Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
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.
\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.
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.
Ugandans are engaged in heated debates over the merits, possibilities and effectiveness of participating in what is being popularly referred to as a ‘scientific election’.
The East African country is scheduled to hold presidential, parliamentary and local government elections next year.
The electoral commission last week told the nation to prepare for an unusual election where campaigning will be done digitally, as the destabilizing effects of the coronavirus continue.
Justifying scientific elections
Uganda which currently has over 700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus has been slowly easing restrictions and emphasizing measures of social distancing for all activities in the country.
The commission says it is bound by Article 61 (2) of Uganda’s constitution which tasks it to organize elections within 120 days before the expiry of the term of president, parliament or local government.
In conducting a scientific election, the commission hopes to exercise its duty to facilitate Ugandans’ right to choose their leaders in a healthy and safe environment.
How it will be conducted
Aspirants at all levels will only be able to conduct campaigns electronically via television, radio and social media, since open-air public rallies have been banned.
“This is because electoral activities involve public gatherings and hence pose high COVID-19 risk of person-to-person and object-to-person transmissions,” the commission explained in a statement.
The three months of a lockdown imposed since March across the country also means that some activities will have to be accomplished in a much shorter time.
With hardly six months to the elections scheduled to be held between January and February next year, political parties are yet to nominate flag-bearers for the different offices that will be contested.
Voting itself is to be conducted normally, with president Yoweri Museveni telling the nation on Monday that government can effectively ensure social distancing and other precautionary measures at polling stations.
“… the gathering for the elections themselves, can be safely managed with hand-washing, social-distancing or leaving gaps of the necessary metres between voters in line,” Museveni said.
“This would remove the uncertainty that would be created by the postponement of the elections but also ensure that elections are held safely. I call upon Ugandans to support this option.”
Ugandans react
Key stakeholders in the electoral process including leaders of political parties and the voters themselves have shared mixed reactions to the electoral commission’s proposal.
While the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has welcomed the proposal and says it will adjust its programme accordingly, many in the opposition say the commission is playing into the hands of incumbent Museveni and other powerful NRM politicians.
The opposition politicians accuse the electoral commission of not consulting them as it drafted the revised election roadmap. According to the popular legislator and presidential hopef
Though largely viewed as a formality, the many challenges and the outrageous – almost treasonous – behavior displayed by Trump, his supporters, and a large swath of Republican officials made this year’s Electoral College gathering more eventful, if not uncertain.
Political hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the 1980s as a way of turning rap music into a call for action and a form of social activism. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and musician Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy was the first predominately political hip-hop group.[1] It has helped to create a new form of social expression for subordinate groups to speak about their exclusions, injustices and lack of power.[2] [3] Political hip-hop is the use of hip hop music to send political messages to inspire action or to convince the listener of a particular worldview. There is no all-encompassing political hip-hop ideology; rather, there are multiple perspectives that range anywhere from Marxism to the values of the Five Percent Nation.
Conscious hip hop, or socially conscious hip-hop, is a subgenre of hip hop that challenges the dominant cultural, political, philosophical, and economic consensus,[4] and/or comments on social issues and conflicts. Conscious hip hop is not necessarily overtly political, but the terms conscious hip hop and political hip hop are sometimes used interchangeably. The term nation-conscious rap has been used to more specifically describe hip hop music with strong political messages and themes.[5] Themes of conscious hip hop include afrocentricity, religion, aversion to crime & violence, culture, the economy, or depictions of the struggles of ordinary people. Conscious hip hop often seeks to raise awareness of social issues, leaving the listeners to form their own opinions, rather than aggressively advocating for certain ideas and demanding actions.[4]
Before the emergence of political hip hop, the Black Power Movement and the emphasis on black pride arising in the mid-1960s and blossoming in the early-1970s inspired several commentaries that incorporated Black Power ideological elements. Songs expressing the theme of black pride include: James Browns Say it Loud (Im Black and Proud) (1969), and Billy Pauls Am I Black Enough for
Though several news outlets confirmed former Vice President Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump, local millennial Cherelle Swain said a friend's text served as confirmation that after several anxious days, the ballot-counting process had reached its conclusion.
