AFRICA

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Kenya on Thursday accused the United Nations of bowing to pressure from certain countries by setting up an investigation that pinned the blame for peacekeeping failures in South Sudan on the Kenyan force commander. Ambassador Macharia Kamau charged that “certain current and future …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Uganda told the UN rights council on Thursday that it does not “tolerate” discrimination based on sexual orientation, a claim directly undermined by the government’s widely condemned record on gay rights. Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa also blamed British colonialism for laws that remain on Uganda’s …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Angola said Wednesday that a date must be set for presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that will allow a smooth handover of power from President Joseph Kabila. Angola and France will be leading a Security Council visit to the DR …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya announced Wednesday it was withdrawing from United Nations peacekeeping duties in South Sudan after UN chief Ban Ki-moon fired the Kenyan head of the force for failing to protect civilians. Continued deployment of Kenyan troops in South Sudan “is no longer tenable”, the foreign …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate alleged criminal activity as it released a report into President Jacob Zuma that fuelled further calls for him to resign. Zuma, whose presidency has been engulfed by multiple scandals, had fought to block the …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP |  Six civilians were hacked to death in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attack by Ugandan Islamist rebels, local officials said Tuesday. Fighters from the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a small village in North Kivu province on Monday, …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  Rwanda has published a list of 22 French officers it accuses of helping plan and execute the 1994 genocide, in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries. Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (known by its French acronym CNLG) issued …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Tuesday implored the country’s army to respect the “rule of law”. The impoverished, landlocked west African country has been blighted by numerous coups and mutinies since gaining independence from France in 1960. Ten days ago the …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma launched his court bid Tuesday to block the publication of a potentially explosive report that resulted from a probe of his ties to a powerful family of Indian businessmen. The report investigated allegations that Zuma allowed the Gupta family …

United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday sacked the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan following a damning report showing failure to protect civilians during violence earlier this year in Juba. The report from a UN special investigation found that a lack …