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During campaigning, demonstrations were banned or violently dispersed, prompting concern from rights groups who have said authorities have cracked down on dissent.
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
Though badly bruised from its pummelling at the polls on September 3, the People’s National Party (PNP) will recover from its worst electoral beating in 40 years, elder statesman P.J. Patterson has said. But the former prime minister and party...
By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi court issued final verdicts on Monday in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi after his son, who still resides in the kingdom, announced pardons that spared five of the convicted individuals from execution. While the trial draws to its conclusion in Saudi Arabia, the case continues to cast a shadow over the reputation and international standing of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose associates have been sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K. for their alleged involvement in the brutal killing, […]
The post Saudi court issues final verdicts in Khashoggi killing appeared first on Black News Channel.
[Independent (Kampala)] The African Union (AU) will from midday today host its first virtual summit in Addis Ababa at which DRC's Felix Antoine Tshisekedi will take over as chairperson, and elections of the AU Commission (AUC) will be held.
[SPS] Bir Lahlou (Liberated Territories) -- President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, said the conflict between the Saharawi Republic and Moroccan Kingdom is an African issue, adding that Morocco is obstructing the continental efforts to silencing the guns.
[Ethiopian Herald] The African Union has amplified action to tackle non-tariff barriers and increase small businesses' use of the trade barriers' Africa, tool through its new online platform, according to Africa Union.
Canvassers are crucial to the back-end operation of counting your eggs on election day. But it is the efficiency of the runners and mobilisation crews that ultimately deliver victory. Heaving ailing grandmothers and stuffing taxis with voters is a...
Analysis - As the terror threat grows and spreads, could a special unit in the African Standby Force help?
[HRW] The trial of three security force members accused of being involved in the massacre of 21 civilians in Ngarbuh, in Cameroon's North-West region, is due to begin on December 17, 2020. It is expected to be an important step in tackling impunity.
[HRW] Beirut -- UN Experts Should Investigate
[HRW] Nairobi -- The Ethiopian government and Tigray regional authorities should protect people and property at risk from the fighting, Human Rights Watch said today. Amid credible reports of increasing casualties, the authorities on both sides should facilitate access for humanitarian groups, stop interrupting essential services, and immediately restore communication services in the region.
Recent arrests and alleged assaults against women by state agents in Zimbabwe have again brought international attention to the country's long history of violence against women. On July 31, award-winning Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga and her friend Julie Barnes participated in a demonstration against government corruption, bad governance, human rights abuses and a worsening economic […]
The post Critics: Zimbabwe Stepping Up Arrests and Assaults Against Female Protesters appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.
[HRW] Special License for Billionaire Dan Gertler Undercuts Magnitsky Sanctions
Nine people, including one police officer, have died in the West African state of Guinea, the security ministry said Wednesday, following days of unrest after a tense weekend presidential election.
In a statement, the ministry pointed to shootings and stabbings in the capital Conakry and elsewhere in the country since Sunday's presidential vote.
\"This strategy of chaos (was) orchestrated to jeopardise the elections of October 18, \" the ministry said, adding that many people had been injured and property was damaged.
Clashes were ongoing in Conakry on Wednesday, where a security officer, Mamadou Keganan Doumbouya, told the press that at least three people had died.
And a local doctor, who declined to be named, said he had received two dead bodies, and nine injured people, at his clinic.
The violence follows the high-stakes election in which President Alpha Conde ran for a third term in a controversial bid that had already sparked mass protests.
With tensions already running high, Guinea's main opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo on Monday declared victory in the election -- before the announcement of the official results, which are expected this week.
Opposition supporters are deeply suspicious about the fairness of the poll, although the government insists that it was fair.
Much of the tension in Guinea centres on Conde's candidacy.
In March, the 82-year-old president pushed through a new constitution which he argued would modernise the country. It also allowed him to bypass a two-term limit for presidents, however.
Security forces repressed mass protests against the move from October last year, killing dozens of people.
On Wednesday, plumes of black smoke rose over an opposition stronghold in the capital Conakry, where protesters erected barricades and lit fires, an AFP journalist saw.
Youths in alleyways also hurled stones at police officers stationed along a main artery who fired back tear gas canisters.
The security ministry stated that \"a police officer was lynched to death\" in a Conakry suburb, without specifying when the attack occurred.
In a social media post earlier on Wednesday, Conde appealed for \"calm and serenity while awaiting the outcome of the electoral process\".
