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Provisional results Friday showed Mohamed Bazoum as having garnered 1.4 million votes, only trailed by former president Mahamane Ousmane with 675,000
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
Burundi's electoral commission is to announce provisional results from last week's presidential election Monday, with the outgoing head of state's handpicked successor Evariste Ndayishimiye poised to be declared the winner.
Burundians voted last Wednesday to elect their president, lawmakers and local officials in a poll marked by allegations of fraud and conducted with scant attention to the coronavirus pandemic.
Partial results published by state media gave Ndayishimiye, 52, around 80 percent of the vote.
After a campaign marked by violence, the election was generally calm.
However, the CNL said several of its officials had been arrested and harassed, and alleged fraud.
Many are Happy About President Nana Afuko-Addo Re-election
In light of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo’s re-election for a second term in office on Wednesday — a result his rival John Mahama's camp said it would appeal, supporters of the president’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) are celebrating the win. Prince Ofori, an NPP Supporter, is ecstatic to know his chosen president will stay in office, \"NDC, the opposition party. We have retired them. They don't have anything to do anymore. We are the government in power, our president Nana Akufo Addo. The champion president. The number one.\"
According to the electoral commission, Akufo-Addo received 51.59% of the vote in the presidential race — beating opposition leader and former president Mahama's 47.36%.
The announcement on Wednesday was greeted with chanting and dancing by a crowd of supporters in the seaside capital Accra. On the other hand, the opposition has called the election \"flawed.\"
Nyarko, another NPP Supporter, could not contain his pleasure in knowing that the opposition will not take power, \"The NDC are liars. We no longer like John Mahama. We want peace in Ghana. We want Nana Akufo Addo.\"
Polling was observed as fair in the West African country known for its stable democracy.
However, the political climate soured late Tuesday resulting in 5 people dead and 19 injured in electoral-related violence.
Benin was the seat of one of the great medieval African kingdoms called Dahomey. Europeans began arriving in the area in the 18th century, as the kingdom of Dahomey was expanding its territory. The Portuguese, the French, and the Dutch established trading posts along the coast (Porto-Novo, Ouidah, Cotonou), and traded weapons for slaves. Slave trade ended in 1848. Then, the French signed treaties with Kings of Abomey (Guézo, Toffa, Glèlè) to establish French protectorates in the main cities and ports.
However, King Behanzin fought the French influence, which cost him deportation to Martinique.
From a Colony of France to Independence:
In 1892 Dahomey became a French protectorate and part of French West Africa in 1904. Expansion continued to the North (kingdoms of Parakou, Nikki, Kandi), up to the border with former Upper Volta. On 4 December 1958, it became the République du Dahomey, self-governing within the French community, and on 1 August 1960, the Republic of Dahomey gained full independence from France. T he country was renamed Benin in 1975
Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kérékou as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Parti de la Révolution Populaire Béninoise (Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin, PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the 1990s.
Kérékou, encouraged by France and other democratic powers, convened a national conference that introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékous principal opponent at the presidential poll, and the ultimate victor, was Prime Minister Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo.
Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the National Assembly.
Benin was thus the first African country to effect successfully the transition from dictatorship to a pluralistic political system. In the second round of National Assembly elections held in March 1995, Soglos
[Monitor] The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party yesterday challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) to summon all political candidates defying Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) during campaigns, including President Museveni.
In 1972, Kaunda outlawed all opposition political parties. The world copper market collapsed in 1975. The Zambian economy was devastated—it had been the third-largest miner of copper in the world after the United States and Soviet Union. With a soaring debt and inflation rate in 1991, riots took place in Lusaka, resulting in a number of killings. Mounting domestic pressure forced Kaunda to move Zambia toward multiparty democracy. National elections on Oct. 31, 1991, brought a stunning defeat to Kaunda. The new president, Frederick Chiluba, called for sweeping economic reforms, including privatization and the establishment of a stock market. He was reelected in Nov. 1996. Chiluba declared martial law in 1997 and arrested Kaunda following a failed coup attempt. The 1999 slump in world copper prices again depressed the economy because copper provides 80% of Zambias export earnings.
In 2001, Chiluba contemplated changing the constitution to allow him to run for another presidential term. After protests he relented and selected Levy Mwanawasa, a former vice president with whom he had fallen out, as his successor. Mwanawasa became president in Jan. 2002; opposition parties protested over alleged fraud. In June 2002, Mwanawasa, once seen as a pawn of Chiluba, accused the former president of stealing millions from the government while in office. Chiluba was arrested and charged in Feb. 2003.
