IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • DR Congo elections: Opposition strike cripples Kinshasa

    {A strike called by the opposition to force the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila to step down at the end of his term has crippled businesses in the capital.

    Shops in Kinshasa were closed and streets were mostly empty, says the BBC’s Poly Muzalia in the city.}

    The government dismissed the strike as the work of “radicals having some old fashioned fun”.

    The opposition fears Mr Kabila wants to delay elections due in November.

    Police also fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters who had gathered in the capital.

    The one-day strike was most successful in Kinshasa, which has a population of about 11 million, our correspondent says.

    However, business activities were also slow in Goma, the main trading centre in the east, he adds.

    A coalition of opposition groups, headed by veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting talks aimed at resolving differences over the elections.

    It says Togo’s former Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, whom the African Union (AU) has appointed as a mediator, is biased towards Mr Kabila.

    Delays in organising the election have compounded opposition fears that Mr Kabila plans to stay on despite a constitutional ban on him serving a third elected term.

    The election commission has said a voter registration drive in the vast central African state of about 70 million people will not be completed by December.

    In May, an opposition presidential candidate Moise Katumbi fled to South Africa after an arrest warrant was issued for him.

    He was accused of hiring foreign mercenaries in an alleged plot against the state, which he denied.

    DR Congo has a long history on instability and has never had a smooth transfer of power since independence in 1960.

    The capital is a stronghold of the opposition

  • South Africa local elections: ANC loses power in Johannesburg for first time

    {South Africa’s governing ANC party has lost control of the country’s largest city and economic centre, Johannesburg.}

    The city council elected as mayor Herman Mashaba from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

    The ANC had run the city since the fall of apartheid more than 20 years ago. It lost its council majority in local elections, although it is still the largest party.

    The party has also lost control of the capital Pretoria and Cape Town.

    It follows local elections earlier this month that produced no outright winner in most districts, resulting in hung municipalities and forcing parties to form coalitions to govern.

    Of the country’s six biggest cities, the ANC only won an outright majority in Durban, seen as a stronghold for South African President Jacob Zuma.

    There was drama at Monday’s Johannesburg council meeting, which lasted 11 hours.
    A scuffle broke out between opposition party members and electoral commission officials and an ANC councillor who was sworn in earlier in the day collapsed and died shortly after Mr Mashaba was elected.

    The ANC had won 44.5% of the vote, more than the DA’s 38.4%. But the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 11% found itself in the position of kingmaker and refused to give its votes to the ANC.

    Mr Mashaba, a 56-year-old businessman, has promised to reform the city administration.

    “As of this evening, corruption is declared public enemy number one in this city,” he told cheering supporters.

    “Public monies that have been misspent, misused, over the last five, 10 years or so … we’re going to take this money, we’re going to look after it, so that we can provide basic services to our people.”

    Mr Mashaba also pledged to tackle unemployment.

    “Over 800,000 of our residents, one-in-three, are today unemployed. We need to address this and we need to address this as a matter of urgency.”

    The Democratic Alliance is now in charge of several big South African cities

  • Libya’s UN-backed government gets ‘no confidence’ vote

    {Vote by parliament in Tobruk is major setback for Government of National Accord in Tripoli.}

    Libya’s UN-backed government in the capital, Tripoli, has suffered a major setback following a vote of no confidence by the country’s eastern parliament.

    The vote on Monday by members of the House of Representatives, which is based in the eastern city of Tobruk, rejected the Tripoli administration’s proposed line-up for a government of national unity.

    “The majority of lawmakers present at the parliament session voted no confidence in the government,” Adam Boussakhra, parliament spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

    A Government of National Accord (GNA) – led by prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj – was the result of a UN-brokered power-sharing deal struck in December.

    Monday’s vote was the first since January, when the parliament rejected an initial list of ministers put forward by the GNA’s leadership, and the first since the UN-backed government began installing itself in Tripoli in March.

    But the GNA, which had been seeking the Tobruk parliament’s endorsement for months, has struggled to unite the country and assert its authority beyond the capital city.

    A rival government in the country’s east has refused to cede power until the House of Representatives passes a vote of confidence.

    A total of 101 deputies attended Monday’s session, with 61 voting against the GNA, 39 abstaining, and only one voting in favour, according to officials.

    Parliamentary sessions in Tobruk have been repeatedly delayed or blocked as opposition to the GNA has hardened.

    GNA supporters, many of whom did not attend Monday’s vote, have previously complained that opponents of the UN-backed government have used physical force and threats to prevent voting from taking place.

