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The administrative court on Tuesday upheld his appeal allowing him to resume his bid to become the country's next president.
Critics have called it a stunt to invite sympathy. Yet Amuriat says campaigning without shoes is a protest and that those who do not get its symbolism are missing a point.
Uganda is due to hold a general election on January 14. Amuriat and another opposition candidate, Bobi Wine have had their rallies violently dispersed by security forces or been arrested.
In mid-November, scores of people were killed as security forces attempted to quell protests against the arrest and detention of Bobi Wine.
Police has accused the candidates of addressing huge gatherings in contravention of regulations on COVID-19 prevention.
Swollen feet
In an interview with one of the dailies in Uganda, Amuriat said his feet hurt a lot and has to pour cold water on them in between campaign stops for some relief.
Doctors have cautioned him on the potential danger of contracting tetanus from cuts to his feet.
Yet Amuriat remains adamant. He says by refusing to wear shoes, he’s standing in solidarity with people whose wealth and opportunities have been stolen by the country’s longtime ruler Yoweri Museveni.
JUST IN: FDC presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat has been arrested at the border of Rubirizi and Bushenyi districts. The reason for his arrest is yet to be known📹 @MukhayeD#MonitorUpdates#UGDecides2021 pic.twitter.com/xopK4FMoD0
— Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) December 4, 2020
Museveni, in power since 1986 is seeking a new term. In 2017, he changed the constitution to remove age limits that would have stopped him from seeking re-election.
FDC is Uganda’s largest opposition party. In 3 previous elections, the party fronted veteran activist and retired army colonel Kizza Besigye for president.
Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Republicans' last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania's certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the electoral battleground.The court without comment refused to call into question the certification process in Pennsylvania. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf already has certified Biden's victory over President Donald Trump and the state's 20 electors are to meet […]
The post High court rejects GOP bid to halt Biden's Pennsylvania win appeared first on DefenderNetwork.com.
Ugandan opposition leader and popular singer Bobi Wine has been freed after a brief arrest by the police. WIne had been taken away just after he was confirmed as a candidate in next year’s presidential election.
The local NBS Television, reporting from the scene, said the singer was put into a police van amid violent scuffles between police and his supporters.
Wine on Monday had gone to the nomination centre in Kyambogo in the capital, Kampala as Uganda’s electoral body started the nomination process for presidential candidates in the upcoming 2021 general elections.
Police fired tear gas to disperse his supporters who turned up to support him on nomination day.
Bobi Wine presented his nomination papers to the electoral commission to be cleared to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in next year's election.
Joel Senyonyi, spokesman for Wine’s NUP party, said “they [police] used a hammer and broke the windows of his vehicle and forcefully dragged him out … they bundled him into their own vehicle and took off”.
So far, 10 aspirants are vying for the top job. Others include former army commander General Mugisha Muntu and former Security Minister General Henry Tumukunde.
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for 34 years, was the first to be nominated. He warned that any opponents who destabilize the country will be dealt with.
One presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat was arrested at the headquarters of his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.
Soldiers and police officers have been heavily deployed at the party's offices, the Daily Monitor newspaper reports.
Mr Amuriat is reported to have vowed to defy restrictions on the number of supporters accompanying him to the electoral commission where he is scheduled to submit his nomination papers at midday. The newspaper has tweeted a video of his arrest.
These are some of the events analysts say makes the outlook of the politics tense as Uganda braces up for elections February next year.
Wine, 38, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, aims to end President Yoweri Museveni’s 34 years in power.
We look back on this day in history and remember the people and events that shaped the world we live in today. Every day is worth remembering.
Swaziland, which is about 85% the size of New Jersey, is surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique. The country is largely mountainous.
Absolute monarchy.
Bantu peoples migrated southwest to the area of Mozambique in the 16th century. A number of clans broke away from the main body in the 18th century and settled in Swaziland. In the 19th century these clans organized as a tribe, partly because they were in constant conflict with the Zulu. Their ruler, Mswazi, appealed to the British in the 1840s for help against the Zulu. The British and the Transvaal governments guaranteed the independence of Swaziland in 1881.
South Africa held Swaziland as a protectorate from 1894 to 1899, but after the Boer War, in 1902, Swaziland was transferred to British administration. The paramount chief was recognized as the native authority in 1941. In 1963, the territory was constituted a protectorate, and on Sept. 6, 1968, it became the independent nation of Swaziland.
