IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • NGOs to Secretary Kerry: More Pressure Needed on Kabila on Congo Elections

    A coalition of U.S.-based NGOs and Congo experts sent a letter today to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling for greater financial and other pressure on the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as incentives.

    The coalition is deeply concerned about the closing of political space and growing democratic crisis in Congo. The policy aims of these tools should be to help support Congo to hold timely elections in line with its constitution and end political repression.

    Read the letter below

    August 18, 2016

    The Honorable John F. Kerry
    Office of the Secretary of State
    United States Department of State
    2201 C Street, NW
    Washington, DC 20520

    RE: Preventing a Wider Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo through Additional Financial Pressure and Incentives

    Dear Secretary Kerry,

    We are deeply concerned by the growing crisis of democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which could become a full-blown crisis with serious implications for the region if steps are not taken to prevent it. We appreciate the Administration’s high-level engagement with the DRC government on elections and its recent designation of Kinshasa Police Chief Gen. Célestin Kanyama for targeted sanctions. We strongly believe that the United States can and must exert more leadership now to help facilitate a successful democratic transition and that additional financial and other pressure is needed, as well as incentives.

    The U.S. designation of Kanyama helped pressure the DRC government to not crack down on peaceful demonstrators at the massive July 31 pro-democracy rally. We are also encouraged that targeted sanctions have been welcomed by civil society activists in Congo and received support from Congress through bipartisan Senate and House resolutions and from the E.U. and Belgian parliaments. Nevertheless, the DRC government continues to pursue policies that undermine Congo’s constitution and democratic transition – the root of the ongoing political crisis.

    Recent events have underscored the need for additional pressure on the DRC government to move rapidly towards credible, timely national elections. President Kabila recently stated that elections will not be held at least until late 2017 and is using a dubious ruling by the Constitutional Court to insist that he will remain in office until elections are held. The government denies the electoral commission the funds to complete the voter roll preparation and has refused to release political prisoners who were not already due to be released. It also issued a criminal judgment – said by one of the judges to have been coerced – against presidential candidate Moïse Katumbi and kicked out independent researchers from Human Rights Watch, Global Witness, and the Congo Research Group.

    September 19 and December 19 are constitutionally the days that should mark the beginning of the presidential campaign and the day that President Kabila steps down. It is imperative that the U.S. adopt additional targeted sanctions well before September 19. The pressure should be accompanied by clearly expressed policy goals and consequences for non-performance. Ambassador Swan’s July 4 speech referring to the need for rapid progress towards credible elections and threatening further sanctions if that did not occur was helpful and should be consistently repeated in other official U.S. pronouncements. In addition, we believe the U.S. should take key steps to support the policy:

    Enhanced use of targeted sanctions. Sanctions work most effectively when actions are taken consistently so that actors understand the stakes over a period of time. When sanctions are episodic and not followed up, the impact and overall efficacy diminishes. President Kabila and his senior associates use the U.S. banking system for illicit transactions. The U.S. should thus enact asset freezes, travel bans, and other sanctions on the officials against high impact targets central to Kabila’s glissement strategy of undermining democracy and perpetrating human rights abuses. Higher-impact targets would help move beyond “naming and shaming” and toward having real financial impact and linking with broader illicit networks. Furthermore, sanctions’ coercive effects are only as strong as their enforcement. The U.S. should ensure that designations are properly enforced with the cooperation of regional and international banks and governments.

    Encourage the ICC to issue a warning. The International Criminal Court exerts influence over powerful actors in the region. The State Department should encourage the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor to announce that it will conduct a preliminary examination on the DRC during the electoral period, noting that grave crimes by the regime and others will not go unpunished.

    Messages on dialogue. Re: the dialogue, the U.S. can help advance negotiations by emphasizing the need for prompt, effective action (to avoid further delays and an ineffectual dialogue), strong international facilitation (to manage deep differences among participants) and serious confidence building measures (such as releasing all political prisoners and stopping political prosecutions).

    Review direct budget support. The U.S. should block Congo’s new request for $500 million in direct budget support from the World Bank. It would support Kabila’s unconstitutional usurpation of power, and his government has proven its poor financial mismanagement.

    Additional financial pressure. Treasury’s FinCEN can help counter the laundering of the proceeds of corruption, which would send powerful messages to the Kabila regime that it may be unable to transact in U.S. dollars. FinCEN could issue an Advisory to financial institutions that outlines money laundering concerns and requests more vigorous reporting of suspicious activity.

