AFRICA

Agreement reinstates rebel leader Riek Machar as vice-president, formally ending five years of bloody civil war. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir signed a peace deal with main rebel leader Riek Machar on Wednesday, formally ending a five-year war that killed tens of thousands. The deal, mediated by Sudan and signed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, reinstated Machar in his …

The family of former United Nations Secretary General have published a tribute to the man hailed as a reformer at the global diplomacy outfit.  It is published on the website of the Kofi Annan Foundation and produced here below. On 18 August, the world lost a leader and a statesman: Kofi Atta Annan. And we lost a brother, a husband, a …

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila will not stand for re-election in December, a government spokesman has announced. Kabila’s ruling coalition nominated former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as its presidential candidate, Lambert Mende, the government spokesman, said on Wednesday. The move put an end to years of speculation on whether Kabila would defy terms limits.  The government …

Former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, may have left office over a year now but news about him still command a lot of attention. Jammeh in a recently-leaked tape talks of staging a comeback to the country he ruled for over two decades until January 2017. His mothers’ death this week in exile and the subsequent repatriation of her remains to …

The parties to the South Sudan conflict have signed an agreement on the outstanding issues on governance and security geared towards restoring peace in Africa’s youngest nation. South Sudan’s warring parties have reached a power-sharing deal to end a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in the world’s youngest country. President Salva Kiir …

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been elected to preside over the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community West African States (ECOWAS). He replaced Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé. The leadership of the bloc revolves annually among heads of state of the member countries. Buhari was chosen to lead the regional political bloc at the end …

Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba returned home on Wednesday after a decade in prison in The Hague for a presidential run expected to pose a stiff challenge to President Joseph Kabila or his successor in December’s election. Bemba, whose war crimes convictions at the International Criminal Court (ICC) were quashed on appeal in May, touched down at Kinshasa’s N’Djili airport …

The Federal Government has approved a 10-year validity period for Nigerian passports. The Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, made this known during an interview with Channels TV on Thursday. He said the validity was extended with a view to reduce the stress Nigerians go through every five years to renew their passports. “One of the reforms President Buhari has approved is that …

Zimbabweans vote on Monday in the first election since the removal of former President Robert Mugabe, a watershed moment they hope will spark a recovery in its failed economy. More than five million have registered to vote, in the first poll since 1980 without Mugabe on the ballot, to choose their next president and members of parliament. Twenty-three candidates, 19 …

In a high political drama on Tuesday, 14 Senators and 37 members of the Federal House of Representatives unexpectedly decamped from the ruling Alliance for Progressive Congress (APC) to two opposition parties. In the Senate, 13 of the decampees pitched their tent with the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one moved to the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In …

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki have been awarded the United Arab Emirates’ highest honour. The two leaders were on Tuesday presented with the Zayed Award, “for their vision, courage and statesmanship to end war and bring about peace between the two countries”. The two men are in the UAE after their dramatic steps towards reconciliation …

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has defended China’s relations with Africa stating that the global economic giant treats Africa as equals in dealings between the two parties. “I also want to say a few words from the heart. The growing relationship with China is based as much on mutual respect as on mutual interests. That is evident in your personal commitment …

Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president of Nigeria, has declared his bid to become president of Nigeria when elections are held in 2019. Atiku is seeking to run on the ticket of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a party he rejoined earlier this year. He left the PDP to join the ruling All Progressives congress (APC) which brought Muhammadu …

Ethiopia has appointed an ambassador to Eritrea for the first time in 20 years, the latest in a series of peace moves between the neighbours. “Redwan Hussein has been appointed as Ethiopia’s ambassador to Eritrea — the first for 20 years, the foreign ministry said,” according to Ethiopia’s state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation. The announcement on Thursday follows a flurry of …

Eritrea reopened its embassy in Ethiopia on Monday, taking yet another step in the implementation of the peace pact reached between two countries a week ago that effectively ended two decades of military stalemate. Eritrea has reopened its embassy in Ethiopia, another evidence of the rapid improvement of relations between the two countries that a week ago ended two decades …

A major blow was dealt the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday as its candidate in the Ekiti State’s governorship election lost to that of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC’s candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, emerged victorious securing 197, 459 votes, defeating the PDP candidate, Prof Kolapo Olusola Eleka, a protege of the state’s outgoing governor …

Cameroon’s president, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, says he will run again in October’s election. The 85-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, has announced that he will be a candidate in the 7 October presidential election that would, if he wins, extend his 35-year-rule. Biya tweeted in French and in English on Friday: “I am …

In the run-up to Nigeria’s next general polls in 2019, the country’s political parties have started building alliances to fight an electoral battle that many analysts are already dubbing a watershed in the country’s democratic experience. Twenty-four hours after a group of 38 parties, led by the biggest opposition party People’s Democratic Party (PDP), announced the formation of the Coalition …

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has opened the first phase of the country’s first metro-rail service in the capital Abuja – some eleven years after the project was initiated. Abuja Rail Mass Transit, commonly known as Abuja Light Rail, is a commuter rail transport system in the Federal Capital Territory. The first phase of the Abuja light rail system has two …

The African Union (AU) has described the normalization of relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea as a boost for peace and security in the Horn of Africa region and on the continent as a whole. The AU’s view is also shared by the European Union (EU). Both blocs issued statements on Monday congratulating leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea – Prime Minister …