Since 1986, King Mswati III has ruled as sub-Saharan Africas last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned and the king appoints 10 of the 65 members of parliament as well as the prime minister. King Mswati can veto any law passed by the legislature and frequently rules by decree.
In 2002, hundreds of thousands of Swazis faced starvation. Two years of drought as well as bad planning and poor agricultural practices were blamed for the crisis. The government came under criticism for buying the king a $50-million luxury jet—a quarter of the national budget—while famine loomed. In 2002, the countrys judges resigned en masse in protest of the governments refusal to comply with court decisions. In April 2003, the government information minister announced that the media were banned from making negative remarks about the government—criticism of the kings new luxury jet in particular would not be tolerated. In 2004, a third year of drought befell the country. International donor agencies and human rights groups condemned the kings plans to build new
Isaac Hayes was an African-American Singer-Songwriter, producer and actor. Hayes is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Hayes is also a three time Grammy Award winner.
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. was born on August 20, 1942 in Covington, Tennessee. At an early age, his father abandoned his family while his mother died, thus, Hayes was raised by his maternal grandparents. His first exposure to music was as a choir singer at his local church, after which he taught himself how to play the piano, and later the organ, saxophone, and the flute. Despite being offered numerous musical scholarships due to his outstanding abilities, Hayes preferred to stay at home and provide for his family through playing in nightclubs and working at factories.
Hayes then started his career as a sessions musician for ‘Stax Records’. There, Hayes wrote many successful songs with fellow songwriter David Porter for the band “Sam & Dave”, these included the No.2 hit “Soul Man”, “You Don’t Know like I Know”, “Hold On, I’m Coming”, and “When Something is wrong with my Baby”. By 1968, Hayes had released two records titled “Presenting Isaac Hayes” and “Hot Buttered Soul”; the latter was highly revered for its importance in rescuing ‘Stax Records’ after it lost much of its catalog to Atlantic Records. The record also revisited the Dionne Warwick single titled “Walk on By”, which was exceptionally successful.
In 1970, Hayes released “The Isaac Hayes Movement”, and “To be Continued”. In 1971, Hayes wrote the soundtrack album for the Hollywood film, “Shaft”, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and another Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Dramatic Score. Hayes also wrote soundtracks for later films, including “Three Tough Guys” and “Truck Turner”. The soundtrack was also used for Quentin Tarentino’s “Kill Bill” series.
Hayes was forced into bankruptcy following the end of 1976 due to several disputes with the Stax Records Ownership. The bankruptcy meant that Hayes would lose almost
Benin and Ivory Coast become the third and fourth countries to withdraw their declaration under Article 34 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR).
Benin announced an end to individual and NGO direct access to the court on March 16, while Ivory Coast did the same on April 21.
The decision by Benin and Ivory Coast was officially announced early this month by the Court’s Registrar, Robert Eno.
Benin and Ivory Coast’s withdrawal will likely mean that only six AU countries will allow individuals and NGOs to have direct access to the Court a year from now.
Ivory Coast ’s withdrawal came directly after an April 22 judgment on provisional measures in which the Court ordered a national court to suspend the arrest warrant of Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader running for president.
Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga resigned in September 2008, citing health reasons. He was succeeded by Adolphe Muzito.
Presidential elections were held in November 2011. Incumbent Kabila faced opposition leader and former prime minister Étienne Tshisekedi. The International Crisis Group deemed the election unruly and chaotic and other international observers said the vote was irregular and flawed. Nearly 20 people were killed in election-related violence. Nevertheless, Congos election commission ruled in December that Kabila prevailed, 49% to 32%. In the run-up to the election, Kabila—perhaps sensing a threat from the opposition and popular dissatisfaction with his rule—amended the constitution to do away with a second round of voting and stacked the electoral commission.
In March 2012, Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito resigned. His resignation came a little over three months after the violent presidential elections. Deputy Prime Minister Louis Koyagialo was appointed to temporarily replace Muzito. On April 18, 2012, former Minister of Finance Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon was named prime minister.
[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).