Although the country faced the threat of famine in 2002, the president refused to accept any international donations of food that had been genetically modified, which Mwanawasa considered “poison.” In Aug. 2003, impeachment proceedings against the president for corruption were rejected by parliament. In April 2005, the World Bank approved a $3.8 billion debt relief package for the country.
In Sept. 2006 presidential elections, incumbent Levy Mwanawasa was reelected. President Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June 2008 and died in Paris in September. Vice President Rupiah Banda took over as acting president and was elected president
Black Americans are dying from Covid-19 more frequently than white people. But two researchers found it’s not because of obesity or poverty. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management professor Christopher Knittel and graduate research assistant Bora Ozaltun analyzed daily Covid-19 death rates for a nearly two-month period for counties and states to understand []
The post African Americans die more frequently from Covid-19, but poverty isn’t why appeared first on Atlanta Tribune.
The observers recognise that an electoral system governed by a whole series of constantly changing pieces of legislation \"responds to the outcome of political dialogue between the main parties, Renamo and Frelimo, rather than taking a holistic review of the electoral framework.\"
Stop the inclusion of fraudulent results: Under Renamo pressure, the parties agreed an electoral court system which could intervene to redress misconduct and errors by election commissions, STAEs, and polling stations.
Civil society members to be non-partisan
Members of the National Elections Commission (CNE) \"do not represent the public or private institutions or political or social institutions they come from, and defend the national interest\", says the electoral law.
For the 2008-9 elections, parliament (AR) agreed a dramatic change - a majority of CNE members, including the chair (presidente) were nominated by Civil Society Organisations (CSO) to try to force some independence and neutrality.
But this agreement between Frelimo and Renamo to select party aligned CSO members is not specified in the electoral law and clearly goes against the spirit of the law.
Namibia is bordered on the north by Angola and Zambia, on the east by Botswana, and on the east and south by South Africa. It is for the most part a portion of the high plateau of southern Africa, with a general elevation of from 3,000 to 4,000 ft.
Republic.
The San peoples may have inhabited what is now Namibia more than 2,000 years ago. The Bantu-speaking Herero settled there in the 1600s. The Ovambo, the largest ethnic group today, migrated in the 1800s.
In the late 15th century, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to visit Namibia. Formerly called South-West Africa, the territory became a German colony in 1884. Between 1904 and 1908, German troops massacred tens of thousands of Herero, who had revolted against colonial rule. In 1915, during World War I, Namibian territory was taken over by South African forces. In 1921, it became a mandated territory of the League of Nations, under the administration of South Africa.
Upon the dissolution of the League of Nations in 1946, South Africa refused to accept United Nations authority to replace its mandate with a UN trusteeship. A black Marxist separatist group, the South West African Peoples Organization (SWAPO), formed in 1960 and began small-scale guerrilla attacks aimed at achieving independence. In 1966, the UN called for South Africas withdrawal from the territory, and officially renamed it Namibia in 1968. South Africa refused to obey. Under a 1974 Security Council resolution, South Africa was required to begin the transfer of power or face UN action. Prime Minister Balthazar J. Vorster rejected UN supervision, claiming that his government was prepared to negotiate Namibian independence, but not with SWAPO, which the UN had recognized as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Namibian people.
South Africa handed over limited powers to a new multiracial administration in 1985 (the previous government had enforced South Africas apartheid laws). Installation of this government ended South Africas direct rule, but it
Many were waiting for Ivorian opposition leader Henri Konan Bédié to speak, but instead it was FPI's P ascal Affi N'guessan who spoke for the opposition parties.
N'guessan confirmed they rejected the October 31st vote , and stated once more the opposition no longer recognized Alassane Ouattara as the country's president.
\" The Ivorian opposition political parties do not recognize the election of october 31st 2020. They note the end of president Ouattara's mandate as of October 31st 2020, and call on the international community to duly record it.\"
\"Therefore, the Ivorian opposition political parties demand the opening of a civilian transition, in order to create conditions for a just, transparant and inclusive presidential election \" N'guessan said.
Affi N'gessan also called for a transitional government to be instaured shortly with all opposition forces.
In the meantime, partial results have arrived at the electoral commission , which, department after department, continues to gather reports.
\" The key point tonight remains the turnout rate of this vote . This is what everyone is waiting for \" added Africanews' Abidjan correspondant Yannick Djahoun.