    Fund the elections. The U.S. should significantly increase the amount of funding for legitimate elections if and when the opposition and Kabila government agree on a constitutional timetable.

    Protection for civil society. Finally, there needs to be greater protection for civil society during this dangerous transition. MONUSCO should expand its protection program for human rights defenders.The U.S. should also increase support to pro-democracy activists and journalists. Support for the documentation of human rights abuses and corruption also is important.

    Now is a critical time for the United States to take further action, starting with a new round of targeted sanctions, to support a peaceful democratic transition. Without urgent pressure from the U.S. and others, the situation will likely deteriorate, and Congo would face an escalation imperiling the future of the country and region.

    Sincerely,

    John Prendergast, Sasha Lezhnev, Holly Dranginis
    Founding Director and Policy Team
    Enough Project
    Anthony W. Gambino
    Former USAID Mission Director to the DRC
    Naama Haviv
    Executive Director
    Panzi Foundation USA

    Stephen R. Weissman
    Former Staff Director
    House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa
    Wynnette LaBrosse
    President
    Open Square

    Lisa Shannon
    CEO
    Everywoman Everywhere
    Savannah Wooten
    Student Director
    STAND: The Student-Led Movement
    to End Mass Atrocities
    Mike Brand
    Policy Director
    Jewish World Watch
    Karen Stauss
    Director of Programs
    Free the Slaves

    CC: Jon Finer, Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning, State Department
    Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, State Department

    Cathy Byrne, Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council
    Tom Perriello, Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, State Department
    Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Treasury Department

  • Zimbabwe police break up anti-Mugabe protest

    Several people have been beaten by police and at least one of the protesters sustained deep cuts on the head.

    Zimbabwe police have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse several hundred protesters calling on President Robert Mugabe to step down, a week after the longtime ruler warned that protests “don’t pay”.

    Some 200 people had gathered in central Harare on Wednesday, carrying flowers for peace and holding posters reading “Mugabe Must Go”, when baton-carrying police moved in.

    An AFP journalist reported seeing police officers beating protesters with batons before firing on the crowd with tear gas.

    Images taken by wire agencies and posted on social media also showed several people beaten by police.

    Reuters reported that at least one of the protesters sustained deep cuts to the head from a baton beating.

    Onlookers, pedestrians and motorists were caught up in the melee as anti-riot police moved in with their batons, maintaining a heavy presence in the city centre after the demonstration was dispersed.

    Protest leader Promise Mkwananzi said Wednesday’s demonstration was just a build-up to a “national shutdown” on August 31.

    “There will be no business as usual,” he told AFP. “Everybody must participate.”

    The demonstrators are also protesting against the plan of the country’s central bank to re-introduce local banknotes, which they fear could trigger inflation and wipe out people’s savings and pensions.

    Mugabe said last week that protests “don’t pay because usually they end up being violent protests”.

    Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 36 years.

    But as his cash-strapped government struggles to pay civil servants and the military on time, the veteran leader has faced mounting opposition fuelled by internet activism using the hashtag “ThisFlag” – a reference to wearing the national flag in public.

    Several war veterans’ leaders, long seen as loyal allies of Mugabe, have also been arrested after issuing a strongly-worded statement last month calling on the president to step down.

    Mugabe, 92, is increasingly fragile but has vowed to stand for re-election in 2018, though party seniors have long been jockeying to step into the role when he dies.

    Mugabe’s wife Grace and vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa are among the possible successors to the world’s oldest president.

  • Trump to form committee ‘on radical Islam’ if president

    Republican candidate for US president vows to institute “extreme vetting” of immigrants.

    Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he will introduce “extreme vetting” of immigrants and set up a new “commission on radical Islam” if he wins the US election in November.

    In a foreign policy speech on Monday, the billionaire businessman said the goal of the new commission would be to “expose” networks within the US “that support radicalisation”.

    As president, Trump said, he would ask the state department and department of homeland security to identify regions of the world that remain hostile to the US, and where screening might not be sufficient to catch those who pose a threat.

    “We should only admit into our country those who share our values and respect our people,” he said from Youngstown, Ohio.

    “In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting.”

    As part of the plan, Trump, who has previously called for a ban on Muslims entering the US, said that he would “temporarily suspend immigration” from countries that have a history of “exporting terrorism”.

    He said that every year, the US admits 100,000 permanent immigrants “from the Middle East”, and hundreds of thousands more temporary workers and visitors from the same region.

