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Electoral authorities in Guinea on Saturday declared President Alpha Conde winner of Sunday's election with 59.49% of the vote, defeating his main rival Cellou Diallo.
Some people went to the streets to protest immediately after the announcement. Such demonstrations have occurred for months after the government changed the constitution through a national referendum, allowing Conde to extend his decade in power.
Opposition candidate Cellou 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 in recent days after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.
They accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
At least nine people have been killed since the election, according to the government. The violence sparked international condemnation by the U.S. and others.
``Today is a sad day for African democracy,'' said Sally Bilaly Sow, a Guinean blogger and activist living abroad. The government should take into account the will of the people who have a desire for change, he said.
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
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.
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.
\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.
… , by contrast, pundits often portray Black Americans as an undifferentiated mass – loyal … of Black Americans as Democratic loyalists.
Our new survey of 1,215 African Americans … fewer than half of young Black Americans surveyed in battleground states say …
VIDEO
Confirmed cases = 18,630
\t
\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.
Candidates seeking electoral positions in Uganda's general election due early next year will have to conduct their campaigns without physical contact as dictated by Covid-19 social and physical distancing, the Electoral Commission has announced.
The commission, which released a new roadmap of electoral activities, has set November 2 and 3, 2020 as nomination dates for Presidential candidates.
NO POSTPONING ELECTION
Article 61(2) of the Constitution provides that the \"Electoral Commission shall hold general presidential, parliamentary and local government council elections within the first thirty days of the last ninety days before the expiration of the term of the President.\"
Responding to questions about calls for postponing the election to give all candidates a fair chance in light of the Covid-19 disruption, Mr Byabakama said, \"The option of postponing the election has not even occurred to us as a commission because it is not in our mandate.
Mr Byabakama added that the commission's mandate is limited only to state (public) media which is required to give equal space to all presidential candidates.
A Zambian couple jailed for homosexuality in 2019 were freed this week as part of an amnesty for convicted prisoners to mark Africa Freedom Day, a government gazette said.
Japhet Chataba, 39, and Steven Samba, 31, were both found guilty of \"performing unnatural acts\" and sentenced to 15 years in prison in November last year.
Their names were among the 2,984 prisoners pardoned by President Edgar Lungu as part of Africa Freedom Day celebrations on Monday.
The pair's conviction had sparked a diplomatic row with US ambassador to Zambia, Daniel Foote, who said he was \"horrified\" by the judgement.
Foote was accused of \"questioning the constitution\" and recalled to the US last December after Lungu declared him persona non grata.
Dar es Salaam — Opposition parties Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo yesterday outlined flaws in the ongoing review of election regulations, which, they say, may jeopardise the October General Election.
The parties released their proposals and expressed fears that the electoral body allayed at the weekend.The National Electoral Commission (Nec) held a meeting with all political parties last week in which they were told to sign new codes of conduct or risk being excluded from election campaigns.
Nec chairman judge (retired) Semistocles Kaijage said during the meeting that the body had completed receiving opinions about the draft regulations and that it was finalising the process.
Opposition parties fear that the regulations that will guide elections of ward councilors, Members of Parliament and the president will be gazetted without their inputs.
He said Nec has powers to make the regulations even without the involve-ment of the political parties.
The campaign coincides with a new documentary
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.
Parliament amended Cameroons constitution in April 2008 to allow President Biya to run for a third seven-year term in 2011. He won the 2011 election in a landslide, taking 78% of the vote. His opponents and international observers alleged the election was unfair.
Coordinates: 14°N 14°W / 14°N 14°W
Senegal (/ˌ s ɛ n ɪ ˈ ɡ ɔː l, -ˈ ɡ ɑː l/ ( listen);[7] [8] French: Sénégal ), officially the Republic of Senegal (French: République du Sénégal [ʁepyblik dy seneɡal]), is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal also borders The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegals southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegals economic and political capital is Dakar. It is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia,[9] and owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The name Senegal comes from the Wolof Sunuu Gaal, which means Our Boat. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi) and has an estimated population of about 15 million[2]. The climate is Sahelian, but there is a rainy season.
