AFRICA

United Nations, United States | AFP | Burundi is not ready to hold credible elections because the ruling party and its allies remain firmly in control of political life and tensions remain high, a UN envoy said Monday. In power since 2005, Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza is leading a push for …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP |  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a sweeping reshuffle Monday that saw Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma named Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. She is one of up to 12 women ministers named in the cabinet reshuffle (making 45% of ministers and …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP |  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who took office 11 days ago, has reshuffled cabinet Monday as he draws a line under his graft-tainted predecessor Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa announced his new ministers in a televised address from the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African state prosecutors on Monday said they would next month release their decision on whether or not to prosecute former president Jacob Zuma for corruption. Zuma faces the risk of jail over 18 criminal charges linked to 783 payments totalling four million rands …

Uganda, Somalia trade blame over deadly Mogadishu shoot-out Kampala, Uganda | AFP | The Ugandan army said Monday its troops had shot dead three Somali soldiers in Mogadishu, accusing them of opening fire on a military convoy carrying Uganda’s peacekeeping commander. Uganda’s army said Somali troops opened fire on the …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Experts gathered in Nigeria’s capital on Monday to discuss ways to stop Africa’s Lake Chad from drying up, after years of environmental decline that has hit livelihoods and security. The two-day conference, organised by the government in Abuja and the Lake Chad Basin Commission, aims …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s High Court on Monday ordered immigration authorities to allow an outspoken member of the opposition alliance to return to the country, after his deportation earlier this month. Miguna Miguna, a firebrand member of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition, was forced onto an …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Nearly half of the population in war-torn South Sudan is experiencing extreme hunger, with many more set to run out of food as famine looms, government and UN agencies said Monday. A year after South Sudan became the first country in six years to …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s High Court on Monday ordered immigration authorities to allow an outspoken member of the opposition alliance to return to the country, after his deportation earlier this month. Miguna Miguna, a firebrand member of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition, was forced onto an …

How many Messiahs can one country take? Kampala, Uganda | DAVID EVERATT | Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa – forgive me, President Ramaphosa – is self-evidently a private and reserved human being. Since his decision to contest the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), he has been the subject of an endless …