    “We will stop processing visas from those areas until such time as it is deemed safe to resume based on new circumstances or new procedures.”

    Fight against ISIL

    Outlining his policy to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Trump also reversed an earlier position, promising that he would work with NATO allies to defeat the armed group if elected.

    “We will also work closely with NATO on this new mission,” said Trump, whose previous remarks about the organisation earlier this summer drew heavy criticism from US allies, and even some of his fellow Republicans.

    Trump, who last week called US President Barack Obama “the founder” of ISIL, also attacked his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for enabling the rise of the armed group, which is also known as ISIS.

    Sticking largely to prepared remarks and reading from a teleprompter, something he rarely does, Trump also criticised Clinton’s record as secretary of state and said she lacked the judgment and character to lead the country.

    ‘Does he have any idea?’

    Trump’s comments came amid increased scrutiny of his campaign and his off-the-cuff, inflammatory statements.

    Before his speech, the Clinton campaign said on Twitter: “Trump’s candidacy alone is undermining our national security”.

    In a campaign appearance with Clinton in the state of Pennsylvania, Vice President Joseph Biden said that Trump “has no clue what it takes to lead this great country”.

    Biden also said that Trump’s accusation that Obama and Clinton had created ISIL endangered the lives of US troops abroad.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, does he have any idea of the adverse consequences these comments have on our allies, our friends and the physical safety of our troops?” ” he said.

    “Trump is already making our country less safe.”

    A ‘ruinous’ presidency

    Separately on Monday, US Asia experts who served in past Republican administrations said they would back Clinton in the presidential race, as Trump would lead to “ruinous marginalization” for the US in the region.

    In an open letter, the eight former senior officials said that with global strategic competition growing, including from China, it was “absolutely the wrong time to elect an unstable, ill-prepared amateur with no vision or foresight to meet the manifold challenges of the 21st century”.

    They said the Republican nominee offered “only bluster or preposterous panaceas” for Asia that would “wreck our country’s credibility, economy, and leadership in very short order”.

    The signatories to the letter included Michael Green, who served as President George W Bush’s top Asia adviser at the White House, James Clad, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Patrick Cronin, a former senior official at the US Agency for International Development.

    “In short, if the Trump brand … becomes America’s brand, we can expect ruinous marginalization in Asia and unwanted compliance with rules which the Chinese and other challengers set,” they said.

  • Zambia: President Edgar Lungu elected in disputed vote

    Opposition party challenges result of presidential election, claiming the electoral commission colluded to rig the vote.

    Zambia’s incumbent President Edgar Lungu has been declared the winner of a closely fought presidential election, but the result was immediately challenged by his main opponent Hakainde Hichilema.

    Lungu, leader of the Patriotic Front (PF), won 50.35 percent of Thursday’s vote, against 47.67 percent for Hichilema, of the United Party for National Development (UPND), the Electoral Commission of Zambia said on Monday.

    The opposition party quickly, however, rejected the result, claiming the electoral commission had colluded to rig the vote against its candidate.

    “We have evidence to the effect that the votes for Hakainde Hichilema have been deliberately reduced in collusion with the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” the UPND’s lawyer, Jack Mwiimbu, told journalists.

    “We have confidence that the constitutional court will rise above board and declare the results a nullity,” he said.

    Police said officers were sent to quell rioting by Hichilema’s supporters in the south of the country who blocked roads and burned tyres after the result was announced. Southern province police commissioner Goldwin Phiri reported clashes with police in the towns of Monze, Chombe and Mazabuka.

    “We don’t know where we are headed, but … there will be trouble,” a civil servant in Mazabuka told DPA news agency.

    Al Jazeera’s Tania Page, reporting from the capital, Lusaka, said Hichilema “has really been able to cast a lot of doubt over the process”, raising many complaints about the campaign period and vote-counting process.

    “Some of that has been supported by international observer missions,” Page said.

    “Most particularly, the European Union, which agreed with his claims that the state media is heavily biased towards the government.”

    The EU also supported Hichilema’s view that police had acted with political motives at times, and had also cracked down “quite harshly” on some of his political gatherings, our correspondent said.

    The election was fought around the issues of rising unemployment, mine closures, power shortages and soaring food prices which Hichilema, an economist and businessman, blamed on Lungu’s mismanagement.

    Lungu has been in office for just 19 months after he first took power last year when he beat Hichilema by fewer than 28,000 votes in a snap election following the death in office of president Michael Sata.

    His re-election will see him remain in power for another five-year term.

