Africa

Zimbabwe’s justice minister has accused the judiciary of overreach and said it had been “captured” by “foreign forces” in order to destabilise the county. It came after the high court ruled that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s extension of the chief justice’s term by five years was illegal. In a strongly-worded statement,…

President Uhuru Kenyatta was on Saturday among several African leaders at the inauguration of Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh in the country’s capital city Djibouti. President Kenyatta, who is the current Chairperson of the East African Community, was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy…

A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s capital Kinshasa on Saturday sentenced 29 people to death for malicious destruction of property and criminal association. Following the sentence, Patrick Muyaya, DRC government spokesperson, tweeted in French that out of the 41 defendants, five were acquitted, 31 convicted, including 29…

Mali’s Prime Minister Moctar Ouane resigned and was subsequently reappointed transitional president, the Malian presidency announced Friday. Ouane will have to form a new government with room for the political class, under instructions of President Bah N’Daw. N’Daw made his decision after several meetings he initiated to renew dialogue between…

Somalia has rejected the appointment of former Ghanaian President John Mahama as African Union’s (AU) special envoy to help mediate its political impasse with Kenya. Somalia argues that the former Head of State has “extensive links” with Kenya, and has written to AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat notifying him that…

Zambia’s parliament has been dissolved exactly 90 days before the upcoming general election in accordance with the Zambian constitution which requires that parliament is dissolved 90 days before the next election. The house held its last sitting on Wednesday and the clerk announced that it would formally dissolve on Friday.…

The UN is deploying rapid-reaction units in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help contain armed groups, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said. The decision came after President Felix Tshisekedi announced security measures, including declaring a state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri…

A Tanzanian who created an app to help African students studying in China network with one another said that he is expanding the project to other countries. Kizwalo Simbila launched the Schoolbiz in August 2017 in Tanzania – a month before going to study in China at Ningbo University. It…

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on Tuesday suspended all flights to Mogadishu except for emergency medical evacuation and UN flights. In a statement, the KCAA said that “all flights between Kenya and Somalia are suspended except medevac flights and United Nations flights on humanitarian missions only,” without saying why…

South Sudan’s Union of Private Schools has threatened to strike after the government ordered them to cap school fees. More than 90% of South Sudan’s schools are privately run, according to government figures, and many parents have complained of exorbitant fees following the reopening of learning institutions last week. The…