- Clashes and barricades -
Ten candidates are in the race besides alongside frontrunners Conde and Diallo, old political rivals who traded barbs in a bitter campaign.
Despite fears of violence after the pre-vote clashes, polling day was mostly calm.
Then Diallo's self-proclaimed election victory ratcheted up tensions, and celebrations by his supporters descended into violent clashes with security forces on Monday.
The opposition politician said that security forces killed three youngsters that night, although AFP was unable to confirm the details.
Security forces also barricaded Diallo inside his house, the politician said on Tuesday.
Monitors from the African Union and the 15-nation West African bloc ECOWAS both said that Guinea's election was mostly fair, despite insistence from Diallo's camp tha
[HRW] Beirut -- Arbitrary Arrests, Discrimination, Entrapment, Privacy Violations
The Islamist extremist group al Shebab launched a suicide bomb attack at a stadium that left several dead and wounded.
Elections generally have become a key fixture on the African news calendar and the year 2020 was no different.
West Africa has undertaken a number of key presidential votes that seen incumbents being retained – some under very tense circumstances. Two other polls are awaited in the region – Ghana and Niger; December 7 and 27 respectively.
As part of our 2020 review, we look back at some of the major elections that took place in the region. The review metrics shall be the significance of the vote, the main candidates, major issues, the final outcome and the poll aftermath.
The piece is the concluding part of our election review and focuses on polls in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo.
Togo re-elects Faure
Togo held Africa’s first presidential vote in February, just in time before the disruption of COVID-19 which forced other countries to postpone or consider postponing their elections.
The February 22 poll was the first since constitutional reforms capped the presidential term limits. The new legislation means that incumbent Faure Gnassingbe could run for two more terms (2020 – 2030).
Two days after the vote, he was declared winner of the vote at a time opposition said it was contesting the process and outcome. The elections body announced that the president had won 72 percent of the vote in the first round.
The body added that main contender and former Prime Minister, Agbeyome Kodjo, came in second with just 18 percent of votes. The president was subsequently sworn into office at a social distanced event in the capital Lome.
Guinea’s busy, bustling election year
Guinea conducted three different votes this year. A referendum on extending presidential term limits, a partial legislative poll and a presidential poll. The referendum was passed amid tension and widespread opposition protest. That set the tone for the equally bloody presidential poll as opposition protesters clashed with security forces.
At the end of the vote, President Alpha Conde was declared winner with 59.49% of the vote, defeating his main rival Cellou Diallo. Diallo received 33.50% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Voter turnout was almost 80%.
Political tensions in the West African nation turned violent after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.
Ouattara pushes ahead with third term
Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara was on his way out of the presidency until his Prime Minister and candidate of the ruling party Amadou Gon Coulibaly died.
Then the president reversed his quit promise. The consequence of which was an opposition mobilization against his candidature. Clashes with security forces did little to deter Ouattara who had been cleared with three others to run in the October 31 poll.
Days to the vote, main opposition candidates ex-president Henri Konan Bedie and ex-prime minister Pascal Affi N’guessan announced a boycott of the vote. Ouattara press
[RFI] Ethiopia's army captured the town of Alamata, in southern Tigray, 115 kilometres from the regional capital Mekelle, according to a statement on Monday by the Ethiopian government, as a conflict between the federal government and Tigray region continues to escalate.
Five opposition activists have been charged with \"making threats likely to disrupt security and public order\", their lawyers said Monday.
Cellou Balde, a former member of parliament, on Friday turned himself in at the police headquarters where Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, Abdoulaye Bah and Etienne Soropogui were being held since Thursday and Ibrahima Cherif Bah since last week Wednesday.
Four of them are officials in the leading opposition party, the UFDG, which is headed by Conde's main challenger in the election, Cellou Dalein Diallo.
Diallo, a former prime minister, has criticised the arrests as an \"electoral coup d'etat\" and accused Conde of attempting to \"decapitate\" his party.
But in his first interview since his re-election, President Alpha Conde dismissed allegations of a \"witch hunt\" in the country, levelled against him by figures in the opposition.
He was declared winner of a controversial third term earlier this month leading to violence particularly when Diallo alleged voter fraud and proclaimed himself.
[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.
The United States has a long history of working with African countries in many areas. From cooperation on security, counter-terrorism, health to trade, the US is rated highly in many African capitals.
US foreign policy over the last four years has fallen behind fast-changing dynamics in Africa and needs to be quickly rethought by the next administration.
Our journalist Ronald Kato provides quick insights on what US foreign policy might look like in Africa under Joe Biden.