[Monitor] By Simon Peter Emwamu
BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won five more years in power by securing more than 53% of votes in an election that was marred by violence, according to provisional results announced on Monday. The electoral commission declared Touadera the winner of the Dec. 27 election, saying he had secured enough votes in the first round to make a second round runoff unnecessary in the gold- and diamond-producing country. Touadera, 63, has struggled to wrest control of vast swathes of the country from armed militias since first winning power in 2016, three years after former President Francois Bozize was ousted by another rebellion. The presidential election went ahead despite an offensive by rebel groups who tried to disrupt the vote after Bozize’s candidacy was rejected by the country’s highest court. “Faustin-Archange Touadera, having received the absolute majority of the vote in the first round with 53.9%, is declared winner,” Mathias Morouba, the electoral commission’s president, told a news conference in the capital, Bangui. He said about half of the country’s electorate, or around 910,000 people, had registered to vote and turnout among the registered voters was 76.3%. Provisional results of a legislative election held the same day will be announced at a later date, Morouba said. INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED Separately on Monday, prosecutors said an investigation had been launched into Bozize’s role in the rebellion intended to disrupt the election. Bozize and other accomplices were being investigated for various crimes including sedition, rebellion, assassination and theft, the prosecutors said in a statement. Bozize could not immediately be reached for comment. His party had previously denied the government’s accusations that the former president was plotting a coup, but some in the party have suggested that they are working with the rebels. The vast but sparsely populated country of 4.7 million which is larger than France has struggled to find stability since Bozize was ousted in 2013. Successive waves of violence since then have killed thousands and forced more than a million from their homes. The United Nations, which has over 12,000 peacekeepers in the country, said in a statement that calm had returned to Bangassou, a town attacked on Sunday by rebels allied to Bozize. “The situation in Bangassou is calm but tense, with the presence of armed elements in parts of the city,” the U.N. mission said, adding that 180 civil servants and workers from humanitarian organisations had sought refuge at its base. - Reuters
[Monitor] Ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party presidential candidate, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Saturday brushed off ten other candidates to extend his presidency to 40 years after Electoral Commission (EC) chairman Simon Byabakama credited him 5,851,037 votes, representing 58.64% of the 9,978,093 valid votes.
[Monitor] Ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party presidential candidate, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is poised to extend his reign in power to 40 years after Electoral Commission (EC) chairman Simon Byabakama credited him 5,562,141 votes, representing 58.89% of the 9,445,184 valid votes.
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands (AP) - Suriname's newly elected Parliament chose a former police chief as the country's president on Monday to replace Desiree 'Desi' Bouterse, who faces a murder conviction at home and a drug smuggling sentence abroad.Chandrikapersad Santokhi, better known as 'Chan', will inherit a devastated economy in the South American nation of about 600,000 people upon his inauguration tomorrow.
[East African] Uganda goes to the polls in January and while 10 candidates seek to unseat President Yoweri Museveni -- from a position he has held for the past 34 years -- analysts view the election as a three-horse race.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said his proposal to tighten COVID-19 measures on Harare and Bulawayo would worsen the country’s economic challenges and called on Zimbabweans to brace up for more suffering. BY MOSES MATENGA Zimbabwe is facing its worst crisis in a decade with its currency plummeting while inflation is running at 737,26% amid a critical shortage of hard cash. Speaking at State House in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa conceded that Zimbabwe’s hyperinflationary environment, coupled with cash shortages, fuel challenges and other problems had been dire even before the pandemic which has worsened the situation. Coronavirus infections breached the 1 000 mark this week with 20 deaths, prompting a tightening of the regulations governing movement of people. “Initially, I declared a national lockdown because we were on a very weak platform to fight the pandemic. When the machinery to capacitate our systems began to work, I relaxed the systems as recommended by WHO (World Health Organisation). But now with the surge, I am likely to impose further restrictions,” he said. “We have to choose between having to suffer for a period and salvage (ourselves) and we pick up the pieces and move on or relax to save the economy and have the frustrations where most of our loved ones among ourselves perish,” Mnangagwa said. “My belief is that even before the arrival of the pandemic in Zimbabwe, we had problems with the economy. It is most critical that we save lives so that we can sit around to discuss restructuring and construction of our economy.” Government on Tuesday announced that it would tighten lockdown measures in Harare and Bulawayo in the wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, the majority being local transmissions. The announcement came when opposition parties and citizens were warming up for protests against his government on July 31 over the deteriorating economic situation in the country. Observers have accused Mnangagwa of trying to use COVID-19 restrictions to foil the protests after his government admitted the planned demonstrations posed a huge threat to the ruling party’s hegemony. But Mnangagwa said economic revival, under the circumstances, should be second priority as there was need to protect the people from the ravaging COVID-19. “I say this because I feel I have to move the nation on the need to save lives as a priority and protect the economy as a second priority.” Government has since 2018 blamed sanctions and natural disasters such as Cyclone Idai, drought and of late economic saboteurs from within the governing party as the economy continued to fail. The economic situation has worsened, with nurses and other health workers on strike for the last three weeks demanding payment in United States dollars. Government last week only paid cushioning allowances of $1 200 for teachers and $5 000 for police officers while soldiers got $8 000. The disparities in the allowances for civil servants angered teachers and observers who felt that the government was divisive and appeasing the security
[DW] German authorities sent asylum-seekers back to Ethiopia last year despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the Tigray conflict. Opposition politicians and human rights groups have condemned the move.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A coalition of political parties in Venezuela led by US-backed Juan Guaid� said yesterday that it won't participate in upcoming congressional elections called by officials loyal to President Nicol�s Maduro.A group of 27 opposition parties rejected the December 6 election as 'fraud'.
