Category: Rubrique

{{Zimbabwe’s rival political leaders say they have reached a deal over a new constitution, removing a key obstacle to holding elections.}}

The agreement was struck in talks involving President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mr Tsvangirai said a “long journey” had ended, while Mr Mugabe said he was “glad” that a deal had been reached.

The prime minister had set the adoption of a constitution as a condition for polls due later this year.

Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party entered into a fractious coalition following the 2008 election, which was marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging.

Details of the deal have not been made public, but it is understood that the powers of the president have been curbed – a key demand of the MDC.

The 88-year-old Mr Mugabe, who is expected to run for another term in office, was in jovial mood when he addressed a news conference with Mr Tsvangirai at his official residence, our reporter adds.

“We are glad to say that we have come to the conclusion of the [constitution-making] exercise and all parties are agreed – sure there are Ts to be crossed and Is to be dotted,” Mr Mugabe said.

Mr Tsvangirai said the constitution would be a “social contract” with Zimbabweans.

“This is not about individuals… I’m sure this will be a living document,” he said.

Mr Mugabe said the constitution would be put to a referendum.

Election date

Once approved by voters, elections would be held, he said.

Mr Mugabe – in power since since independence in 1980 – is expected to be challenged by Mr Tsvangirai for the presidency.

A source close to the constitution-making process told our reporter that sharp differences over the system of government had also been resolved.

The MDC had argued that Zimbabwe was a highly centralised state, and power should be devolved to lower levels of government.

Zanu-PF had now agreed to the formation of elected provincial legislatures, our correspondent said.

There would also be an executive in each province, headed by an elected chairman.

Agreement had also been reached to overhaul the legal system by creating a constitutional court as the highest of the land.

However, it remained unclear what agreement had been reached on the powers of the army, police and intelligence services – another major sticking point between the parties, our correspondent added.

The MDC had repeatedly accused the security forces of unleashing violence against its supporters during the 2008 election to help Mr Mugabe hold on to power.

Last week, the US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns about whether Zimbabwe would make key reforms before the October deadline for elections.

Zimbabwe had failed to reform key laws, like the public order, security and information acts, it said.

HRW said there had been no changes to the justice system “which remains extremely partisan towards Zanu-PF”.

The security forces, election bodies and state broadcasters were also politically partisan, remaining loyal to Mr Mugabe and Zanu-PF, it added.

NMG

{{Ghana Opposition New Patriotic Party NPP, on monday accused Yayi Boni the AU Chairman of interfering in the internal matters of Ghana.

Yayi Boni is also the President of Benin.}}

Boni at the investiture of President John Mahama in Accra, Monday, said the 2012 elections have been acclaimed as free and fair by local and international observers and urged all Ghanaians to rally together in peace.

His comments have been described as bias by members of the opposition party who are in court to challenge the election results pronounced by the Electoral Commission chair Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan.

The NPP’s Nana Fredua Ofori Atta who was commenting on MultiTV’s live coverage of the investiture said the AU chair was unnecessarily inferring in Ghana’s internal affairs, a view Director of Communication of the NPP, Nana Akomea also holds and shared so vigorously.

Akomea told Joy News’ Francis Abban the comments by the AU chair did not represent the true picture of Ghana’s political situation.

“If he [Boni] said words to that effect, then I agree with the position of Mr Ofori Atta that he is unnecessarily interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

“There is a dispute over the elections; petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of Ghana. So if you want to talk about the political atmosphere, you should be fair to that reality,” he critiqued.

Whilst he did find anything wrong with the AU chair presenting a speech- because he was not the first President of an African country to have delivered a speech during an investiture in Ghana-Akomea believed the content of the speech ought to be carefully scrutinized to ensure that it represented the true state of the country.

But a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress disagreed with the assertion of the NPP.

Victor Adawudu said Yayi Boni’s statement were immaculate and did not interfere with Ghana’s internal affairs.

{Myjoyonline}

{{Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudanese parliament criticized the charter signed by the rebel groups and the opposition forces, cautioning that the government “will deal decisively” with the latter in case they resort to arms.}}

The political forces members of the National Consensus Forces (NCF), some civil society groups representing women and youth signed the “New Dawn Charter” with the rebel groups member of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF).

The Charter recognizes the non-violent action and armed struggle as two means to topple the regime, nonetheless the SRF groups reiterate their support to the peaceful mass action and called their supporters to participate in the peaceful protests against the regime.

The rebel groups which fight against the regime in Blue Nile, Darfur and South Kordofan also committed themselves to declare an immediate cease-fire following the toppling of Khartoum’s regime.

However, in its reactions to the first political agreement between the political and armed forces, the Sudanese officials focused on the use of violence against the regime and warned the opposition that only the political action is allowed in the country.

Samia Ahmed Mohamed, deputy speaker of the National Assembly cautioned the opposition forces against the use of arms saying “If they took up arms we will deal with them decisively.”