By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer/ BNC Contributor WASHINGTON (AP) — Wizards leading scorer Bradley Beal and Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie wont take part in the restart of the NBA season, two significant absences in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Beal is out because of a right rotator cuff injury; Dinwiddie announced that he is still testing positive for coronavirus and wont participate. Washington, Orlando and Brooklyn are the three teams left in the chase for the final two playoff spots in the East. If the Wizards finish within four games of whichever club finishes eighth, then two games will []
The post Wizards Beal, Nets Dinwiddie to miss rest of NBA season appeared first on Black News Channel.
Malawi's governing party has called for a third presidential election, citing irregularities and intimidation in this week's re-run vote as unofficial tallies show incumbent President Peter Mutharika losing to the opposition leader.
Voters in the southern African country went to the polls on Tuesday for the second time in 13 months after the Constitutional Court scrapped the initial May 2019 presidential election over mass fraud.
The governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called Friday on the electoral commission to annul the results collated so far of the second vote and declare a third poll.
DPP administrative secretary Francis Mphepo said in a statement: \"We wish to highlight several incidents that may potentially affect the integrity and credibility of the presidential election results.\"
In February, Malawi's top court found the election was marred by widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid to tamper with result sheets.
[Nation] The electoral commission wants to procure its ballot papers locally in what it said will be 10 times cheaper than getting them from abroad.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch Government is taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for its alleged role in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago, the foreign minister announced yesterday.
Electoral authorities in Guinea on Saturday declared President Alpha Conde winner of Sunday's election with 59.49% of the vote, defeating his main rival Cellou Diallo.
\t Some people went to the streets to protest immediately after the announcement. Such demonstrations have occurred for months after the government changed the constitution through a national referendum, allowing Conde to extend his decade in power.
\t Opposition candidate Cellou Diallo received 33.50% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Voter turnout was almost 80%.
\t Political tensions in the West African nation turned violent in recent days after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.
They accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
\t At least nine people have been killed since the election, according to the government. The violence sparked international condemnation by the U.S. and others.
\t ``Today is a sad day for African democracy,'' said Sally Bilaly Sow, a Guinean blogger and activist living abroad. The government should take into account the will of the people who have a desire for change, he said.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
Armed gangs killed 57 people in a string of attacks on villages in northwest Nigeria, residents said on Wednesday, as security forces struggle to curb violence in the region.
\"We lost a total of 57 people in the attacks across the six villages,\" a local leader told AFP on condition of anonymity as he feared for his safety.
In the worst-hit village of Kadisau the assailants - dubbed \"bandits\" by locals - shot and killed 33 people, local resident Mohammed Salisu said.
The attackers opened fire on a football pitch where young men were watching a local match, said Sada Audi, a resident of nearby village said.
Residents said 24 more people were later killed across the villages of Hayin Kabalawa, Garke, Makera, Kwakwere and Maiganguna.
The Electoral Court has granted the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) permission to postpone by-elections in the country due to the continuous effects of the coronavirus.
This after the commission approached the court seeking a postponement.
\"As required in law, the municipal elections will be proclaimed by Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after her consultations with the Electoral Commission.
\"In this regard, the Electoral Commission has begun consultations with the minister.
These matters are not a prerogative of the Electoral Commission, but require a collaborative effort and national consensus,\" she said.
[Monitor] Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee yesterday rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) decision banning open public rallies ahead of the 2021 General Elections.
Ugandans are engaged in heated debates over the merits, possibilities and effectiveness of participating in what is being popularly referred to as a ‘scientific election’.
The East African country is scheduled to hold presidential, parliamentary and local government elections next year.
The electoral commission last week told the nation to prepare for an unusual election where campaigning will be done digitally, as the destabilizing effects of the coronavirus continue.
Justifying scientific elections
Uganda which currently has over 700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus has been slowly easing restrictions and emphasizing measures of social distancing for all activities in the country.
The commission says it is bound by Article 61 (2) of Uganda’s constitution which tasks it to organize elections within 120 days before the expiry of the term of president, parliament or local government.
In conducting a scientific election, the commission hopes to exercise its duty to facilitate Ugandans’ right to choose their leaders in a healthy and safe environment.
How it will be conducted
Aspirants at all levels will only be able to conduct campaigns electronically via television, radio and social media, since open-air public rallies have been banned.
“This is because electoral activities involve public gatherings and hence pose high COVID-19 risk of person-to-person and object-to-person transmissions,” the commission explained in a statement.