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%.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abodo has said her office was reluctant to sanction charges of being a nuisance against former Makerere University Research Fellow, Dr Stella Nyanzi last recently.
Counsel Walubiri had argued that it was high time the office of the DPP withdrew cases that have over stayed in the justice system like the treason case against Dr Kizza Besigye.
\"Perhaps, this is the time for the office of the DPP to weed out some files that have been pending in the criminal justice system for long as the same are clogging the system for no good reason,\" Mr Walubiri said.
DPP Abodo said she is determined to weed out undeserving cases from the justice system starting with those arrested during the ongoing lockdown.
Ms Winfred Adukule, the executive director of Freechild Uganda, urged the office of the DPP and the Judiciary not to forget about the juvenile justice in this Covid-19 lockdown.
Yesterday’s Sunday Edition of the Guyana Chronicle’s, lead headline loudly screams, `Dr. Francis Alexis, QC says PPP/C appeal to the CCJ has no real prospect of success’.
The stated mission of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission is to appoint judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Dr. Alexis appeared in the Guyana Court of Appeal for the Applicant, in the case of Eslyn David v Chief Election Officer and others.
These conventions supplement the law to protect institutions of the law, the legal system itself, the rule of law and cannons of fundamental justice.
I take solace from the fact that the CCJ had no difficulty in rejecting Dr. Alexis’s argument in the Guyana Court of Appeal, in the No-Confidence Motion cases, where he submitted that the term “majority” means “absolute majority” in Article 106 of the Constitution of Guyana.
[Monitor] Ruhinda South MP Donozio Mugabe Kahonda, has withdrawn the lawsuit in which he was seeking to block the Electoral Commission (EC) from scrutinising his nomination.
[Monitor] Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee yesterday rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) decision banning open public rallies ahead of the 2021 General Elections.
“…we must ask – on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Elections Officer determine that he should invalidate 1 vote, far less over 115 000 votes when the votes were already certified as valid by officers of the Guyana Elections Commission in the presence of the political parties”, she asked.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is concerned at reports that the Chief Elections Officer has submitted a Report to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) which is contrary to the directions given by the Commission and which does not reflect the results of the recount process as certified by the very staff of the Guyana Elections Commission and witnessed by representatives of the political parties.
The CARICOM Observer Team was of the unshakeable belief that the people of Guyana expressed their will at the ballot box on March 2 and that the results of the recount certified as valid by the staff of GECOM led to an orderly conclusion on which the declaration of the results of the Election would be made.
Therefore, we must ask – on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Elections Officer determine that he should invalidate 1 vote, far less over 115 000 votes when the votes were already certified as valid by officers of the Guyana Elections Commission in the presence of the political parties.
I assure you that the Community remains committed to the people of Guyana and remains resolute that the report of its Observer Mission was very clear in its conclusions as to the will of the Guyanese people as reflected in the recount which they monitored.
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.
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.
Born on the 17th of February 1944 in Georgetown, Guyana, Bernie Grant was elected to the British House of Commons in 1987 to serve as one of the country’s first black Members of Parliament (MPs). With a head teacher for a father and a teacher for a mother, Grant, the second of five children, was awarded a scholarship to begin his education at St. Stanislaus College, a Jesuit boy’s secondary school in Georgetown. After passing O Levels he moved to England to attend Tottenham Technical College, before pursuing a degree in Engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. In 1969, Grant left the institution in protest against the discrimination that he and other black students claimed they faced.
For the next nine years Grant worked as an international telephonist and decided to join the Tottenham Labour Party after becoming active in the field of workers’ rights. He was elected as a Labour councillor in 1978, and was promoted to deputy leader of the council less than 12 months later. In 1981, Grant founded the Black Trades Unionists Solidarity Movement, where he worked until 1984. By 1985 he was leader of Haringey council. In this local authority position, he was responsible for the welfare of around 250,000 people, and championed the rights of all marginalized groups affected by prejudice. He most notably gained controversial renown for defending black youths during the racial disturbances at Broadwater Farm Estate in 1985; a white police officer was killed by a crowd that gathered to protest the death of a black woman in a previous police raid.