    Western powers have been counting on the GNA to tackle Libya’s security vacuum, revive oil production, and stem the flow of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

    While forces aligned with the GNA have largely recaptured the coastal city of Sirte from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, it has struggled to assert control in other areas, losing support because of its inability to resolve a liquidity crisis, widespread power cuts and other problems.

    The conflict has turned the country into a nexus for people-smuggling to Europe and has enabled ISIL, also known as ISIS, to gain a foothold on the southern shore of the Mediterranean.

    Representatives of the Tripoli-based and Tobruk-based governments in December 2015

  • Kayihura has done a good job, says Museveni

    {President Museveni yesterday gave a ringing endorsement to under fire Gen Kale Kayihura, praising his work despite the police chief facing criminal court summons initiated through private prosecution over police brutality.}

    President Museveni yesterday gave a ringing endorsement to under fire Gen Kale Kayihura, praising his work despite the police chief facing criminal court summons initiated through private prosecution over police brutality.

    Speaking at the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda extra-ordinary meeting at Ntare School in Mbarara District, Mr Museveni said: “People are attacking Kale (Kayihura), Kale has done a good job; he stopped fujo; because people wanted to bring fujo to disrupt business. I you have fujo, you will not have wealth.”
    Fujo is Kiswahili word for disorder or riot, or breach of the peace.

    The President commented on Gen Kayihura’s current predicament while lecturing the urban leaders on wealth creation and development, reasoning that if they want to sustainably make a contribution, they must answer the question of “where does wealth come from?” other than focusing only on development issues; schools, roads, hospitals and health centres.

    “The ideology of urban movement is that your job is to attract as much as possible the players who will create wealth for your people and jobs for them, “he said.

    Kayihura’s court case
    The President’s remarks come as Gen Kayihura and seven of his senior officers were sued for alleged torture as individuals by victims of the July 12 and 13 police beatings of civilians at Kalerwe Market in Kampala and Busabala Road on Entebbe Road.

    The police chief was expected to appear in Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court on August 10 to answer charges of torture but did not show up and the case was adjourned to August 29, amid intervention by the Director of Public Prosecutions to invoke his constitutional rights and take over the matter. A mob then raided the court and laid siege on the premises, protesting Gen Kayihura’s prosecution. One of the architects of the court siege, Mr Abdallah Kitatta, later gave a media interview, vowing to protect Gen Kayihura from court summons.

    Chief Justice Bart Katureebe and Uganda Law Society President Francis Gimara condemned the court raid. Internal Affairs minister Jeje Odongo last week said Gen Kayihura will not appear in court to answer to the criminal charges, saying his appearance would tantamount to prosecuting the government.

    However, the private lawyers who initiated the prosecution insist that they sued the police chief and the police officers in their individual capacities. The lawyers say they would have instituted the case through the Attorney General’s office if they wanted to sue the police as an institution.

    {{Kayuhura’s charges}}

    The charges were instituted under sections 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of 2012. Under this Act, public officials can be held individually liable for acts of torture they commit while holding their offices. The law also says a person who in superior command can be individually held accountable for acts of torture if he or she encourages, helps or orders a person to torture somebody.

    President Museveni says Gen Kayihura has brought order in Kampala.

  • Broke South Sudan now looks to Kenya and Uganda for bailout

    {South Sudan is pleading with Kenya and Uganda for economic support to avert a humanitarian crisis after a fresh conflict brought the country to its knees. }

    Mid last week, a delegation of Transitional Government of South Sudan officials led by First Vice-President Taban Deng Gai was in Kenya on a mission seeking a bailout.

    The EastAfrican has learnt that Juba will also be reaching out to Uganda later this month to craft a bailout package that will see Kampala pay its traders the $35.2 million Juba owes them in a bid to have them resume supplies to the country.

    “The vice president will go to Kampala to request the Ugandan government to pay traders who supplied cereals to Juba but haven’t been paid. The money will then be converted into a loan, for which Juba and Kampala officials will work out a repayment plan,” a diplomatic source with the knowledge of the matter said.

    The delegation to Nairobi, which included four ministers, met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed and a number of Kenya government officials.

    A source privy to the discussions told The EastAfrican that Mr Gai informed President Kenyatta that the country’s economy was in a perilous state and needed urgent help.

    Mr Gai implored the Kenya government to give his country a soft loan to help it deal with its current problems.

    “We have been facing difficulties in delivering services to the people and we briefed President Kenyatta about the current economic difficulties the country is facing. We are experiencing severe inflation because of the civil war, poor oil production and the low oil prices, which have basically drained us as we are not making money. We asked Kenya for help so that our economy does not grind to a halt,” Mr Gai said when he addressed a press conference at the Nairobi Intercontinental Hotel after a meeting with President Kenyatta.

