Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Europe and Africa heaped pressure on DR Congo on Friday, urging it to respect voters’ wishes in key presidential elections as a deadline for unveiling the outcome loomed. Expectations are mounting that electoral overseers will delay publication of provisional results due by Sunday — …
Read More »DR Congo awaits result after volatile presidential election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday began a tense wait for the results of a volatile presidential election which could see the first peaceful transfer of power in decades. Sunday’s elections went ahead in “relative calm”, according to the country’s influential Catholic Bishop …
Read More »WHO chief warns DRC unrest threatening gains in Ebola fight
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization chief warned Friday that growing unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was disrupting efforts to rein in an Ebola outbreak, threatening gains made in fighting the deadly virus. The security situation in the Ebola-hit Beni and Butembo areas has deteriorated …
Read More »Patients flee after Ebola holding centre attacked in DRC
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Patients being monitored as possible Ebola patients fled a camp in eastern DR Congo on Thursday after it was attacked by demonstrators protesting further delays to the country’s election, the health ministry said. Around 20 patients fled the centre during the incident, at a …
Read More »Rajoelina leads in Madagascar election: partial results
Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Former president Andry Rajoelina on Friday took an early lead in Madagascar’s election count with a clear advantage over his rival Marc Ravalomanana, according to partial official results. With about one-third of polling stations counted, Rajoelina had 54.85 percent of the vote and Ravalomanana had …
Read More »Electoral Commission needs UGX 861 billion for 2021 elections
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Electoral Commission will need 861 billion Shillings to organize the 2021 general elections, more than double the amount of 419 billion Shilling spent to organize the 2016 general elections. The budget was announced by the Electoral Commission Secretary Sam Rwakoojo during the launch of …
Read More »No crooks with cash
Museveni, MPs plot less money in next election Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni’s ruling NRM party spent Shs13 billion on the 996 national election, Shs30 billion in 2001, Shs50 billion in 2006 billion and Shs75 billion in 2011. In the 2016 elections, some estimates indicate, the ruling …
Read More »THIS WEEK: CCEDU’s Kaheru to head regional election observers’ body
THIS WEEK: CCEDU’s Kaheru to head regional election observers’ body Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Crispin Kaheru, the National Coordinator for Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) has been elected to chair the board of East and Horn of Africa Election Observers Network (E-HORN), a regional network of …
Read More »DR Congo election candidate campaigns in region hit by unrest, Ebola
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | A key opposition candidate in DR Congo presidential elections launched his campaign Wednesday in a city caught between an Ebola epidemic and militant attacks in one of the country’s most dangerous regions. Martin Fayulu, vying to replace President Joseph Kabila in the pivotal December …
Read More »Female opposition leader named Ethiopia poll chief
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s former opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, who recently returned from exile, was on Thursday named as head of the country’s election body ahead of the 2020 polls. Birtukan’s appointment makes her the latest woman to be appointed to a high-profile role and the most …
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