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.
On May 4 this year, Lamu Principal Magistrate Allan Temba allowed d the police to detain Mr Lali for 21 days at the Lamu Police Station to enable them conduct comprehensive investigations into the suspected murder of Ms Muigai.
When appearing on the live court session on Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) applied for an extension of the detention of Mr Lali by another week.
The argument was that the DCI wanted Mr Lali to go with them to the crime scenes, including Jaha House in Shella, Lamu where Ms Muigai sustained the serious head injuries after she allegedly fell on the stairs and later died as she received treatment at a Nairobi hospital.
The fourth ground was that the pending toxicology analysis does not require Mr Lali to be further detained as Ms Muigai's samples have already been taken and are being analysed independent of the suspect.
Mr Lali was arrested on May 3, just a day after Ms Muiagi's death, and he has been in police custody as detectives continued with investigations into her death.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has asked the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to report the state agency to the police if the party has any evidence to back its election rigging allegations made against the Authority on Thursday, 14 May 2020.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), at a press conference, raised fears that the decision of the Electoral Commission to compile a new register of voters using passports and the NIA's Ghana card as proof of eligibility may give undue advantage to the governing New Patriotic Party and President Nana Akufo-Addo and also help the incumbent to rig the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2020.
According to the biggest opposition party, over 10 million Ghanaians are unable to retrieve their Ghana cards from the NIA several months after they were registered, a situation which the Chairman of the party, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, said will make it impossible for them to be captured on the new electoral roll.
At a counter-press conference on Friday, 15 May 2020, the Executive Director of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah, said it was a \"disturbing allegation that the NIA, in consent with the Electoral Commission, embarked on an election-rigging agenda in order to benefit the New Patriotic Party, and most disturbingly, to disenfranchise a significant portion of the Ghanaian populace from their rights to exercise their franchise\".
\"I want to assure the good people of this country that the NIA is not involved in any such criminal design or enterprise with the EC, with the government of Ghana or any with any person or entity whatsoever described.
Modern Tunisians are the descendants of indigenous Berbers and of people from numerous civilizations that have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Recorded history in Tunisia begins with the arrival of Phoenicians, who founded Carthage and other North African settlements in the 8th century B.C. Carthage became a major sea power, clashing with Rome for control of the Mediterranean until it was defeated and captured by the Romans in 146 B.C.
The Romans ruled and settled in North Africa until the 5th century, when the Roman Empire fell and Tunisia was invaded by European tribes, including the Vandals. The Muslim conquest in the 7th century transformed Tunisia and the make-up of its population, with subsequent waves of migration from around the Arab and Ottoman world, including significant numbers of Spanish Muslims and Jews at the end of the 15th century.
Tunisia became a center of Arab culture and learning and was assimilated into the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. It was a French protectorate from 1881 until independence in 1956, and retains close political, economic, and cultural ties with France.
Tunisias independence from France in 1956 ended the protectorate established in 1881. President Habib Ali Bourguiba, who had been the leader of the independence movement, declared Tunisia a republic in 1957, ending the nominal rule of the Ottoman Beys.