Ahmed Badr Al-Deen Ibrahim, NCP spokesperson, from his side, said “there is no room to talk about bringing down the regime militarily”.

He added that the only way to take the reins of power is the ballot box calling on all the opposition parties and groups to prepare themselves for the upcoming elections in 2014.

He further stressed if they have an alternative to the current regime they have to participate in the elaboration of the constitution because it is the only way to determine the vision of governance in Sudan.

The ruling party invited the opposition parties to participate in a national consultation conference over the new constitution but they NCF forces said before to deal with the fundamental law a national unity government and parliament have to be formed during a transitional period to settle the different crisis.

Samia called on the opposition parties to reconsider their positions and to resort the elections saying it is the “shortest and legitimate way for regime change”.

She said that political weight of political forces can only be measured through the ballot box adding they had been already defeated and “sentenced as minority”, in a reference to the general election of April 2010 where different political forces boycotted the vote.

The deputy speaker further reiterated Khartoum rejection to form an all-party government to prepare a constitution in a democratic and healthy environment and to end the current political and economic crisis.

(ST)

{{Delegations representing Central African Republic’s government and the rebels who now control much of the country’s north headed Monday to hold peace talks in Gabon, though already there are concerns about what will happen if those negotiations fail.}}

This week’s meetings in Libreville, Gabon, come a month after fighters from several armed groups began their rebellion against a government that has wielded little power over its vast and sparsely populated north.

While the rebels have halted their advance toward the capital of Bangui, a city of 700,000 people, they now hold a dozen communities.

The rebellion has posed the greatest threat to President Francois Bozize’s presidency since he himself seized power in 2003.

Bozize already has offered up the possibility of a coalition government, a proposal the rebels have dismissed. A rebel spokesman has said the fighters want Bozize gone, a stipulation that could derail talks altogether.

Some residents of this nation of 4.4 million have little faith the government will be able to reach a lasting agreement with the rebels, especially given that multiple peace accords already have been signed over the years with multiple groups.

“Even if the rebel leaders reach an agreement with the Bangui government, their people on the ground will not get their piece of cake,” said Henry Yenzapa, 42, a history professor at the University of Bangui.

“They’re just carrying out a formality in Libreville in order to return, and the Central African crisis will never be resolved.”

Wirestory

{{In Ghana, President-elect John Dramani Mahama is being swon in today at the country’s Independence Square.}}

Local media reports indicate that 3 Heads of State and one vice president had by sunday evening arrived in the west African country which has been known for smooth political transitions.

Among the guests include President of Equatorial Guinea, Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Benin, Dr. Thomas Boni-Yayi, President of Senegal , Macky Sall, and Vice President of Kenya, Dr. Stephen Kalonza.

Other guests are the Prime Minister of Namibia, Nahas Angula, Chief Executive of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Daniel W. Yohannes who is leading the US presidential delegation.

{{In Ghana, the General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie is insisting that the one-touch victory for NDC’s John Mahama was as a result of the election being rigged by the NDC.}}

According to him, the Electoral Commission (EC) rigged an excess of one million votes for John Mahama to ensure that the NDC gets one-touch victory in the just ended polls.

The NPP has challenged the results of the Presidential elections declared by the Electoral Commission last Sunday.

To the NPP, thousands of votes were wrongly added to that of President Mahama earning him the 50.70% of votes cast.

They have since threatened to go to court to seek redress. Apart from the NPP and the PPP, all the other candidates have conceded defeat in the general elections and vowed to help the winner run the country.

However, speaking on Adom TV’s show Badwam on Multi TV, Friday, lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie noted that the NDC could not jubilate because they knew their win did not reflect the true verdict of the people.

Sir John as he is affectionately called, stressed that the party was poised to present its case in court to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo is declared president as the people wished.

The NPP scribe asserted though the party had not presented its case in court; it is still gathering the necessary facts which will compel the trial judge to rule the case in favour of Nana Akufo-Addo and NPP.

He admonished the NPP supporters to exercise restraints in extreme provocation from the NDC. He blamed the media for aiding the EC to rig the election in favour of president Mahama.

“Why is it that on the EC website, Nana Addo was leading but on other sites John Mahama was leading? The EC website suddenly went down when it saw that the rigging agenda was going to take place.

The EC told us that their system went down but I was wondering why didn’t myjoyonline go down but a whole state body. It is unacceptable. They rigged for JM and they should not annoy our supporters”.

Sir John tells host of the show, Kwadwo Asare Baffour Acheampong (KABA) that the court will rule in favour of the NPP and make Nana Akufo-Addo the president of Ghana in no time.

“I can say that whether the NDC likes it or not, Nana will be made the president. Even if John Mahama, Asiedu Nketia or Dr. Kwabena Adjei are made the judge to sit on the case at the Supreme Court, the NPP will be vindicated”.

{Myjoyonline}