NEWS - The African Mirror

Sep

23

2021

Zuma decision set for October 26

NEWS

FORMER South African President Jacob Zuma will know in five weeks if his attempt to get an acquittal without going on trial in the multi-billion rand corruption has succeeded. Judge Piet Koen said he will try to deliver judgement then on Zuma's plea to have the lead prosecutor, Billy Downer, removed from a case he has been involved in for almost two decades because of perceptions that Downer was biased and not impartial. "I will try and hopefully have the judgment ready by then," Koen said before adjourning the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The trial over a 1990s deal was meant…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

German genocide deal criticised

NEWS

DURING a heated parliamentary debate, Namibian opposition lawmakers criticised a 1.1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) compensation offer from Germany for its 1904-1908 genocide in the southwest African country and called on the government to renegotiate terms. Namibia's government said in May that Germany had agreed to fund projects over 30 years to atone for killings and property seizures more than a century ago that killed tens of thousands of Namibians who defied German colonial rule. But opposition parties and traditional leaders from affected communities are angry about the offer, as they say it is too small and that they were…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Germany seeks backing for Tedros at WHO helm as Africa quiet – diplomats

NEWS

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY, ANDREAS RINKE and GUILIA PARAVICINI GERMANY is seeking support from other European Union members to ensure a second term for Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the helm of the World Health Organisation, but African states have yet to show their cards, government sources and diplomats said. The deadline for proposing candidates in the politically charged race is Thursday at 1600 GMT and no other candidate for the election in May is known to have surfaced, they said. Tedros, who was elected as WHO's first African director-general in May 2017, has been shunned this time by his native Ethiopia due…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Congo arrests Middle Eastern national for links to Islamist militia

NEWS

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo has arrested a Middle Eastern national for alleged ties to an Islamist militia in the east of DRC, potentially the first time a non-African fighter has been found working with the group. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group led by Ugandans, has been blamed for dozens of massacres with hatchets and firearms in the last three years, mostly in remote villages. In 2019 the ADF's leadership pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS), which has in turn claimed dozens of the ADF's attacks, although United Nations experts say they have not found conclusive evidence…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Algerian crisis interim president Bensalah dies aged 80

NEWS

ALGERIA’S former interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, who ruled the country during an unprecedented political crisis in 2019, died on Wednesday aged 80, the presidency said. Bensalah was named interim president after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down in April 2019 following mass street protests to reject his plan to seek a fifth term, and demand political and economic reforms. Bouteflika, who ruled the North African country for two decades, himself died on Friday aged 84. Protests continued after the resignation of Bouteflika despite the imprisonment of several senior officials for involvement in corruption cases during Bouteflika era. Bensalah, also head of…

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Lawmakers throw buckets and chairs in Congo parliament brawl

NEWS

CONGO’S parliament descended into chaos on Tuesday as rival political groups flung chairs and buckets in a brawl that laid bare the tensions caused by President Felix Tshisekedi's move to end an alliance with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Tshisekedi announced on Sunday he planned to disband his governing coalition with allies of Kabila, while Kabila's side said that would be illegal. The standoff has raised fears of fresh instability in the Central African country whose economy has been badly rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and whose recent history has been marked by repeated civil wars and political upheaval. Former DRC…

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Liberia votes in referendum to shorten Presidential terms

NEWS

ALPHONSO TOWEH LIBERIANS lined up at polling stations across the country on Tuesday to decide on a variety of constitutional changes including the shortening of presidential terms to five years and allowing dual citizenship. Half of the Senate's 30 seats were being contested alongside the referendum, which was promised by President George Weah's predecessor Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Former soccer star Weah's election victory in 2017 was greeted with wild celebrations, but he has since faced protests from those who say he has failed to tackle corruption or revive a stagnant economy. In October Weah's team was forced to publicly denounce…

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Arms deal corruption case postponed against South African ex-president Zuma

NEWS

THE corruption case against South Africa's former president, Jacob Zuma, and French arms dealer Thales related to a $2 billion arms deal has been provisionally postponed to February 23 next year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court has decided. French arms dealer Thales. It is the latest delay of trial proceedings for Zuma, who faces multiple charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering related to a case when he was deputy president in 1999. Thales and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing, with Zuma suggesting the trial was politically motivated. The 16 charges Zuma faces were reinstated in March 2018, a month…

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Eastern Libyan force says it intercepted Turkish ship

NEWS

EASTERN-BASED Libyan forces have intercepted a Turkish ship under a Jamaican flag heading to the port of Misrata in western Libya, their spokesman has said, a possible new flashpoint in the conflict after weeks of truce. Turkey is the main foreign backer of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), in the west, which has for years been fighting the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA). LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari added that the commercial cargo ship, Mabrouka, had 17 crew, including nine Turkish nationals, and containers that had not yet been inspected. LNA naval forces stopped it near the eastern…

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana President Akufo-Addo’s party claims slim lead in election

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANA’S ruling party has claimed that President Nana Akufo-Addo held a slight lead in his bid for re-election over his main rival John Mahama, according to its preliminary tally based on results from nearly nine out of ten polling stations. The election on Monday was considered a two-horse race between the incumbent Akufo-Addo and his predecessor Mahama, who offered competing plans to end an economic crisis in West Africa's second-largest economy. Ghana emerged last year from a three-year lending programme with the International Monetary Fund only for the pandemic to knock demand for its key exports of oil…