Cultures and influences [ edit ]
The territory of modern Senegal has been inhabited by various ethnic groups since prehistory. Organized kingdoms emerged around the seventh century, and parts of the country were ruled by prominent regional empires such as the Jolof Empire. The present state of Senegal has its roots in European colonialism, which began during the mid-15th century, when various European powers began competing for trade in the area. The establishment of coastal trading posts gradually led to control of the mainland, culminating in French rule of the area by the 19th century, albeit amid much local resistance. Senegal peacefully attained independence from France in 1960, and has since been among the more politically stable countries in Africa.
Senegals economy is centered mostly on commodities and natural resources. Major industries are fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum
By TAMARA LUSH and EMILY SCHMALL, Associated Press
Arizona’s Republican governor shut down bars, movie theaters, gyms and water parks Monday and leaders in several states ordered residents to wear masks in public in a dramatic course reversal amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases nationwide.
In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that he’s postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in stores and shops, restaurants, and in any situation where social distancing of 6 feet (2 meters) cannot be maintained, including outside.
In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s order closing their businesses.
One of Cuomo’s Republican counterparts, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, on a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force, also asked Pence and Trump to issue a national call to wear masks.
While most of the world tries to slow the spread and limit the death toll of Covid-19, Burundi is expelling health experts.
This week, the government, which refuses to acknowledge the threat the virus presents, resorted to familiar tactics and declared the country representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and three of its experts persona non grata without giving any reason.
Although restrictions on movement to address the health crisis are warranted when necessary and proportionate, to have fair elections, Burundi should ensure they are open to independent monitoring and accountability for crimes and abuses.
Burundi's elections risk effectively taking place behind closed doors, which may be just what authorities want.
Since a political crisis broke out in Burundi in 2015, authorities have stopped at nothing to eliminate space for dissenting voices.
Gunmen have attacked a security post in northern Ivory Coast near the border with Burkina Faso, killing at least 10 soldiers and injuring six others, Ivory Coast’s army chief said Thursday.
Thursday’s early morning assault targeted an army and gendarmerie post in Kafolo in Sikolo prefecture, according to a statement by Armed Forces Chief Lassina Doumbia.
In May, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso launched joint operations along the border region.
Fighters affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have staged a growing number of attacks and gained more territory in the past year in Burkina Faso, displacing more than 750,000 people in that country’s north.
There have been growing concerns over the possible presence of Islamic militants in Ivory Coast.
Biden has already had an advantage with Black voters in the primary elections, especially over his former opponent Bernie Sanders.
Biden swept the Black vote in states like South Carolina, while Sanders lost them by a large margin.
Biden is still liable to run into this same issue now that he’s going against Donald Trump in the general elections.
Although Black votes were generally low for Trump during the 2016 elections, Black voter turnout rates dipped for the first time in 20 years in a presidential election, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Black women came out in strong support for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 elections against Trump, according to exit polls.
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.
The report, Reconstruction in America, documents more than 2,000 black victims of racial terror lynchings killed between the end of the civil war in 1865 and the collapse of federal efforts to protect the lives and voting rights of black Americans in 1876.
In that brief 12-year period, known as Reconstruction, a reign of terror was unleashed by Confederate veterans and former slave owners in a brazen effort to keep black people enslaved in all but name.
The report is a prequel to EJI’s groundbreaking 2015 research that identified and recorded more than 4,400 black victims of racial terror lynchings from the post-Reconstruction period, 1877 to 1950.
The new report allows that grim tally to be further expanded with the addition of the 2,000 documented victims from the Reconstruction era itself – bringing the total number of documented cases of black people who were supposedly free yet were lynched in the most sadistic fashion to a staggering 6,500 men, women and children.
Bryan Stevenson, EJI’s executive director, told the Guardian that the new report highlights the capitulation and complicity of American institutions – from local sheriffs right up to the US supreme court in Washington – in the face of white supremacist violence.
