Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | A parliamentary vote of no confidence in South African President Jacob Zuma will be held by secret ballot, it was announced Monday, in a move that could encourage some ANC lawmakers to choose to oust him. The vote to be held Tuesday has become …
Read More »Kenya president urges peace on eve of tense election
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urged peace Monday on the eve of tense elections in which his battle with rival Raila Odinga is seen as too close to call. Kenyatta, 55, who is seeking a second and final term in office, gave a televised speech in a …
Read More »Kenya since 2007-2008 post-election violence
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Below are key dates since post-election violence in Kenya in 2007-2008 left more than 1,100 dead, the worst violence in the east African country since independence in 1963: – 2007-2008: post election violence – On December 27, 2007, outgoing president Mwai Kibaki is proclaimed winner again …
Read More »Kenya on a knife edge ahead of high-stakes elections
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in a knife-edge contest between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga which has heightened claims of vote rigging and fears of violence. The final days of campaigning have been marred by the murder and torture of …
Read More »Kenyans take no chances ahead of high-stakes election
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | In recent days, the queues of early morning travellers at Nairobi’s long-distance bus stations have been thick with people seeking to leave the city. In supermarkets, the aisles are cramped with shoppers pushing convoys of trolleys stacked high with provisions. In the runup to Tuesday’s …
Read More »Kenya: five things to know
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya, which holds elections on Tuesday a decade after deadly post-vote violence, is one of east Africa’s leading economies with a crucial tourism sector based on safaris and tropical beaches. – Post-election violence – Kenya was a British colony until independence on December 12, 1963. Jomo …
Read More »UHURU: from millionaire playboy to Kenyan president
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The son of Kenya’s founding president and a man who epitomises the country’s elite, Uhuru Kenyatta hopes to win a second and final five-year term in elections on August 8. The 55-year-old US-educated multi-millionaire, whose family owns an array of businesses, properties and tracts of land, …
Read More »RAILA ODINGA: Veteran Kenyan oppositionist vies again
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Raila Odinga, Kenya’s veteran opposition leader and one-time prime minister, is taking his fourth tilt at the presidency in next week’s election. The 72-year-old has been a mainstay of Kenyan politics since the 1980s but has never achieved his presidential ambition. His career emulates that of …
Read More »Kenya opposition says US, Canadian poll advisers deported
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two foreign nationals working on the opposition’s poll campaign are being deported from Kenya, the opposition and the US embassy said Saturday, just three days before a general election. In a tweet the US embassy in Nairobi said an American and a Canadian had been detained …
Read More »Kenya opposition claims office raided by police
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s main opposition coalition said Friday that one of its offices in a Nairobi suburb was raided by police who made off with dozens of computers, servers and surveillance equipment. The incident comes as the country is on a knife edge just days ahead of …
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