Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe is expected to soon face tough questions from some of the country’s lawmakers. The Mines and Energy Committee of the Zimbabwean parliament is set to summon the former leader to testify in a probe into lost revenue from diamond mining. It will be the first time Mugabe will be expected to account for his actions… Read more »
Sierra Leone’s new president, Julius Maada Bio, on Friday promised civil servants they need not fear a purge despite a historic shift in the country’s politics. Bio, whose election has ended decade-long rule in Sierra Leone by the All People’s Congress (APC), praised state workers and “gave them assurance and expressed commitment to work with them,” the spokesman for his SLPP party… Read more »
The swearing-in ceremony in parliament came after Ian Khama stepped down having completed the constitutional maximum of 10 years in office. As the vice president, Masisi took over automatically, and he is likely to secure a further five-year term in elections in October 2019 when the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is expected to hold on to power. Botswana prides itself on good… Read more »
Court officials in Liberia raided the offices of a newspaper critical of President George Weah’s government and arrested all its employees on Monday. Editors, journalists and even the caretaker at Frontpage Africa were reportedly detained for several hours at the civil court in the capital, Monrovia. The arresting officers said they were acting in relation to a $1m ( £700,000)… Read more »
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s ex-leader Robert Mugabe sent shockwaves through the party he dominated for decades when he posed with the retired general who will take on the ruling ZANU-PF in this year’s election. Mugabe grinned broadly in the posed photo, standing beside brigadier general Ambrose Mutinhiri, the leader of opposition party the National Patriotic Front (NPF), which hopes to… Read more »
PORT LOUIS (AFP) – Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is to resign after becoming embroiled in a financial scandal, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced on Friday (March 9). Mrs Gurib-Fakim, who is the only female head of state in Africa, has been accused of using a bank card provided by a non-governmental organisation to make personal purchases and will step down… Read more »
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that land grabs would not be tolerated as the ruling African National Congress (ANC) moves to change the Constitution to expropriate property without compensation. Land remains an emotive issue in South Africa and most of it remains in white hands over two decades after apartheid’s demise, despite government programmes aimed at redistribution to narrow glaring racial disparities… Read more »
Over two million children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are at risk of starvation if they do not receive the aid they need, the UN has warned. The comments come in advance of a meeting between Mark Lowcock, the UN humanitarian chief, and potential donors willing to commit aid money to help the country in its dire situation. “We have a great… Read more »
The Democratic Republic of Congo has moved to increase taxes on mining firms and increase government royalties from the industry despite fierce opposition from international mining companies. President Joseph Kabila signed a new mining code into law on Friday. The country is Africa’s biggest producer of copper and cobalt, a vital component in mobile phone batteries. Foreign mining firms strongly… Read more »
JOHANNESBURG — President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, a master tactician who survived a string of corruption scandals and harsh court judgments during his nearly nine-year presidency, agreed on Wednesday night to step down, repudiated by the governing African National Congress Party, threatened by a no-confidence vote in Parliament, cornered by opposition parties and abandoned by millions of voters. In… Read more »