The three months of a lockdown imposed since March across the country also means that some activities will have to be accomplished in a much shorter time.
With hardly six months to the elections scheduled to be held between January and February next year, political parties are yet to nominate flag-bearers for the different offices that will be contested.
Voting itself is to be conducted normally, with president Yoweri Museveni telling the nation on Monday that government can effectively ensure social distancing and other precautionary measures at polling stations.
“… the gathering for the elections themselves, can be safely managed with hand-washing, social-distancing or leaving gaps of the necessary metres between voters in line,” Museveni said.
“This would remove the uncertainty that would be created by the postponement of the elections but also ensure that elections are held safely. I call upon Ugandans to support this option.”
Ugandans react
Key stakeholders in the electoral process including leaders of political parties and the voters themselves have shared mixed reactions to the electoral commission’s proposal.
While the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has welcomed the proposal and says it will adjust its programme accordingly, many in the opposition say the commission is playing into the hands of incumbent Museveni and other powerful NRM politicians.
The opposition politicians accuse the electoral commission of not consulting them as it drafted the revised election roadmap. According to the popular legislator and presidential hopef
By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday assailed plans by some local districts to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week and said schools must be fully operational even amid the coronavirus pandemic. Anything less, she says, would fail students and taxpayers. DeVos made the comments during a call with governors as the Trump administration launched an all-out effort to get schools and colleges to reopen. Audio of the call was obtained by The Associated Press. Ultimately, its not a matter of if schools need to open, its a matter of how. School []
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Violence rocked Guinea's capital Conakry on Friday as supporters of opposition leader Cellou Diallo clashed with security forces who tried to disperse them.
They threw stones and blocked roads. Police responded with teargas and bullets. The clashes erupted as soon as provisional results released by the electoral commission showed president Alpha Conde winning with a big margin.
Conde, 82, won twice as many votes as his nearest rival, opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo, with 37 of 38 districts counted, according to preliminary results from the commission.
Opposition supporters accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
Sekou Koundouno, head of mobilisation for the opposition coalition FNDC said Conde had committed 'high treason'.
\"He is an illegal and illegitimate candidate who is stubbornly pursuing his obsession to turn Guin ea into a monarchy in which, by the way, he will dictate orders to his subjects,\" said Kounduno.
Diallo maintains that he won with a landslide despite irregularities, according to his own tally. He remains barricaded in his home which security forces have besieged since Monday.
Other countries scheduled to hold elections are Egypt, Guinea, Seychelles and Tanzania.
For countries that do hold elections, there may be special voting arrangements that can allow polls to go ahead but reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
In South Korea's elections in mid-April, the electoral commission encouraged people to vote before election day at any of the 3,500 polling stations throughout the country.
This not only decongested polling stations on election day but contributed to the highest turnout in the country for nearly 30 years.
This means that countries planning to hold elections in 2020 or early-2021 need to start discussing these arrangements - across party lines and among multiple relevant agencies - as soon as possible.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday rebuked Dr. Anthony Faucis blunt assessment of the US coronavirus response, claiming that the country is in a good place even as new cases surge. Well, I think we are in a good place. I disagree with him, Trump said to Gray Televisions Greta Van Susteren, according to a transcript of the interview released Tuesday. []
And now just emerging from no contact with voters, there are concerns about whether the election calendar and roadmap as set by the National Electoral Commission in December 2018 is still viable considering the time \"lost.\"
\"The Commission has to fulfil Section 8 of the Presidential Elections Act and Section 9 of the Parliamentary Elections Act that provide appointment of nomination days and time,\" reads the commission document, \"for campaigns for presidential elections to commence latest by first week of September 2020 nomination of presidential candidates must have been completed latest third week of August.\"
The first round of nominations must have been completed latest third week of July 2020, while nominations and campaigns for parliamentary elections \"should commence latest by second week August 2020.\"
Sam Rwakoojo, the Secretary to the Electoral Commission told The EastAfrican that the roadmap has been disrupted and some special interest group elections that should have been held around this time (end of May to beginning of June) can't take place, yet they contribute to the national elections and the consequences of those delays are not clear at the moment.
Mr Rwankoojo said no concrete proposals can be generated on specific dates for certain activities because, \"we don't know yet how this disease and lockdown will go,\" he said, adding that while the Constitution is clear on when to hold certain processes, the only available leg room is to determine which activities or elections can be held together to remain within the confines of the law.
