AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  At least one assailant stormed into the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday and injured a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, the police and security sources said. Ruto was not present during the attack, the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Unknown gunmen attacked the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday seriously injuring a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, two security sources told AFP. Ruto was not home during the attack. An officer from the elite police …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | A veteran political figure in Madagascar has died of gunshot wounds at his home, police said on Friday, after posting about personal problems on social media. Mamy Rakotoarivelo, a former parliament speaker and a key figure in talks that resolved a political crisis that dogged the …

Devolution has demystified local power and emboldened voters to assert themselves, leading to shocks all the way up the political pyramid Nairobi, Kenya | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS |  Kenya’s 2017 elections are set to be the country’s most interesting yet. The political landscape has shifted, and whatever else these elections turn out to be …

The ruling Patriotic Front’s expulsion of one of its founding members paves the way for President Lungu to be its presidential candidate. But they’d be wrong to think they’ve seen the end of Chishimba Kambwili. Lusaka, Zambia| AFRICAN ARGUMENTS | Last week, Chishimba Kambwili MP, an ambitious firebrand and possible presidential aspirant, was expelled …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Diplomatic talks and visits by experts are gathering pace in Togo as the former French colony looks to follow another Francophone nation and join the Commonwealth. Rwanda joined the 52-member bloc in 2009, 14 years after Portuguese-speaking Mozambique became the first member never to have had …

President Sall faces double challenge as Senegal elects MPs Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Senegal holds a legislative election on Sunday following a campaign gripped by tension between the rival coalitions of President Macky Sall, his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade and Dakar’s detained mayor. The election is seen as a crucial test …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | President Robert Mugabe’s wife Thursday urged her 93-year-old husband to name his chosen successor, fuelling renewed speculation about the race to take over from the world’s oldest national leader. Mugabe has always refused to publicly reveal his favoured heir, but Grace Mugabe — who is seen …

Adama Barrow: how do you solve a problem like The Gambia? Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Six months ago, businessman and political novice Adama Barrow took power in Africa’s smallest mainland country after delivering a stunning defeat against ex-leader Yahya Jammeh, who had ruled brutally for 22 years. When Barrow …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Authorities in Ivory Coast have seized a record haul of three tonnes of pangolin scales worth an estimated $82,000, in what officials on Thursday called a “massacre”. Eight men of various African nationalities were apprehended overnight on Tuesday as they prepared to sell their …