    The delegation also requested Kenya’s support for implementation of the peace agreement by the Transitional Government as currently formed. This would mean excluding former first vice president Riek Machar.

    “The President’s view was that he would not act outside Igad,” said the source.

    Economic bailout

    On the requests for a soft loan and food supplies, President Kenyatta is reported to have advised the group to send their finance minister, their Central Bank Governor and agriculture minister to Nairobi with a clear proposal, including the amounts needed and the modalities for repayment.

    Kenya can then determine its level of commitment “cognisant of the fact that we have interests in South Sudan and cannot be aloof to the suffering of its people.”

    The loan, the source said, could be worked out along the same lines as the economic bailout of Zimbabwe by South Africa a while back. South Sudan relies on Kenyan traders for key supplies including food, edible oils, pharmaceuticals, electronic products and manufactured goods.

    Uganda is South Sudan’s biggest trading partner and exports maize, vegetables, sugar, iron and steel, cement, beer, motor lubricants and detergents. However, following fresh fighting in the country in July, most foreign traders have returned to their countries for security reasons.

    South Sudan is pleading with Kenya and Uganda for economic support to avert a humanitarian crisis after a fresh conflict brought the country to its knees.

  • Museveni seeks to control all land – Besigye

    {Besigye claimed President Museveni has always had an agenda to control land, right from the time he took over power after a guerilla war in 1986.}

    The Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, has said the government’s proposal to amend the Land Act (1998) to allow government take over private strategic land without compensation, is dangerous for the country.

    Campaigning for FDC candidates in Omoro District on Saturday, Dr Besigye said the proposal is a new ploy by government “to grab people’s land.”

    He claimed President Museveni has always had an agenda to control land, right from the time he took over power after a guerilla war in 1986. He said when the idea was defeated in the Constituent Assembly (1994/1995) that drafted the 1995 Constitution, the President pushed it again in the Sempebwa Constitution Review Commission (2001-2002).

    “The Bill that is proposed now which came out of Kyankwanzi (Cabinet retreat) is extremely dangerous. We must rise up as Ugandans to oppose this new trick orchestrated by President Museveni,” Dr Besigye said.

    However, the government deputy spokesperson, Col Shaban Bantariza, dismissed Dr Besigye’s allegations as baseless.
    The former FDC leader campaigned in the trading centres of Awere and Acet in Odek Sub-county and Lalogi trading centre in Lalogi Sub-county, for Mr Simon Toolit Akecha (Omoro LC5) and Ms Prossy Alanyo Owiny (Omoro Woman MP). The elections in the new district will be held on August 29.

    Lands minister Betty Amongi recently said the government will soon bring to Parliament an amendment to the Land Act (1998) which will ease government takeover of private land for national development projects such as roads and other infrastructure.

    When approved by Parliament, the proposed amendment will allow government to compulsorily acquire land for public works before compensating the owner.

    Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye.

  • Turkey vows active role in Syria, better regional ties

    {Turkish prime minister said Ankara will play a more active role in Syria and repair its ties with regional powers.}

    Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has vowed Ankara would play a “more active” role in the next six months in efforts to end the five-year Syrian civil war and work towards normalising its relations with its neighbours in the Middle East.

    Yildirim said in a news briefing on Saturday that Ankara would step up efforts to reduce “instability” in the region.

    “We say the bloodshed needs to stop. Babies, children, innocent people should not die. That’s why Turkey will be more active in trying to stop the danger getting worse in the next six months, compared with before,”
    Yildirim told foreign reporters in Istanbul.

    ‘No role to play in Syria’s future’

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can remain temporarily during a transition period as “he is one of the actors today no matter whether we like it or not,” Yildirim said.

    But the premier stressed that Assad has “no role to play in Syria’s future”.

    “We believe that the PKK, Daesh and Assad should not be in the future of Syria,” he added, referring to the Syrian Kurds and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the war-torn country.

    Yildirim said instead Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States must work toward a solution in Syria.

    “That is our objective. We are not pessimistic. We have even left it late. Therefore, as Turkey, we will work more because the instability there pains us.”

    {{Turkey wants to ‘repair ties’ with old allies}}

    Since last month’s failed coup attempt , Turkey has been unhappy with the West’s muted response to the incident and frustrated with continued criticism of its human rights record.

    As a result, it sought to work with Iran and Russia on Syria’s future and solving the crisis.

    Although Russia and Iran are Assad’s main allies which put them at loggerheads with Turkey, this month Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin while Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif came to Ankara.

