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  • The African Union reiterates its full support to the transition in Burkina Faso

    BURKINA FASO, 2015/07/23 The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, continues to follow closely the evolution of the situation in Burkina Faso. She expresses her concern about the tension prevailing in that country since 28 June 2015, particularly following incidents involving elements of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP). The Chairperson of the Commission recalls the relevant provisions of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, to which Burkina Faso is party, and other related AU instruments. In this context, she stresses the AU’s commitment to the imperative need for the subordination of the Defence and Security Forces to the political authority and respect for the policy of law. She urges the concerned Burkinabe stakeholders to comply with these principles, to exercise utmost restraint and to refrain from any action likely to undermine the smooth conduct of the Transition and to plunge the country onto the path of instability, with all the attendant consequences. The AU and the international community will hold all those who obstruct the smooth conduct of the Transition accountable for their actions.

  • Burundi, Rwanda, and now Congo; another African president set to change term limit rules

    BURUNDI, 2015/07/19 REPUBLIC of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso received the green light on Friday from a political forum on the next of the country’s institutions to try extend his lengthy policy. It was the second political action in favour of extending presidential term limits in Central Africa in the week. On Tuesday Rwandan lawmakers voted 99% to hold a referendum on proposed changes to the constitution that would allow President Paul Kagame to extend his 15 years in power. READ: 99% of Rwandan lawmakers vote for changes to allow Kagame extend his 15 years in power

  • South Africa is now facing a constitutional crisis are incorrect,

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2015/07/18 Johannesburgx — The South African government's failure to comply with a court order barring Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country has not thrown South Africa into a constitutional crisis, a government official said on Thursday. Allegations that South Africa is presently facing a constitutional crisis are incorrect, South African Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, John Jeffery told Xinhua. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on al-Bashir for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity. South Africa, as a signatory to the Roman Statue that created the ICC, was legally bound to arrest him and hand him over to the ICC at the same time as he attended the African Union (AU) summit in Johannesburg in June.

  • Burundi holds parliamentary vote amid opposition boycott

    BURUNDI, 2015/06/30 It was a poll of a lot of tales as Burundi took to picking their legislators through the ballot yesterday. At one end, President Nkuzunziza, whose insistance on running for a controversial re-election triggered off mass Burundian exodus in search for refuge across the borders, arrived to vote riding a bicycle. In the capital Bujumbira, a bomb exploded. From presently on still, polling stations were deserted but the electoral commission said voter turnout was massive with four million registered voters casting their votes. A lot of polling stations were quiet although the electoral commission reported a massive turnout of the nearly four million registered voters, according to agencies.

  • Buhari's Tough Challenge in Nigeria

    NIGERIA, 2015/05/30 At the same time as Muhammadu Buhari assumes office as Nigeria's president on 29 May, he will take the reins of a country in critical distress. Insecurity poses a towering challenge, the economy is in dire straits, and corruption and impunity are rife. Buhari, who won the election on the promise of change, must presently urgently make good on that promise, starting by rallying Nigerians around that which they have lost: a common vision for the next. The killings by the radical Islamist Boko Haram may have ebbed following recent offensives by forces from Nigeria and its neighbours, but the insurgency is not from presently on ended. Over the last four years, the group has killed at least 16,000 people, displaced over 1.5 million and laid waste to a lot of communities in the north east. The country is as well plagued by diverse lower-intensity conflicts and unacceptable levels of criminal violence.

  • Burundi opposition leader registers as presidential candidate

    BURUNDI, 2015/05/13 Burundi's major opposition leader, Agathon Rwasa, on Saturday registered his candidacy for next month's presidential election. Rwasa leads the National Liberation Forces - known by its French acronym FNL - and is the key challenger to President Pierre Nkurunziza whose desire to run for a third term in office has triggered weeks of deadly street protests in the capital Bujumbura. "I submitted my papers... to meet the deadline," imposed by the electoral commission, Rwasa said. He added that his registration was not a sign that he accepts either the electoral process or the candidature of his opponent, the president, who registered his own candidacy on Friday.

  • Burundi President to Run for Third Term Despite Protest.

    BURUNDI, 2015/04/26 Burundi's president has been declared as candidate for a controversial third term in office, his ruling party announced, despite mounting protests over the move that the opposition says is unconstitutional. There was tight security as the ruling CNDD-FDD party opened a appropriate congress on Saturday morning, during which Pierre Nkurunziza was officially designated as the party's candidate. "We wish to announce to the national and international community that the member who has been selected to represent us in the elections is Pierre Nkurunziza," the chief of CNDD-FDD, Pascal Nyabenda, announced next a party conference. He said Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader who has by presently served two-terms as president, "has the right to be elected".

  • Togo Votes As President Gnassingbe Seeks Third Term.

    TOGO, 2015/04/26 The Togolese people have gone to the polls to decide whether to give Faure Gnassingbe a third term. The president faces a divided opposition in voting by presently delayed to make late changes to how results are tallied. Oddsmakers and commentators expected Togo's presidential incumbent, Faure Gnassingbe, to win a third term in office and extend his family's grip on power into a second half-century next Saturday's single-round election. Campaigning went largely peacefully, with no signs of the tensions that led to violence in 2005, at the same time as at least 500 died and thousands were injured next the election.

  • Polls Open in Togo's Presidential Vote

    TOGO, 2015/04/26 Polls have opened in Togo's presidential election on Saturday. Voting began in a little while next 7 GMT in Lome, the capital of the west African country where 3.5 million people are registered to vote. Polling stations are scheduled to close at 1600 GMT.

  • Nigeria post-election: Bellwether of African democracy?

    NIGERIA, 2015/04/18 Nigeria’s 2015 general elections, which drew to a close this weekend, have been hailed as historic. The victory of Muhammadu Buhari, in the March presidential poll, was viewed as a landmark – the initial time a sitting president had been voted out of office. Equally significant was incumbent Goodluck Jonathan’s acceptance of defeat – not a given on a continent in which rulers have often gone to great lengths to retain power. And, despite some violent incidents at the national level, the absence of a similarly bloody outcome to 2011 – at the same time as over 800 died – has been viewed as a notable advance.
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