New Findings Reveal Stark Racial Disparities and Barriers to the Ballot
WASHINGTON, DC –Leading civil rights organizations today released a new analysis that reveals stark racial disparities and troubling patterns in voter turnout during Wisconsin’s April 7, 2020 primary, held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The analysis, “COVID-19 Silence Voters of Color in Wisconsin,” was conducted by data experts from Demos and All Voting Is Local, a project of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Reviewing voter data from last month’s Wisconsin primary, the groups found significant gaps in voter participation across the state – exposing existing flaws in our election system and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and brown voters who already face significant structural barriers at the ballot box.
“Our analysis shows how COVID-19 has exaggerated problems in our election system,” said Dr. Megan A. Gall, All Voting is Local’s national data director, “We know African Americans and Latinos have long faced barriers to the ballot.
The analysis further highlights that for wards with higher Black and Hispanic populations in Milwaukee, average voter turnout was 30 percent lower than the average voter turnout in white wards.
The key to a Democratic win in November is voter turnout, which former first lady Michelle Obama knows all too well.
In an interview conducted by TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes for Harper’s Bazaar, Michelle Obama said, “Some folks don’t see the impact of their vote on their day-to-day lives—if the trains still run, the kids are still going to school, and they still have a job, what difference does one vote really make, right?
Obama also pushed people to see beyond just the president when voting, “So every single person out there needs to ask themselves, do they trust the folks in charge to make the right call?
She also gave talking points for people how to dismiss their vote, “When I’m talking to young people, I like to ask them a simple question: Would you let your grandma decide what you wear on a night out to the club?
Not many people want someone else making their decisions for them, especially when that person might not see the world the same way as they do.”
Ethiopian opposition party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has accused Prime minister Abiy Ahmed and his government of being in chaos and trying to thrive in chaos.
“It has become fashionable to blame TPLF for everything that goes wrong in the country,” Getachew Reda, a TPLF spokesman told the BBC denying that the front had any hand and or interest in the killing of Oromo entertainer Hachalu Hundessa early last week.
In a six page document titled “Context and Updates of Current Issues in Ethiopia,” the PM’s office cited two main factors for the assassination and subsequent deadly protests and mass arrests.
The document said “Unabated attempt made by aggrieved forces to perpetuate political tensions and increasing political polarization and the negative role of media in creating ethnic tensions;” were at the heart of the issues.
“It’s a flat-out lie,” Reda told the BBC stressing that the TPLF “doesn’t believe in eliminating individuals to make political scores.” The PM’s statement did not specifically mention TPLF but made inferences to them.
The paragraph that seemed to be pointing at the TPLF read: “... it should be mentioned here that the government is under constant and unrestrained pressure from disgruntled forces, organizing and supporting anti-peace elements, by using the economic and political muscles they have built over the last three decades, in order to undermine this inevitable reform process.”
Escalating war of words between PM Abiy administration and TPLF extremely dangerous, irresponsible.
Strategy of demonising TPLF deflects some of the Oromo anger but risks deepening sense of siege, victimhood in Tigray Region and stoke, potentially, new armed conflict.— Rashid Abdi (@RAbdiCG) July 10, 2020
Aside the TPLF, the governing party had also accused former Oromo rebel group of being behind the shooting of Hachalu Hundessa. Amid high security deployment, Addis Ababa and Oromia regional state remains peaceful according to reports.
Ethiopia is in the tenth day of an internet blackout that was effected the morning after the musician was killed. It is the longest blockade since Abiy came to power. A spokeswoman has defended the move.
“... if the internet is being used by certain forces to spread hate speech and vitriol, that is perpetuating and initiating ethnic, religious and communal violence, then ensuring human security supersedes,” Billene Aster Syoum told the BBC.
The U.S. criticized Tanzania’s arrest of eight opposition leaders during their party meeting on Wednesday, saying the action stifles democratic norms.
ACT-Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe and other members were taken by authorities, citing alleged illegal assembly.“The police detained us for more than 30 hours,” Zitto told reporters, adding it was politically motivated.