Grant was elected as MP for the Tottenham constituency in 1987 and wore traditional African dress to attend his first State Opening of Parliament. Throughout his government career, Grant was active on issues of race and launched the Black Parliamentary magazine during his first year in office. Grant founded the Black Parliamentary Caucus, which acted as a focus point for black people in the country across a range of cultural and political issues. He was also part of
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said total of 609 133 South Africans have been registered to vote in the by-elections on “Super Wednesday”
(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Federal authorities in New York on Wednesday seized a shipment of weaves and other beauty accessories suspected to be made out of human hair taken from people locked inside a Chinese internment camp.
This is the second time this year that CBP has slapped one of its rare detention orders on shipments of hair weaves from China, based on suspicions that people making them face human rights abuses.
RELATED: Africans racially profiled, harassed in China due to coronavirus
Rushan Abbas, a Uighur American activist whose sister, a medical doctor, went missing in China almost two years ago and is believed to be locked in a detention camp, said women who use hair weaves should think about who might be making them.
I I’s weaves are sold under the Innocence brand to salons and individuals around the U.S.
Both of the exporters are in China’s far west Xinjiang region, where, over the past four years, the government has detained an estimated 1 million or more ethnic Turkic minorities.
The AP tried to visit Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co. more than a year ago during an investigation into forced labor inside the camps.
Many are Happy About President Nana Afuko-Addo Re-election
In light of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo’s re-election for a second term in office on Wednesday — a result his rival John Mahama's camp said it would appeal, supporters of the president’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) are celebrating the win. Prince Ofori, an NPP Supporter, is ecstatic to know his chosen president will stay in office, \"NDC, the opposition party. We have retired them. They don't have anything to do anymore. We are the government in power, our president Nana Akufo Addo. The champion president. The number one.\"
According to the electoral commission, Akufo-Addo received 51.59% of the vote in the presidential race — beating opposition leader and former president Mahama's 47.36%.
The announcement on Wednesday was greeted with chanting and dancing by a crowd of supporters in the seaside capital Accra. On the other hand, the opposition has called the election \"flawed.\"
Nyarko, another NPP Supporter, could not contain his pleasure in knowing that the opposition will not take power, \"The NDC are liars. We no longer like John Mahama. We want peace in Ghana. We want Nana Akufo Addo.\"
Polling was observed as fair in the West African country known for its stable democracy.
However, the political climate soured late Tuesday resulting in 5 people dead and 19 injured in electoral-related violence.
Ugandan opposition candidate Bobi Wine has rejected the results declared so far and calls himself the president-elect, despite the electoral body saying not all votes have yet been counted. Bobi Wine alleges Thursday's polls saw the worst vote-rigging in Uganda's history, but did not provide any evidence to back up his claims. He declared the struggle is just beginning. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, says he'll address the press again in a few hours on the way forward. Early results from the electoral commission give the incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni, a commanding lead of almost two-thirds of the votes so far counted. The military have surrounded Bobi Wine’s house. - BBC
The Department of Home Affairs and the Electoral Commission of South Africa will have their budgets slashed, but neither expects it to affect the core of their work.
Evariste Ndayishimiye, a retired general, will take over from President Pierre Nkurunziza, after he beat the main opposition candidate Agathon Rwasa, and five others, avoiding a runoff by securing more than 50% of the vote.
The main opposition candidate, Agathon Rwasa, president of the National Council for Liberty (CNL), has already described these results as “fanciful” and accused the government of “cheating” and “pure manipulation”.
Election held in the midst of COVID-19
\tAccording to partial results compiled by AFP covering 105 communes, Mr. Ndayishimiye obtained an absolute majority of the votes in 101 communes.
The CNL is also outraged at the case of the Musigati commune (west), where Mr. Ndayishimiye received 99.9% of the vote.
Burundi is ranked among the three poorest countries in the world according to the World Bank, which estimates that 75% of the population lives below the poverty line, compared to 65% when Mr. Nkurunziza came to power in 2005.
