Counting is underway in Madagascar after the first round of voting in the country’s highly contested presidential elections which took place on Thursday following weeks of violent protests. Ten out of the 12 opposition candidates called for citizens to boycott the vote, saying the conditions for a fair election had not been met In a…
Category: African News
Rwanda: Ex-doctor goes on trial in France over 1994 genocide
A Rwandan former gynaecologist went on trial in France on Tuesday on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1994 massacres in his home country, in an investigation stretching back nearly three decades. It is one of France’s longest-running cases, with Sosthene Munyemana appearing at the Assize Court in the French capital nearly…
Ugandan army officers sacked for cowardice in attack on Somalia’s Bulo Marer Atmis base
A Ugandan military court has found two officers guilty of cowardice as Islamist fighters stormed an African Union base in Somalia in May. Majors Zadock Abor and John Oluka ran away after they came under attack by al-Shabab in Bulo Marer, south of the capital Mogadishu. At least 50 Ugandan soldiers were killed, officials say….
A new country is set to join the East African Community
According to Secretary-General Peter Mathuki of the East African Community (EAC), Somalia may be granted membership in the group this month. At the Ordinary Heads of State Summit, which is set for November 23–24 in Arusha, the presidents of the surrounding countries are anticipated to support Somalia’s admission. Dr. Mathuki stated before a panel on…
Kenyan preacher at centre of deadly doomsday cult found guilty
The senior resident magistrate in the town of Malindi, Olga Onalo, instead found Mackenzie guilty of operating a TV studio and distributing films without a licence from the Kenya Film Classification Board. The preacher has been in police custody for more than six months now since he was arrested in April, following the discovery of hundreds…
Komfo Anokye kola tree: Ghana outrage after 300-year-old tree felled
By Thomas Naadi Accra The authorities in Ghana have launched a manhunt for the people who cut down a famous 300-year-old kola tree, which was believed to have healing powers. The tree dates back to the Ashanti Kingdom, part of modern-day Ghana. Local people says the tree grew in the spot where renowned priest Komfo…
G7 launches $600bn trans-African railway to counter China’s Belt and Road
The US and the EU have joined forces with the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Africa Finance Corporation to launch the west’s latest attempt to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The parties have signed a memorandum of understanding setting out plans to develop the “Lobito Corridor” and the Zambia–Lobito railway, which will together…
US Takes Up China’s Infrastructure Mantle in Africa
JOHANNESBURG — This week, the U.S. State Department confirmed that Washington’s plan to refurbish and extend the Lobito Corridor — a railway that will run through mineral-rich Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to an Atlantic port in Angola — is moving full steam ahead. Such ambitious infrastructure investments by other powers in Africa…
HICGI News Agency 