In June 1959, Tunisia adopted a constitution modeled on the French system, which established the basic outline of the highly centralized presidential system that continues today. The military was given a defined defensive role, which excluded participation in politics.
Starting from independence, President Bourguiba placed strong emphasis on economic and social development, especially education, the status of women, and the creation of jobs, policies that continued under Zine El Abidine Ben Alis administration.
The result was strong social progress – high literacy and school attendance rates, low population
Three new laws that the Indian government claims will boost growth in the agriculture sector and make it easier to sell produce has sparked protests from farmers themselves and from opposition parties. 'For decades, the [...]
Jacob Zuma , in full Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (born April 12, 1942, Nkandla, South Africa), politician who became president of South Africa in 2009. Prior to that he served as the country’s deputy president (1999–2005), and he has served as president of the country’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), since 2007.
Zuma received no formal schooling. He joined the ANC in 1959 and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), in 1962. He was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on Robben Island for conspiring to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid government. After his release, he set up underground networks to recruit for Umkhonto we Sizwe. In 1975 Zuma fled the country to escape arrest. For more than a decade, he continued to work for the ANC while based in neighbouring countries—first in Swaziland and then in Mozambique. He became a member of the ANC’s national executive committee in 1977. After the government of South Africa exerted pressure on that of Mozambique, Zuma was forced to leave the latter country in 1987. He then went to ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, where he served as head of underground structures (organizational units) and head of the intelligence department.
When the South African government’s ban on the ANC was lifted in 1990, Zuma returned to the country and was elected chairperson of the southern Natal region. He became ANC deputy general secretary in 1991, and in 1994 he became a member of the executive committee for economic affairs and tourism in the newly created province of KwaZulu-Natal. In December 1997 he was elected deputy president of the ANC, and in June 1999 he was appointed deputy president of the country by Pres. Thabo Mbeki.
Zuma was widely expected to eventually succeed Mbeki as president of the ANC and as president of the country. In June 2005, however, Mbeki dismissed him after the fraud and corruption conviction of one of Zuma’s close colleagues, businessman Schabir Shaik. The judge in that case found that there was
[East African] Tanzanian presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, has raised concerns over rampant disqualifications suffered by opposition parties.
Independent inquiry
\"Independent journalists covering the conflict are often tagged as accomplices of separatists and tried in military courts.
The press in Cameroon has never been free throughout the two regimes that have ruled the country,\" says DW's Mimi Mefo.
\"As an independent investigative journalist in Cameroon, you know you could be jailed or killed.\"
Regime stays mute
DW's Mimi Mefo is one of many journalists jailed in the central African country in recent years.
South West Governor Barnard Okalia Bilai has told journalists that only Yaounde can answer over the fate of Samuel Wazizi.
The Harris County District Court ruled that Texas law allows Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins to send vote-by-mail applications to all registered voters as part of his authority to conduct and manage elections. If the Court’s decision stands, more than 1.9 million registered voters in Harris County under the age of 65 will receive vote-by-mail […]
The post Harris County Clerk cleared to send vote-by-mail applications appeared first on DefenderNetwork.com.
The latest case of 12 extrajudicial killings of Fulani men in Tanwalbougou, northeastern Burkina Faso, has gripped the public after gruesome details emerged following their detention by gendarmes in the area, adding to the overall crisis in the Sahel.
Although the military has issued a statement admitting that 12 of the Fulani (also called Peul) men, arrested on suspicion of terrorism, died in military cells, a number of the facts are in dispute.
Human rights groups including Burkinabé groups, the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatisation of Communities (CISC) and MBDHP as well as US-based Human Rights Watch, are calling for an independent investigation into the Burkina Faso gendarmes.
\"Another part of it is a lack of effective control over security forces, and either a lack of means to effectively punish the people who perpetrate these attacks, or the lack of political will, either from military leadership or civilian governments to police these military,\" he adds.
Killing of 31 Fulani in Burkina Faso could be war crime, says HRW
Part of the issue stems from the overall perception that the Fulani communities in the Sahel, including northern Burkina Faso, have traditionally been a much-maligned community, and therefore jihadist groups in the area have exploited these prejudices, recruiting a number of people in the community, especially after alleged military massacres.
Lawyers for Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine have filed a challenge in the Supreme Court against President Yoweri Museveni's victory in last month's election, claiming the poll was rigged.