    Hundreds of Lungu’s supporters, most of them young men draped in PF regalia, took to the streets of Lusaka, chanting slogans and singing, while drivers hooted their car horns in celebration.

    Emanuel Phiri, 48, a taxi driver, said he believed Lungu was the popular choice of the Zambian people.

    “Lungu really worked hard for this and God has made it possible,” he told Al Jazeera.

    The opposition, however, has launched a challenge to the result and will appear in court later in the week, Al Jazeera’s Page said.

    “We are going to petition this election in court. It was full of irregularities, malpractices and vote stealing,” said Brian Mwiinga, spokesperson for Hichilema’s UPND.

    “The narrow margin that the electoral commission claims Lungu won by is not legitimate and because it is such a small percentage it shows that it does not reflect the will of the people; instead it simply tells us the story that the election was stolen,” he told Al Jazeera.

    Chris Akufuna, a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission of Zambia, declined to comment on the disputed result, but urged aggrieved parties to submit complaints in writing.

    Gilles Kasongo, of the Zambia Election Information Centre, a coalition of civil society organisations focusing on governance and electoral procedure, said that several flaws in the election process made it difficult to accept that it was a fair victory.

    “There are strong concerns in the electoral commission’s handling of matters concerning results, and these should be taken up in the courts by political parties,” Kasongo told Al Jazeera, adding that the use of public funds to finance the ruling party’s campaign means the victory “cannot be seen as a just win”.

    PF supporters in Lusaka celebrate while holding a portrait of Lungu

  • Tanzania:Opposition members belittle planned demos

    Members of opposition parties in Lushoto District have vowed never to participate in the countrywide demonstrations as declared by their national party leaders, saying they see no reason for the move.

    They have instead praised President John Magufuli’s government, which they have acknowledged as hard working for the development of ordinary Tanzanians, citing rural electrification for special admiration.

    They told the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, here yesterday that because of electricity supply to many villages in their district, they have decided to support the government in its efforts rather than involving in demonstrations.

    “We thank you honourable minister with your government for your efforts to bring us development … electricity is development, therefore despite being an opposition leader, my colleagues and I have agreed not to storm into demonstration on September 1, this year,” said Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, CHADEMA Secretary of Mlola Ward, Mr Ali Keto.

    He further stated that all opposition members and fans were against the planned demonstrations, assuring Prof Muhongo of maximum collaboration with the government.

    “All things which we wanted to be done are now being done under President Magufuli’s government …why should we demonstrate…all we now want is development,” he further stated.

    Another leader of CUF Mr Shafii Salumu Makame, asked all residents of Lushoto District and elsewhere in the country, to support the government because it was doing a commendable job to bring about development to wananchi.

    Prof Muhongo had earlier said that development has no political party, affirming the government’s commitment to serve and bring development to all people regardless of their political affiliation.

    “Thank you for showing me that you will not join into demonstration…let us cooperate to bring development…who expected that this mountainous land could have electricity…but today it is here…believe on this government because it has planned to do many things,” said Prof Muhongo.

    The residents of Mlalo had requested President Magufuli to visit their area, claiming that since independence, there is no any sitting president who ever visited the area.

    “Please send our message to president Magufuli…we love him therefore we request him to visit our land…we elected him through looking on his photo…now we want to see him physically as we see you here,” said 78-year old Abeid Athumani.

    Minister Muhongo continues his tour of Tanga Region to see the development of Rural Electrification Agency (REA) projects prior to the take off of phase three.

  • Voting ends in Zambia’s tight presidential election

    Polling stations have closed in Zambia’s presidential and parliamentary elections following campaigning marred by clashes between rival supporters.

    It is expected to be a tight race between President Edgar Lungu’s governing PF party and the opposition UPND led by Hakainde Hichilema.

    For the first time, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off.

    Mr Lungu won the last election by less than 28,000 votes.

    Each of the nine presidential candidates has a running mate to avoid a presidential by-election if the president dies in office – which has happened twice in the last 10 years.

    The BBC’s Akwasi Sarpong in the capital, Lusaka, say there was a high turnout at polling centres in the city.

    Long, calm, orderly queues formed early in the morning and election monitors have not reported any complaints, he says.

    There were five votes – for president, MPs, mayors, local councillors and an amendment to the constitution on changes to the bill of rights.

    As the counting begins, Zambia’s electoral commission has urged political party supporters to remain calm after final results are announced.

    Observers say Zambia’s struggling economy will be a key issue.

