NEWS - The African Mirror

Jul

10

2023

Zimbabwean court upholds opposition campaign launch ban

NEWS

A Zimbabwean court upheld a ban on the planned campaign launch by the main opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), the third of its rallies to be banned as its leader Nelson Chamisa faces hurdles on his campaign trail. CCC was scheduled to hold its campaign launch on Sunday in Bindura, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the capital Harare, but police banned the gathering citing problems with the venue. CCC lawyers filed an urgent application at the High Court on Friday challenging the police decision, but a judge on Sunday referred the matter back to the lower court. Bindura…

Jul

08

2023

By The African Mirror

Mbappe “honoured” to tour father’s native Cameroon

NEWS

PARIS St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is touring his father's native Cameroon for the first time this week as doubts swirl over his future at the French club. Excited fans gathered at the airport in the capital Yaounde, where the 24-year-old star touched down on Thursday for a three-day tour of the central African nation. "It is an honour for me to be here, to be in the country of my origin, to be with my family and to see the people out there. They have shown me some love," Mbappe said on Friday after meeting Cameroon's Prime Minister Joseph…

Jul

08

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Rights group urges Tunisia to halt collective expulsions of African migrants

NEWS

TUNISIA should halt collective expulsions of sub-Saharan African migrants and urgently enable access to humanitarian services for those the government sent to a dangerous area of the Tunisia-Libya border, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Tunisia has removed hundreds of the migrants to a desolate area along the border, a Tunisian rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a week in the port of Sfax, and one Tunisian was killed. Residents complained of disorderly behaviour by migrants and migrants complained of racist…

Jul

10

2023

By JUDICAEL YONGO

Central African Republic says Wagner troop movement is rotation not departure

NEWS

THE departure of hundreds of Russian Wagner troops from the Central African Republic is part of a rotation of forces rather than a withdrawal, a spokesperson for the CAR presidency said. The short-lived mutiny led by Wagner mercenary founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia in June has raised questions about the outlook for his group's sprawling network of military and commercial operations across CAR and other parts of Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere. Reports of the recent departure of large numbers of Wagner personnel from CAR by plane have fuelled speculation in recent days that the group is pulling out of the country, where…

Jul

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Airstrike on Sudan’s Omdurman kills 22, health ministry says

NEWS

AT least 22 people were killed and scores injured in an air strike by Sudan's army on western Omdurman, the Khartoum state health ministry said, as the war between the country's military factions entered its 12th week. While the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) quickly dominated the capital Khartoum and its sister cities Omdurman and Bahri after fighting broke out on April 15, the army launched air and artillery strikes. The fighting, for which no mediation efforts have succeeded thus far, threatens to drag the country into a wider civil war, drawing in other internal and external actors in the…

Jul

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe police block opposition campaign launch

NEWS

ZIMBABWEAN police have blocked the launch of the main opposition party's election campaign set for Sunday in the latest clampdown on the president's main rival ahead of presidential and parliamentary polls in August, citing problems with the venue. Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has faced several hurdles on the campaign trail, with police banning a number of meetings in Zimbabwean cities and towns this week. In a letter seen by Reuters on Friday, police said the opposition party could not conduct the rally in Bindura, 90 km (56 miles) north of the capital Harare, because the…

Jul

10

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon President Bongo to run for re-election in August

NEWS

GABON President Ali Bongo will run for re-election in August, he said, in a bid to extend his family's 56-year grip on power in the Central African country. "Because nothing matters more than your success, I am announcing today that I am a candidate", Bongo told a small crowd of cheering supporters. Elections are scheduled for August 26. Bongo, 64, has been president of the oil-producing nation for two seven-year terms since succeeding his father Omar, who died in 2009 after ruling since 1967. Gabon has no constitutional term limits. Both of Bongo's election wins were disputed by the opposition,…

Jul

09

2023

By The African Mirror

The entrepreneur building a gluten-free African food business

NEWS

ATIENO ODERA, BIRD STORY AGENCY I'M in the kitchen at Onja Foods, situated in the middle-class residential estate of Nairobi's South C, and company CEO Mary Karoki is explaining to me how to make gluten-free pancakes using the company's Uji flour. "The first step is normally sifting the flour, but first we'll be measuring one and a half cups of the flour, then we add one spoon of baking powder, mix well, then sift. Sifting helps us capture the big particles. After that, add three tablespoons of sugar, combine, then set it aside the dry ingredients," explains the 30-year-old entrepreneur.…

Jul

09

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Cross-border wildlife protection continues to grow in Southern Africa

NEWS

ZAMBIA and Zimbabwe recently signed a memorandum of understanding to create a trans-frontier conservation area to utilise their shared natural resources. The agreement focuses on the lower Zambezi and Mana Pools National Park areas. The two nations, who jointly share a vast area of more than 18,000 km2, pledged to improve ecological conservation in the area. Governments, local communities, and stakeholders from the two countries will all have a chance to implement sustainable development programs thanks to the collaborative approach. Trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCA) are ecologically-rich regions that border multiple countries and host diverse plant and animal species. The conservation…

Jul

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Senegal opposition leader hints at election disruption if he can’t run

NEWS

SENEGALESE opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has no plans to make peace with President Macky Sall and suggested he may try to disrupt next year's elections if he is not allowed to run, he said in an interview with France 24 television. "There will be no elections in this country if President Macky Sall wishes to counter my candidacy," Sonko said from his home in the capital Dakar, where he has been under effective house arrest since he was sentenced to two years in jail in June on charges stemming from an alleged rape. Sonko denies wrongdoing and says the charges are meant…