AFRICA

  Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of Pan-African News Wire, pays tribute to the politician, former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist, who died on 28 March. “Kathy”, as he was popularly known, was elected to parliament in 1994  but declined to seek re-election five years later. He wrote an open letter to President Jacob Zuma, suggesting that perhaps he should step down …

  Gambia said on Thursday it would set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offer reparations to victims of former President Yahya Jammeh’s government, which is accused of the torture and killing of perceived opponents. Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said in a statement the government will also probe the finances of Jammeh, who fled into exile in January to …

  Zimbabwean opposition parties have demanded that presidential election next year be conducted by a committee set up by the United Nations and African Union because they had lost confidence in the neutrality of the local election agency. President Robert Mugabe, 94, who has been in power for 30 years, is due to run again. Leaders from several political parties, including …

Elections present a milestone beyond which countries either strengthen their democratic credentials or become failed states. Often states fail when there are either perceived or blatant election malpractices. This in turn can lead to prolonged civil unrest. Numerous cases exist across the continent. John Walubengo, a lecturer at the Multimedia University of Kenya, uses the Kenyan case to illustrate how election processes …

Security forces shooting dead unarmed protesters, arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture, disappearances, harassment and intimidation are some of the reported human rights abuses that have been continuing for more than four months now in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, writes Kumi Naidoo* on the ongoing crisis in the country. “I write to you in hiding and with so much fear that …

Chad’s former foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, assumed office as head of the African Union Commission on Tuesday, pledging to reform the institution and tackle the continent’s many crises. Faki takes over the leadership of the 54-country continental bloc days after the United Nations announced that the food emergencies in four countries, including Somalia, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria, constituted …

Gambia has applied to Switzerland for the extradition of former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko. This came as the new government intensifies its efforts in ensuring justice for victims and families of those tortured and even killed during the rule of former President Yahya Jammeh. “I have authorized and invoked International Criminal Repatriation Cooperation processes regarding those out of the jurisdiction …

Africa now has its own Internet domain 25 years after the World Wide Web launched and more than three decades after the first domain name was registered. Africa now has the unique web address .africa, equivalent to the more familiar .com, following its official launch by the African Union (AU). The outgoing AU chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said the .africa …

Gambia’s government will launch an investigation into the finances of former President Yahya Jammeh, Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou told Reuters on Friday. Tambadou said the investigation would include his personal use of a charity bank account. The government of President Adama Barrow, who beat Jammeh in the December 2016 election before Jammeh fled into exile, had accused Jammeh of siphoning …

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari returned to his country on Friday after nearly two months of absence. He has been in the UK receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. Details of his health condition have not been made public. The former military ruler left the country on 19 January and has been on medical leave in London. Buhari (74) is however …

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that Ghana no longer has an excuse to remain an underdeveloped country after 60 years of independence from colonial rule. In a nine-page independence anniversary speech delivered in Accra on Monday, he pointed out that after successfully fighting off colonial rule in order to take charge of its own destiny, “we have run out …

Democratic Republic of Congo’s main opposition coalition has named the son of its late leader Etienne Tshisekedi to succeed him, but some within the opposition rejected the choice. Felix Tshisekedi was chosen to lead the alliance of some of the country’s largest opposition parties, which was thrown into crisis by the death of his father in Brussels last month, aged …

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan Ali (rtd.), has told the German international broadcaster DW that the suspected kidnappers had been arrested. “They have been detained. The police chief mentioned that when he was briefing us on improved security in southern Kaduna State,” he said. The identity of the suspects has however not yet been disclosed. The two German …

Adam Amina, a 33-year-old pregnant mother, lay in one of the labour wards at Tamale’s only referral hospital in northern Ghana. She looked uncomfortable as she waited for her turn to be examined by one of the male midwives.

The UN’s children’s fund, Unicef, has said minors face shocking abuse in Libya and risk vanishing into crime and prostitution in Europe. The Unicef report, published on Tuesday (28 February), said more and more children are arriving in Italy alone and required better protection to prevent them falling into the hands of criminals. In one harrowing case, Unicef’s regional director …

Visa issuance simplification, reissuance of passports after change of name at missions and harmonisation of airport arrival and departure cards, are among the new administrative steps taken by Africa’s most-populous nation to make things easier for citizens and foreigners travelling to the country, reports Kola Tella from Lagos. The Federal Government of Nigeria has reviewed the visa processes for foreigners …

The two Germans kidnapped by unknown persons in the northern state of Kaduna last week have been released. The two archaeologists, Professor Peter Breunig, and his colleague, Johannes Buringer, were freed on Saturday night, according to Nigeria’s online daily PREMIUM TIMES. “Yes, they were released last night (Saturday) by their kidnappers. No ransom was paid,” a senior police officer was …

More than 20 million people are at risk of dying from starvation within six months in four separate famines, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Conflicts in Yemen, northeastern Nigeria and South Sudan have devastated households and driven up food prices while a drought in Somalia has ruined the agricultural economy, the global organisation said. In Yemen and South …

Donors at a one-day conference have pledged a third of the UN’s humanitarian appeal for the Lake Chad region, which has been described as one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world. More than half of the region’s population is in need of humanitarian aid. Donor nations meeting in Oslo on Friday pledged $672 million (634 million euros) …

The gunmen who abducted German archaeologist, Prof. Peter Breunij, and his associate, Johannes Buringer, in Jenjela village in Kagarko Local Government of Kaduna State, have demanded N60m (180,000 euros, official rate) as ransom. The kidnappers, according to a source at Jenjela village, said the abductors called the line of the camp supervisor around 11.00 am and demanded N30m ransom for …