AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The election commission that oversaw Kenya’s flawed 2013 polls and was tarnished by a corruption scandal will receive a $2 million pay-off in return for agreeing to leave office early, local media reported Thursday. The nine commissioners will share the pot of cash, according to …

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | AFP | Zimbabwe’s 92-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe will pay a surprise one-day working visit to Malaysia on Friday, the Southeast Asian country said. Malaysia’s government said late Thursday Mugabe will have a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak but otherwise gave scant details on the purpose …

International community slams fresh call for war in S.Sudan Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  The international community on Thursday hit out at a call from South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar for renewed war with the government, raising concerns about heavy fighting in recent weeks. Machar, the former vice president, …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |  Zambia’s opposition leader and defeated presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema was arrested Wednesday on charges of sedition and unlawful assembly, police said. Hichilema, who disputed the result of August polls which re-elected President Edgar Lungu, was detained along with Geoffrey Mwamba, the vice-president of his United …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is selling two of his jets in a bid to cut costs as the West African country battles to overcome a recession. In a statement released late on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said that Buhari is reducing the number of …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | An American woman was killed by a rock thrown in a town outside the Ethiopian capital, the US embassy said Wednesday, as anti-government anger sparked fresh protests after a deadly stampede. Protesters stoned the vehicle the woman was travelling in as demonstrations sprung up …

Security hampers 10-year African governance growth London, United Kingdom | AFP | Governance in Africa has gradually improved over the past 10 years but has been held back by deteriorating security and the rule of law, an annual index tracking development showed Monday. Some 70 percent of African citizens now …

News of plans to set up of a craft brewery being in advanced stages has recently swept through Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. As the name suggests, the planned brewery will be small and independently-owned by a renowned name in Kigali’s entrepreneurial and restaurant-owners community, Josephine `Fina’ Uwineza. Uwineza is …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Skilled workers are leaving sub-Saharan Africa in rapidly increasingly numbers, producing a “brain drain” that causes long-term social damage, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday. The IMF said that the number of sub-Saharan migrants living in developed countries could increase from about seven million …

Rwanda’s President Kagame asserts Africa’s right to self-determination in Coca-Cola lecture at Yale A speech President Paul Kagame delivered during a public lecture at the Coca Cola World Fund Lecture at Yale University has sparked wide-ranging debate for its emphasis on the right of Africans to self-determination. Speaking before over …