Tag Archives: Opposition

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping was on Saturday prevented by the security forces from taking a flight to France over a judicial matter, he told AFP. “I was supposed to travel this evening but the security forces prevented me,” the former African Union chief told …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s top court on Saturday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny against a decision to bar him from running in the country’s 2018 presidential election. The Supreme Court agreed with Russia’s Central Election Commission that Navalny cannot register as a candidate due to …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Thousands of Russians on Sunday endorsed the candidacy of Alexei Navalny, seen as the only Russian opposition leader who stands a fighting chance of challenging strongman Vladimir Putin in a March vote. Thousands of people who back the charismatic 41-year-old lawyer were meeting in 20 …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A day of protest in Democratic Republic of Congo drew a small turnout Tuesday but the opposition vowed to pursue its campaign to unseat President Joseph Kabila over long-delayed polls. Rallies were held in several cities but were attended by only a few dozen …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s opposition has postponed a ceremony to swear in its leader Raila Odinga as a parallel president after a controversial poll it boycotted, the party said Sunday. The National Super Alliance (NASA) had planned to inaugurate Odinga on Tuesday — Kenya’s independence day. The veteran …

Parliament to probe communications regulator over its media cuts and bans Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | What, really, is the mandate of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)? On its face, UCC’s mandate appears clear; it is the country’s communications regulatory agency. It is supposed to promote and safeguard the interests …

Will new president Amuriat lead FDC forward or backwards to Besigye? Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | With the election of Engineer Patrick Oboi Amuriat as president of Uganda’s biggest opposition party,  the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) behind him, Grant Senabulya, a delegate from Nakaseke district who looks to be in his …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, announced Sunday that he had rejoined the country’s main opposition party, the latest sign he aims to run for the presidency in 2019. In a live video broadcast on his Facebook page, Abubakar said he was again joining the …

How Besigye’s hold over FDC has undermined its pretence to be a vehicle for democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | “Follow an idea from its birth to its triumph,” Bertrand de Jouvenel observed in his 1948 volume, On Power, “and it becomes clear that it came to power at …

Kampala, Uganda | | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in on Nov. 28 for a second term as police fired teargas to disperse angry opposition supporters, in what many hope is the closing act of a grueling and divisive election drama. The pomp and ceremony ended with …