verdict on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in July, throwing referendum prospects into disarray.
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.
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied claims that Kenya is interfering with Somalia's political internal affairs in what has heightened tensions between the two countries.
Zweli Mkhize was placed on special leave while investigations into the Digital Vibes contract continue. Here's the latest political reaction.
[Nation] The electoral commission has joined the anti-graft agency in warning impeached governors that they won't secure clearance to contest elections even as politicians fought the sanctions, rekindling how Parliament watered down integrity laws.
On Nov. 11, 1965, the conservative white-minority government of Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country resisted the demands of black Africans, and Prime Minister Ian Smith withstood British pressure, economic sanctions, and guerrilla attacks in his effort to uphold white supremacy. On March 1, 1970, Rhodesia formally proclaimed itself a republic. Heightened guerrilla war and a withdrawal of South African military aid in 1976 marked the beginning of the collapse of Smiths 11 years of resistance.
Black nationalist movements were led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa of the African National Congress and Ndabaningi Sithole, who were moderates, and guerrilla leaders Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Joshua Nkomo of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), who advocated revolution.
On March 3, 1978, Smith, Muzorewa, Sithole, and Chief Jeremiah Chirau signed an agreement to transfer power to the black majority by Dec. 31, 1978. They formed an executive council, with chairmanship rotating but with Smith retaining the title of prime minister. Blacks were named to each cabinet ministry, serving as coministers with the whites already holding these posts. African nations and rebel leaders immediately denounced the action, but Western governments were more reserved, although none granted recognition to the new regime.
The African Union (AU) has suspended South Sudan from the continental body over failure to honour its financial obligations over the past three years.
In clarifying the extent of the suspension, Hakim Edward, deputy Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, said Juba’s AU membership attained in July 2011 remained intact except that the country cannot participate in AU meetings.
“We would like to confirm to the public that South Sudan is one of the countries that have been sanctioned by the AU due to lack of yearly financial contributions,” Edward said in a statement late last week.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to assure the public that it is coordinating with the ministry of finance to resolve the matter not only with the AU but with other regional bodies,” he added.
Local news outlet Eye Radio also reported that South Sudan has a lot of unpaid arrears to regional, international, and global bodies it subscribes to.
Editorial - The new plan by the electoral commission to streamline vetting of qualifications of candidates seeking political seats is remarkable. In this respect, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has entered into a partnership with the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) to verify the academic certificates of candidates seeking seats in Parliament and county assemblies in a bid to weed out those with fake credentials.
Djibouti president confirms Farmaajo – Bihi meeting, Abiy invited
\tDjibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh has confirmed the meeting between Somalia and Somaliland leaders.
Somalia, Somaliland leaders to meet in Djibouti next week
\tPresident Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo of Somalia will meet with Somaliland leader Muse Bihi next week in neighbouring Djibouti, multiple sources have confirmed.
The meeting follows an invitation from the Djiboutian president Ismail Omar Guelleh.
A planned follow-up meeting in Somaliland, engineered by Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed, failed to materialize due to stern disagreement by political actors in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital.
In between the two incidents, President Farmaajo admitted a dark chapter in Somaliland under the regime of Siad Barre.
The Special Investigating Unit head Andy Mothibi has shown how unqualified companies were awarded lucrative tenders to provide PPE
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
SPOTLIGHT Initiative Jamaica is set to convene a virtual round table on sexual harassment tomorrow to contribute to ongoing public education on the draft Sexual Harassment Act.The discussion is also intended to provide coping tips for victims and current best practices in sexual harassment policy and complainant protection in Jamaica, a release from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Jamaica said yesterday.
Officials and experts are sounding the alarm as Malawi shifts to top campaign gear with giant rallies for an unprecedented presidential re-run despite the coronavirus pandemic.
He said Malawians “will only fully understand the impact once we start to see burial teams and mass graves” because the disease is “deceptively undramatic until it is too late”.
Malawians will only fully understand the impact once we start to see burial teams and mass graves\" because the disease is \"deceptively undramatic until it is too late
\tPolitical scientist Michael Jana said the bitter power struggle has seen the country throw caution to the wind.
The southern African country will hold polls in just under two months after the Constitutional Court overturned the results of last year’s controversial election, which handed President Peter Mutharika a second term.
Mutharika garnered just 38.5 percent of the May 21 vote but the Constitutional Court annulled the result, citing “grave” and “widespread” irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on ballot papers.
As polls suggest the opposition alliance will win on 23 June, President Mutharika has been trying to forcibly remove the country's chief justice.
When Peter Mutharika was declared the official winner of Malawi's hard-fought presidential elections in May 2019, he would not have expected - or wanted - to be doing it all again just one year later.
Moreover, in his 5 June State of National Address, Mutharika asked parliament to reverse the court ruling that demanded Malawi switch from its first-past-the-post system to one that requires the victor to garner a 50+1 majority.
In the annulled 2019 elections, President Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was declared the winner with 38.6% of the vote.
Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) garnered 35.4%; Saulos Chilima of UTM came third with 20.2%; and Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) received 4.7%.
An alliance of social movements, trade unions and community organisations has demanded that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) be held accountable for the death of Collins Khosa.