    Prime Minister Yildirim told reportes on Saturday that Turkey also wants to normalise relations with other old allies, like Israel and Egypt.

    Turkey’s parliament approved a reconciliation agreement signed with Israel in June which has brought to an end a six-year rift between the two regional powers, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

    Relations between Israel and Turkey crumbled after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing 10 Turks on board.

    Israel, which had already offered its apologies for the raid, agreed under the deal to pay out $20 million to the bereaved and wounded in return for Turkey dropping outstanding legal claims.

    Under the deal, the naval blockade of Gaza, which Ankara had wanted lifted, remains in force, although humanitarian aid can continue to be transferred to Gaza via Israeli ports.

    Yildirim also said that Turkey wants to repair its ties with Egypt, after relations soured over the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

    Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, had been a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party-led (AKP) government.

    “We think we need to develop economic and cultural ties with Egypt as countries that use the two sides of the Mediterranean,” Yildirim told reporters.

    However he sounded a note of caution that high-level relations would not be repaired overnight.

    “We think we need to start from somewhere,” he said.

    Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, one of the main backers of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is keen to see the two countries reconcile as it grows increasingly close to Turkey.

    {{US is a ‘strategic partner’ not an ‘enemy’}}

    Yildirim also insisted the United States was Turkey’s “strategic partner, not our enemy” despite Ankara’s anger at Washington for failing to extradite Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for last month’s failed coup.

    “There can be ups and downs in the two countries’ relations [but] we need to remove elements that harm our relations,” Yildirim told journalists in Istanbul, referring to the Pennsylvania-based cleric.

    Ankara has for years accused Gulen of running a “parallel state” in Turkey and it also blamed him for ordering the failed coup attempt of July 15.

    Ankara had previously suggested any failure to deliver Gulen would severely damage bilateral ties and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said it was up to Washington to extradite him to prevent “anti-US feeling” in Turkey turning into “hate”.

    The White House has confirmed that US Vice President Joe Biden will visit Ankara next week in the highest-ranking visit to Turkey by any Western official since the coup.

    Yildirim also confirmed a technical delegation would arrive on August 22 for talks with Turkey’s judicial authorities ahead of Biden’s visit.

    “I hope this process will be finalised in a way favoured by both countries, and (that) questions in the minds of Turkish people about America will be removed.”

    Yildirim said Turkey wants to repair its ties with Egypt, after relations soured over the ouster of president Morsi

  • Defiant Yemeni rebels poised to form government in days

    {The announcement is described by ambassadors of 18 nations, supporting UN-backed negotiations, as unconstitutional.}

    The head of a newly-formed council in Yemen has vowed to establish a full government in the coming days, a move described by ambassadors of 18 nations, supporting UN-backed negotiations, as unconstitutional.

    Saleh al-Samad, chairman of the Supreme Political Council, made the announcement on Saturday in an address to tens of thousands of people who rallied in the capital Sanaa calling for an end to the 16-month conflict.

    At the rally, Samad outlined the council’s plans for running the war-ravaged country, following the breakdown of the peace talks earlier this month.

    “Economic affairs will be the priority of our work in the coming period,” he told the crowd who waved Yemeni flags and chanted slogans against the war at Sanaa’s Sabeen Square.

    The announcement of the planned government triggered a response from a group of 18 nations’ ambassadors, who condemned the decision as “unconstitutional and unilateral actions in Sanaa”.

    “The Group of Ambassadors repeats its concern that actions taken by elements of the General People’s Congress and the Houthis, as well as their supporters, are making the search for a peaceful solution more difficult,” the group said in a statement posted on Facebook.

    The 10-member Supreme Political Council, which was formed in July, is composed of rebel Houthis and allies loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

    Last week, the Houthis convened the country’s parliament for the first time in two years, angering President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who called it a “violation” of the country’s constitution.

    In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hakim Al Masmari, editor-in-chief of the Yemen Post, said that the new government could be headed on a direct collision course with the government-in-exile of President Hadi.

    {{Collision course}}

    “This could devastate the chances of peace talks. But it could also make it easier, as both sides would give in to their authority, and then create a unified government, where elections will take place in six months, and then a new Yemen in formed,” Masmari said.

    As the rally was under way on Saturday, three air strikes targeted the presidential compound in Sanaa without causing casualties, residents told Reuters.

    Further north, rockets launched over the border from Yemen killed one person and injured five others in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Najran, Saudi state television reported.

    Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said the rockets had targeted a Saudi air force base.

    Fighting also escalated on Saturday for control of Yemen’s central bank, as President Hadi made plans to relocate the institution outside Sanaa, and appoint a new board of directors, sources in his government told Reuters.

