Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and former president Joyce Banda have formed an alliance to take on the ruling party in May elections, a joint statement said Friday. The opposition alliance does not include the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which came second to the ruling …
Read More »‘Golden handshake’ for DR Congo’s outgoing ministers
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | In the weeks leading up to Democratic Republic of Congo’s controversial election, those leaving power quietly passed two decrees guaranteeing themselves money and benefits that would ensure their financial security for decades to come. Ministers in the outgoing government of now ex-president Joseph Kabila awarded …
Read More »Nigeria’s Soyinka rejects presidential frontrunners
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has urged Nigerians to reject President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger in this month’s presidential election, saying it was time for a “totally new direction.” Buhari, 76, came to power in 2015 and is seeking a second term in the February …
Read More »Nigeria files graft charges against Buhari’s former aides
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria has filed corruption charges against two former senior government officials and close aides of President Muhammadu Buhari who were sacked for alleged graft, the country’s anti-corruption agency said on Thursday. The appointments of top civil servant Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, were terminated …
Read More »DR Congo seeks UN help against Rwanda rebels on border
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s government has asked its UN peacekeeping mission for help against Rwandan rebels planning operations against Rwanda from inside Congolese territory, the UN said on Wednesday. Leila Zerrougui, chief of the UN mission known as MONUSCO, said Kinshasa asked in a letter for …
Read More »Sudan army says will not allow state to collapse amid protest
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s army has said it will not allow the state to collapse amid nationwide protests, as the defence minister warned of a “plot” to trigger insecurity in the African nation. Deadly protests have rocked Sudan for weeks now, with protesters calling for an end to …
Read More »Hundreds of Sudan professors hold sit-in against Bashir gov’t
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | About 300 Sudanese professors and lecturers from the University of Khartoum held a sit-in protest on campus Wednesday against President Omar al-Bashir’s government, a spokesman for the group said. Deadly protests have rocked the east African country since December 19 after a government decision to …
Read More »Nigerians’ drugs use more than twice global average: study
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | One in seven Nigerians uses drugs, more than twice the global average, according to the country’s first major national drug-use survey published on Tuesday. The survey, conducted by the Nigerian government, the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC), said an …
Read More »Zimbabwe opposition says crackdown worse than under Mugabe
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s main opposition said Tuesday a violent crackdown on civilians by the new government was worse than anything in recent years under ousted leader Robert Mugabe, accusing Harare of escalating “terrorism”. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa said state repression had reached new levels following scenes of “terror” …
Read More »Fear of Boko Haram attack sees 30,000 flee Nigerian town: UN
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | More than 30,000 people have fled the northeast Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon in recent days because of fears of renewed Boko Haram attacks, the UN, civilian militia and residents said on Tuesday. The latest mass movement comes as the world body voiced renewed concern …
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