    Plunging prices for copper, its main export, have closed mines and left thousands unemployed. With economic growth roughly halved, the country asked the International Monetary Fund for help earlier this year.

    In addition, Zambia, like other parts of southern Africa, has been hit by a drought that the UN has described as the worst in 35 years.

    The UPND (United Party for National Development) has accused President Lungu of presiding over the “collapse” of the economy. But the PF (Patriotic Front) says it has a plan to diversify the economy.

    Nail polish allowed

    During the last election, some women wearing nail varnish were forced to remove it before voting as polling officials said they would not be able to apply the indelible ink correctly.

    But on Wednesday night, the electoral commission circulated posts on social media saying women with “painted nails and/or false nails” could vote.

    Zambia’s fluid politics by Nomsa Maseko, BBC News, Lusaka

    This is an election like no other. Each voter was given five ballot papers – presidential, parliamentary, mayoral, local government and a referendum. All of these to be decided on one day. The five ballot papers each represent a separate vote. They are orange, red, purple, black and tan.

    The political landscape is fluid.There’s been a shifting of political allegiances which in other parts of the continent would be seen as a betrayal.

    Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba is Hakainde Hichilema’s running mate for the United Party for National Development. But before this, he was defence minister in late Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front government.

    While former Deputy President Guy Scott, whose wife is seeking a position as a lawmaker in Lusaka central constituency to replace her husband, has endorsed Edgar Lungu’s main rival Hakainde Hichilema.

    And lastly, Mulenga Sata, son of the late President Sata has also defected to Mr Hichilema’s UPND.

    Some people had been queuing for two hours at polling stations in Lusaka

  • Judiciary facing crisis – Besigye

    “If the DPP wanted to help in this trial, he should have ensured that Kayihura is in court and that charges are read to him, that he enters a plea because how do you take on a charge when there is no plea of guilty or not guilty. What if he (Kayihura) enters a plea of guilty, what is the DPP taking over?” Dr Besigye asked.

    Kampala. Opposition leader Kizza Besigye yesterday termed the raid by a mob on Makindye court to stop the prosecution of the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, on torture-related charges as an example of a crisis facing the Judiciary.

    “There is a clear crisis in the Justice Law and Order Sector. It is not a new one, this is simply reminiscent of the Black Mamba who attacked courts not once but twice and I think our country must rise up to the occasion and take urgent measures to regain control of our institutions,” Dr Besigye said while addressing journalists at his home in Kasangati, Wakiso District, yesterday.

    He cited the example of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)taking over the case where Gen Kayihura is charged even when the suspect is not in court as one of the challenges the sector is facing.

    Gen Kayihura and seven other senior police commanders and officers did not turn up in court on Wednesday.

  • Donald Trump accuses Obama of being ‘founder of ISIL’

    White House hopeful accuses Hillary Clinton of also bearing blame for foundation of ISIL, which was formed in Iraq.

    Donald Trump accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of founding the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) that is wreaking havoc from the Middle East to European cities.

    A moment later, on another topic, he emphasised the president’s full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama.

    “In many respects, you know, they honour President Obama,” Trump said during a raucous campaign rally outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “He is the founder of ISIS.”

    He repeated the allegation three times.

    “He’s the founder of ISIS, okay?” he added. “He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.”

    Trump has long blamed Obama and his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for pursuing Middle East policies that created a power vacuum in Iraq that was exploited by ISIL.

    He has sharply criticised Obama for announcing that he would pull US troops out of Iraq, a decision that many Obama critics say created the kind of instability in which groups such as ISIL thrive.

    The White House declined to comment on Trump’s accusation.

    The former property mogul and reality TV star went on to criticise Clinton, his Democratic party rival for the presidency.

    “And I would say, the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton,” he said.

    The Republican presidential nominee has in the past accused Clinton of “founding” the group.

    Assassination allegations

    ISIL began as Iraq’s local affiliate of al-Qaeda and has carried out massive attacks against Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority, fuelling tensions with al-Qaeda’s central leadership.

    The local group’s then-leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in 2006 in a US air strike but is still seen as its founder.

    Trump’s accusation – and his pointed use of the president’s middle name, Hussein – echoed previous instances where he has questioned Obama’s loyalties.

    In June, when a gunman who claimed allegiance to ISIL killed 49 people in a Florida nightclub, Trump seemed to suggest Obama was sympathetic to the group when he said Obama “doesn’t get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands”.

    In the past, Trump has also falsely suggested that Obama is a Muslim or was born in Kenya, where Obama’s father was from.