In a statement, the C19 People's Coalition - a coalition committed to ensuring that the South African response to Covid-19 is effective, just, equitable, and meets the needs of the marginal - said the SANDF members responsible for Khosa's death \"must be held accountable as a matter of justice, to prevent a repetition of these abuses and to restore trust in the security forces\".
A SANDF board of inquiry report, which gave a summary of the events and included findings and recommendations, ultimately cleared the soldiers and concluded that there was no link between the injuries he sustained due to their actions and his death.
The report found that the only force used was 'pushing and clapping (sic)' and rejects the possibility that there was any connection between Mr Khosa's death and the actions of the SANDF members involved,\" it said in the statement.
The coalition has called on the government to issue public and consistent rejection of \"unlawful use of force\" by police officers and soldiers during the lockdown, along with an \"urgent shift in approach out of fear that large-scale abuses could occur without these critical interventions\".
Kenyan police have been involved in the killing of 15 people since the country put a nighttime curfew in place in March to combat the coronavirus, the policing oversight body said in a statement seen by AFP Friday.
The Independent Policing Oversight Body (IPOA) said it had received 87 complaints against police since the dusk to dawn curfew and heightened security measures were imposed on March 27.
The IPOA statement was released earlier this week as the United States was gripped by anger over racism and police brutality that has prompted protests in the country and around the world.
\"Although many killings by the police have been well documented by both state institutions and rights organisations, the security officers have rarely been held to account, including by the police oversight authority,\" said HRW.
On Thursday the IPOA announced six police officers would be arrested and prosecuted, one for the killing of Moyo, another for shooting dead a secondary school teacher while responding to a burglary at a market in western Siaya, and four others for seriously assaulting a man during an arrest.
[Monitor] Most voters who turned out to vote on Thursday in several parts of Kampala City failed to heed the advice by officials of the Ministry of Health follow Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
[RFI] Algeria has told its trade unions to be wary of \"subversive\" groups seeking to \"sow sedition\" ahead of elections next month, as authorities look to calm tensions amid a deep economic crisis.
By NQOBANI NDLOVU Zimbabwe’s labour body has bemoaned the criminalisation of trade unionism as it marked the 14th anniversary of the torture of its members on September 13, 2006. About 147 Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) activists were severely beaten by police for daring to take to the streets demanding better living conditions and salaries for workers. The late former President Robert Mugabe said the ZCTU leaders got the treatment they deserved. Since then the ZCTU has on its calendar of events the 13 September Police Brutality Day. ZCTU secretary-general Japhet Moyo said it was disheartening that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has copied from Mugabe’s hymn book of criminalising trade unionism as workers go hungry. “From 2019 to mid-2020, the so-called new dispensation’s true colours were now on display. Repressive laws still exist and interference in trade union business by the police and other law enforcement agents is still the order of the day,” Moyo said in a statement released on Sunday. He said a number of trade unionists had been arrested, threatened with death, as well as receiving bullet parcels at their homes as an intimidatory practice. “Trade unions are still expected to apply for police clearance to hold meetings and demonstrations despite the provisions of the law that do not make it compulsory. “As we remember this sad day, 13 September 2006, the State must stop the continued intimidation, harassment, and persecution of the unionists as well as stop the criminalisation of trade unionism,” Moyo said. Government has been severe in dealing with protesters as it argues that the demonstrations are part of a regime change agenda to topple Mnangagwa’s administration.
The Colored Marines Employment Benevolent Association (CMEBA) was organization that united black maritime cooks and stewards who were seeking employment in Seattle. In the process it challenged the racism of the all-white, Maritime Cooks and Stewards Association of the Pacific (MCSAP). The CMEBA was founded in 1921 by labor recruiter James Roston. The goal of CMEBA was to “steer clear of labor or trade unions and their activities” and “to promote peaceful relations between employers and employees.”
When the CMEBA was founded in 1921 they allied themselves with the Seattle Shipowners and Operators Association to break a MCSAP-led strike. From then until1934 the CMEBA withheld support from unions, which created tension between the CMEBA and the MCSAP who competed directly for maritime jobs.
In the early 1930s the younger leaders of the CMEBA were concerned with the pay cuts and the deteriorating working conditions that were affecting their workplace. They felt that they should align themselves with workers of all races. Two of these young leaders stood out: Revels Cayton and Fred Sexias, who no longer wanted to follow the anti-union stance of the CMEBA. They instead felt it was time to join the MCSAP which was also moving from its previous position as an all-white union.
Revels Cayton, the younger son of Seattle newspaperman and civic activist Horace Cayton Sr, was committed, like his father, to the idea of black civil rights. While the older Cayton was a staunch Republican, Revels Cayton had become a key member of the Communist Party. That involvement led him to urge the end of the racial divide among maritime unions.
In 1934 the CMEBA and the MCSAP merged into one organization. Some three hundred CMEBA members joined the Seattle branch of the MCSAP. Revels Clayton and Fred Sexias became officers in the organization. The merger of the CMEBA and the MCSAP was a big breakthrough in race relations on the Seattle waterfront. The new merged union now championed racial justice as an important labor issue.
A strike in the Limpopo health sector has been put on hold after Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba held talks with the unions.