    The central bank’s governor dismissed the reports of new board appointments as “groundless” in an emailed statement.

    A spokesman for Hadi’s government could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The central bank has been considered the last bastion of the impoverished country’s financial system, paying salaries to state employees on both sides of the front lines and guaranteeing food imports.

    Saleh al-Samad (front centre, seated) said the new government could be formed as early as next week

  • Tunisian PM-designate presents new government line-up

    {Youssef Chahed has appointed a new finance minister but kept the previous foreign and defence ministers in their posts.}

    Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Youssef Chahed has named his new government, appointing a former investment official as finance minister and keeping the foreign and defence ministers in their posts.

    “Our country is in a very delicate phase and we do not have the right to deceive the Tunisian people. I call on all Tunisians and the parties to support this government,” Chahed told reporters on Saturday at Carthage presidential palace.

    Chahed, named premier after his predecessor was dismissed by lawmakers in a no-confidence vote last month, had been in talks with the main secularist, leftist and Islamist parties over cabinet posts.

    A senior member of the secularist Nidaa Tounes and ally of President Beji Caid Essebsi, Chahed promised a cabinet capable of delivering the economic reforms that had evaded past prime ministers, but critics say he may not have the political capital to succeed.

    His cabinet line-up must now go to parliament for a vote of approval.

    Tunisia’s transition since a 2011 uprising overthrew Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali has been hailed as a model for the Arab world.

    But the North African state has struggled with armed groups and slow progress on economic reforms needed to create growth and jobs.

    The new cabinet is inclusive, with members hailing from Nidaa Tounes, Islamist party Ennahdha, and smaller parties as well opposition figures, independents and ministers close to the powerful UGTT labour union. The selection is likely an attempt to win backing for reforms.

    Marouane El Abassi, a World Bank representative for Libya and economist educated in France, had been touted as new finance minister. But Chahed named Lamia Zribi, a former official for investment and development and a state bank director.

    Keeping their posts in the cabinet were Interior Minister Hedi Majdou, Defence Minister Farhat Horchani and Foreign Affairs Minister Khemais Jhinaoui.

    Chahed also nominated Mohamed Trabelsi as minister of social affairs and Abid Briki, a former union official, as minister of public functions. Both men have close ties to the UGTT, which in the past has resisted austerity measures.

    During his nearly two years in office, previous premier Habib Essid failed to overcome political infighting and carry out reforms, including public spending cuts and improvements to laws to attract foreign investment.

    Chahed’s cabinet faces a tough start.

    Three major attacks by armed groups last year badly hit tourism bookings, forcing job cuts in an industry that accounts for 8 percent of the economy. Unemployment is already at 15 percent, with the rate far higher among the young.

    Youssef Chahed's cabinet line-up will now go to parliament for approval

  • Zambian president’s victory challenged delaying inauguration

    {The main opposition party in Zambia has filed a court petition against the re-election of President Edgar Lungu.}

    The United Party for National Development alleges the poll on 11 August was rigged and wants a recount.

    Mr Lungu was due to be sworn in next Tuesday after securing 50.35% of the vote, avoiding a second round.

    But according to Zambia’s constitution, any inauguration has to be delayed until the Constitutional Court rules on the case.

    Zambia’s election commission has insisted that the poll was free and fair.
    But it also described the level of political violence ahead of the elections as unprecedented.

    It was forced to suspend campaigning in the capital, Lusaka, for 10 days because of the unrest.

    Opposition candidate Hakainde Hichelema, who took 47,6% of the vote, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa radio programme that the election was stolen from him and did not reflect the will of the people.

    “The first respondent did not receive more than 50% of the total votes cast.The voter register was not credible and its non-availability before the elections compromised the transparency of the electoral process,” Reuters news agency quotes the petition as saying.

    The Constitutional Court has two weeks to rule on the petition.

    {{Edgar Lungu – Patriotic Front (PF)}}

    The 59-year-old lawyer became president in January 2015 in an election called after the death in office of President Michael Sata

    He served in Mr Sata’s government as minister for justice and defence

    Support base: Home area of Eastern province, the capital, Lusaka, and the

    Copperbelt plus the Bemba-speaking regions

    Known for ordering a national day of prayer last year to help combat the economic problems facing the country

    Married with six children, this election has been seen as a personal referendum on him

    The 54-year-old economist has contested nearly all elections in Zambia since 2006

    A wealthy businessman, he has a solid track record in the private sector

    Support base: Home region of Southern Province and is popular with younger voters

    Known for being Zambia’s second largest cattle rancher

    Commonly referred to by his initials HH, he is married with three children