    Trump lobbed the allegation halfway through his rally at a sports arena, where riled-up supporters shouted obscenities about Clinton and shouted “lock her up”.

    He also railed against the fact that the Orlando shooter’s father, Seddique Mateen, was spotted in the crowd behind Clinton during a Monday rally in Florida, saying: “Of course he likes Hillary Clinton.”

    Trump has been criticised over the past week for comments he made suggesting gun rights advocates could stop Clinton from becoming president and picking new, anti-gun Supreme Court judges, by using their second amendment rights, which allow them to bear arms.

    “Hillary wants to essentially abolish the Second Amendment,” Trump told a rally in North Carolina.

    “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” Trump said. “Although the Second Amendment people – maybe there is, I don’t know.”

    Trump’s campaign spokesman later denied allegations that the comments were advocating for Clinton to be assassinated.

    Trump has taken flak over allegations he called for the assassination of Hillary Clinton

  • Zambia elections: Tight race expected after violence mars run-up

    Voting has begun in Zambia’s presidential and parliamentary elections following campaigning marred by clashes between rival supporters.

    It is expected to be a tight race between President Edgar Lungu’s governing PF party and the opposition UPND led by Hakainde Hichilema.

    For the first time, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off.

    Mr Lungu narrowly won the last election with 48% of votes.

    Observers say Zambia’s struggling economy will be a key issue.

    Plunging prices for copper, its main export, have closed mines and left thousands unemployed. With economic growth roughly halved, the country asked the International Monetary Fund for help earlier this year.

    In addition, Zambia, like other parts of southern Africa, has been hit by a drought that the UN has described as the worst in 35 years.

    The UPND (United Party for National Development) has accused President Lungu of presiding over the “collapse” of the economy. But the PF (Patriotic Front) says it has a plan to diversify the economy.

    A watchdog warned on Wednesday that clashes between rival political groups over recent weeks could keep some voters away.

    “Escalating levels of violence may have a negative impact on the elections and reduce voter turnout,” the Zambian Elections Information Centre said in a statement.

    “Political cadres have increasingly become unruly to the extent that they have shown no regard for law enforcement agents.”

    On Tuesday, the head of the electoral commission, Esau Chulu, warned the two front-runners to avoid stirring unrest.

    “I do not think that either of you will want to go on record as having been the two political parties who contributed to permanently denting Zambia’s record of peaceful elections,” he said.

    Campaigning was suspended for 10 days in the capital Lusaka last month after a UPND supporter was shot dead during a protest.

    As well as the election, Zambians are voting in a referendum on an amended bill of rights.

    Poll will close at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) and results are expected late on Friday and on Saturday.

    Zambian police broke up skirmishes between rival political supporters in Lusaka just hours before polls opened

  • U.S. urges Congo to allow rights activist to resume work

    The United States on Wednesday urged the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is cracking down on dissent before elections due in November, to allow a prominent rights activist to continue working in the country.

    The Congolese government on Tuesday said it had refused to renew the visa of Ida Sawyer, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher in the country, a move that follows expulsions of other foreign researchers in a tense election year.

    Sawyer, who has worked for Human Rights Watch in Congo since 2008, has been among the most vocal critics of what the United Nations and rights groups say is a growing crackdown on dissent before elections scheduled for November.

    “We’re very concerned by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s decision not to renew the visa of Human Rights Watch senior researcher for the Congo,” State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said at her daily briefing.

    Trudeau said that Sawyer’s “forced departure” along with the expulsion of researchers from the Congo Research Group and Global Witness earlier this year “is incompatible with efforts to support greater transparency, accountability and democracy.”

    “We urge … the Congolese government to allow Human Rights Watch senior researcher to resume her important work in the DRC without delay,” said, calling on all sides in the country to “to respect Democratic norms and to refrain from violence.”

    The constitution requires President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, to step down after the polls. Opponents accuse him of seeking to delay the vote to hold onto power. The government says that enrolling new voters will take more than a year.

    Dozens of people were killed in anti-government protests in January 2015 over a proposed revision to the country’s electoral code that could have delayed the election by years.

    Sawyer criticized security forces at the time of using “unlawful and excessive force.” Last January, she called for targeted sanctions against officials responsible for violence against civilians.

    The government denies using excessive force against protesters or targeting its political opponents.

    The U.S. government imposed sanctions on the capital Kinshasa’s police chief in June for what it described as the violent suppression of opposition to Kabila’s government.