Presidential elections in Benin set for February 27
COTONOU (AFP) – Presidential elections in the west African nation of Benin will take place on February 27, the presidency said on Tuesday. ”The first round of presidential elections will be held on February 27,” it said in a statement. If need arises for a second round of balloting, it will be staged two weeks later. Legislative polls [...]
Zimbabwe’s economic revival under threat because of constant power cuts
HARARE (AFP) – The little shop is lit by a single candle propped on the counter as shoppers step into the murky light out of the pitch-black darkness on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital. It is a familiar scene for the shopkeeper: yet another blackout as the country’s state electricity provider buckles under demand and pulls [...]
Opposition party in Uganda threatens to pull out of elections
KAMPALA (AFP) – Uganda’s main opposition group has threatened to pull out of next month’s general elections over rigging suspicions. ”If it is clear to us that this election is a completely hopeless process, we could still pull out at any time,” presidential candidate Kizza Besigye said Monday while recording a televised electoral debate. Besigye, who is [...]
Two civilians shot dead in the Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN (AFP) – At least two civilians were shot dead after lengthy bursts of gunfire were heard in a tense neighbourhood of Ivory Coast’s crisis-stricken commercial capital Abidjan, an AFP journalist reported. The bullet-riddled bodies of two men were seen lying face-down on the streets of Abidjan’s Abobo neighbourhood, a bastion of the country’s internationally recognised [...]
Uganda likely has 2.5 billion barrels of commercially viable oil
KAMPALA (AFP) – Uganda likely has 2.5 billion barrels of commercially viable oil, an executive from Anglo-Irish Tullow said on Tuesday, adding that production would not begin in 2011 as previously expected. ”Our exploration has been phenomenally successful,” said Brian Glover, country manager for Tullow Uganda, which controls most reserves already discovered in the country’s Lake [...]
Raila Odinga set to return to Ivory Coast this week
NAIROBI, January 11, 2011 (AFP) – The African Union’s mediator in the Ivorian crisis, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, is expected to fly back to the troubled west African country this week, his spokesman said Tuesday. ”The PM has indicated that he will return to Ivory Coast this week. The date of his return will be [...]
Gunmen kill policeman in northern Nigeria church attack
K ANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Gunmen opened fire on police guarding Christian worshippers at a church in northern Nigeria, killing one and wounding two others in the latest such attack in the region, police said Monday. The Sunday night attack occurred in Maiduguri, where suspected members of an Islamist sect have carried out a series of [...]
Malawi president fires defence minister
BLANTYRE (AFP) – Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika on Monday sacked his defence minister with immediate effect and took over his portfolio, state radio reported. In a short statement, the radio said Reckford Thotho was “fired with immediate effect” and Mutharika had assumed the defence portfolio. No reason was given for the sacking of Thotho, who was [...]
Jonathan ‘can run’ in party primaries
ABUJA (AFP) – A Nigerian court Monday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar President Goodluck Jonathan from vying for the ruling party ticket just days before primaries ahead of the April vote. Three members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) petitioned the court to have Jonathan stopped from running for office because a party policy [...]
Malawi police arrest journalist of sensational weekly tabloid
BLANTYRE, 10 January 2011 (AFP) – Police in Malawi on Monday arrested a senior journalist with the sensational weekly tabloid which was briefly banned by authorities in October for not properly registering with the government. ”They have not told me the reasons why I have been arrested”, Kandani Ngwira, a senior reporter with the one-year-old Weekend [...]