NEWS ANALYSIS

Joseph Kabila: DR Congo’s young, enigmatic leader Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Still relatively young after 16 years leading the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila is a secretive president at the centre of a political crisis in his vast, conflict-ravaged nation. Tuesday marks the end of the second …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Longtime Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who initially conceded defeat in a December 1 presidential poll, has lodged a Supreme Court case to challenge the result, despite pressure from the international community for him to cede power peacefully. The opposition in the small West African country, …

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP |  It had seemed impossible to find insults more scathing. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trading oil with Islamic State jihadists and making modern Turkey’s founder Ataturk “roll in his grave”. In a loud slanging match between two masters of …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | The fall of Aleppo has unleashed a mixture of outrage and impotence in the West, in which fury at the relentless carnage has mingled with guilt over the failure to stop it. Even the European public — who marched in the millions over the siege …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie has told AFP that he had not yet been informed why he was locked out of his own premises. He further dismissed Jammeh’s legal challenge of the IEC’s election result as unworkable because of the …

VIDEO: Winnie Byanyima’s declaration that she would stand for the country’s presidency if she is endorsed by FDC has met a lot of criticism. Though most Ugandans believe that she has the right qualities to lead this country, many say taking the mantle from her husband Dr. Kiiza Besigye, would be …

How the reign of Dos Santos shaped Angola Angolans endured a bloody civil war and extreme poverty as for nearly 40 years power rested solely in the hands of autocratic President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.  State radio’s announcement that he will stand down next year appears to be the beginning …

Museveni’s new team at Energy ministry grills Chinese contractors The midday sun is beating down hard at Karuma; site of what will be Uganda’s biggest electricity dam; the 600MW Hydropower Dam under construction. Gargantuan tower cranes stand several feet high, hoisting thick blocks of pre-fabricated concrete and iron bars atop …

These Chinese contractors don’t care at all, says Labour minister vow to whip them into line The human cost of accidents, poor health and safety conditions under Chinese contractors in Uganda has come under scrutiny and what is emerging is raising serious concerns. At the heart of the latest concerns …

Washington, United States | AFP | Four billionaires, three generals, a handful of women and nothing but conservatives: President-elect Donald Trump is building a super-rich, unorthodox and largely white inner circle to run the United States from January 20. They include a retired general whose salty language and warrior’s determination …