Political tensions are rising in Tanzania ahead of the October general elections in which President John Magufuli plans to seek re-election.
The government also closed the Tanzania Daima newspaper following coverage critical of Magufuli’s administration.
“These actions follow a disconcerting pattern of intimidation toward opposition members, civil society and media outlets,” the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania said in a statement on its Twitter account.
Kilwa District Commissioner Christopher Ngubiagai couldn’t immediately comment on the allegations of politically-motivated arrests when contacted on Thursday. Magufuli has denied in the past he is cracking down on dissent.
Agencies
Mali's President Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse have been arrested by mutinying soldiers, according to reports. This came hours after soldiers took up arms and staged a mutiny at a key base in Kati, a town close to the capital, Bamako Tuesday morning. 'We can tell you that the president and the...
The post Fears of coup in Mali as soldiers arrest president and prime minister appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
Joseph P. Bradley , (born March 14, 1813, Berne, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 22, 1892, Washington, D.C.), associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1870. Bradley was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Electoral Commission of 1877, and his vote elected Rutherford B. Hayes president of the United States. As a justice he emphasized the power of the federal government to regulate commerce. His decisions reflecting this view, rendered during the period of rapid industrialization that followed the American Civil War, were significant in assuring a national market for manufactured goods. His refusal to allow constitutional protection for the civil rights of blacks assisted in the defeat of Reconstruction in the South.
A farm boy with a thirst for learning, Bradley managed to find a way to attend Rutgers College. He thereafter passed the New Jersey bar. He grew to be both a reflective master of the law and an active participant in large undertakings; the Camden & Amboy Railroad was his most important client. In 1870 Bradley was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ulysses S. Grant and was assigned, as a traveling circuit justice, to the Fifth (Southern) Circuit. His first major civil-rights case was United States v. Cruikshank, which he heard initially in federal circuit court in 1874. It concerned an armed attack by whites who killed 60 blacks at a political rally in Louisiana. Bradley ruled that such rights as the citizen’s right to vote, to assemble peaceably, and to bear arms and the rights to due process and equal protection were not protected by the federal government but by the states. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the majority held the same view.
In 1883 Bradley and the court majority declared unconstitutional two sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which had forbidden discrimination on the ground of colour in inns, public conveyances, and places of amusement. Bradley held that the act was beyond the power of Congress because the Fourteenth Amendment barred discriminatory actions only
Opponents of Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Wednesday sought to end a political crisis by proposing reforms to neuter his authority and hand executive power to a prime minister, although they abandoned a demand for his resignation as a prerequisite for dialogue.
Mali has been in political turmoil since a disputed legislative election in March. The lead-up to the poll was marred by allegations of vote buying and intimidation and the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.
Mass protests
Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Bamako twice in June to demand the immediate resignation of Keita saying he had been unable to resolve Mali’s numerous crises, while corruption and economic hardship have flourished.
Choguel Kokala Maiga, a leader of the M5-RFP opposition coalition, on Tuesday presented a nine-point proposal that included the appointment of a prime minister by the opposition.
“He (the prime minister) could not be dismissed by the president,” Maiga said, adding that the prime minister should be able to appoint his government and other senior officials in the administration, justice, armed forces and security departments.
Demands
Among the group’s proposals are the dissolution of the national assembly, a transitional legislative body, the renewal of members of Mali’s highest court, and a government of national unity.
Their proposal would effectively curtail Keita’s powers to that of a ceremonial head of state. Keita, 75, was re-elected in 2018 for a second five-year term.
His government has offered concessions, including a unity government, while mediators from the regional body ECOWAS have proposed new legislative elections in disputed constituencies. These have been rejected by the opposition.
Mali’s political instability are growing
The West African nation has struggled to regain stability since a 2012 military coup, and an uprising by Tuaregs in the north that was hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The United Nations, which has thousands of peacekeepers in the country, has called for calm and dialogue. At a Sahel security summit on Tuesday, France, EU and regional leaders called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
