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Rights Group Names And Shames Judges, LawyersHuman rights lawyers in Harare have issued a blow-by-blow account detailing how the actions - and inaction - of named Zimbabwean judges, magistrates and state lawyers have facilitated the unlawful detention of activists who have allegedly been tortured.
Source : AllAfrica | 06-Jan-2009 18:33
Sudan: Bush Approves Darfur Air Lift
United States President George W. Bush on Monday authorized an immediate airlift of equipment and supplies to the international peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.
Source : AllAfrica | 05-Jan-2009 22:39
Atta Mills Wins Presidency in Change of Power
Opposition presidential challenger John Atta Mills has won Ghana's presidency at his third attempt, returning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) founded by former President Jerry Rawlings to power after eight years out of office.
Source : AllAfrica | 03-Jan-2009 13:04
South Africa: Flags Lowered For Anti-Apartheid Legislator
South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe has announced that the national flag will be flown at half-mast on Sunday to celebrate the life of Helen Suzman, an old opponent of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Source : AllAfrica | 02-Jan-2009 11:30
Guinea: Hopes for Reform Dashed Again
Guinea?s political elite has once more been rendered powerless by an army whose leaders owe their survival to a political system built upon confusion and fear.
Source : AllAfrica | 02-Jan-2009 11:25
Voting Begins in Key Area Despite Boycott
Voters in the rural Tain constituency of western central Ghana were trickling into polling stations Friday in an election that could decide who becomes the country's next president.
Source : AllAfrica | 02-Jan-2009 10:59
Ghana: Presidential Election Stands on Knife Edge
Ghana's presidential election stood on a knife edge on Tuesday as the country's electoral commission said the difference in votes between the two candidates was so small that it was unable to announce a result yet.
Source : AllAfrica | 30-Dec-2008 19:03
Nation on Knife Edge as Election Result Delayed
The announcement of Ghana's presidential election result is being delayed as parties haggle over vote counts in disputed constituencies, according to Ghanaian radio reports.
Source : AllAfrica | 30-Dec-2008 17:18
Ghana: Opposition's Atta Mills Leads Election
Ghana's opposition challenger for the country's presidency, John Atta Mills, is retaining his slight lead in a run-off election as the final votes are counted.
Source : AllAfrica | 29-Dec-2008 20:39
Guinea: African Union Suspends Country Over Coup
The African Union (AU) has suspended Guinea from taking part in all AU activities until the country returns to civilian rule under the constitution. The AU's Peace and Security Council said in a statement issued from its headquarters in Addis Ababa that a meeting of the council held on Monday had reiterated its "firm condemnation" of the coup, which was "a flagrant violation of the Constitution of Guinea and of the relevant AU instruments." The council demanded that Guinea "return to constitutional order," the statement said, and suspended the country under AU legislation dealing with unconstitutional changes of government. The AU said it was coordinating its efforts to return Guinea rapidly to civilian rule with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). It added that the chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, was already in touch with with the perpetrators of the coup.
Source : AllAfrica | 29-Dec-2008 14:38
Ghana: Presidential Election Too Close to Call
With more than half the results counted in the second round of Ghana's presidential election, the two candidates are running neck-and-neck.
Source : AllAfrica | 29-Dec-2008 07:16
The Return of the Military Coup
The African Union (AU) has condemned the return of coups d'état to the continent, describing the phenomenon as "a very serious setback in the ongoing democratization process in Africa."
Source : AllAfrica | 27-Dec-2008 08:26
Somalia: New U.S. Moves Ill-Advised, Counter-Productive
The last-minute attempt by the Bush administration to force through a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia is both ill-advised and counterproductive.
Source : AllAfrica | 26-Dec-2008 08:05
Zimbabwe: Tutu 'Ashamed' of South Africa Over Mugabe
Archbishop Desmond Tutu launched a blistering attack on the South African government on Wednesday for failing to use its influence in the United Nations Security Council to oust President Robert Mugabe from power.
Source : AllAfrica | 24-Dec-2008 14:54
Guinea: Coup Follows Conté's Death
A military officer appeared on television in Guinea on Tuesday soon after news of the death of President Lansana Conté to announce that a "National Council for Democracy" was taking over the government, news agencies report.
Source : AllAfrica | 23-Dec-2008 09:53
Conté Dies, Aged 74
Guinea's President Lansana Conté died Tuesday at age 74. He had been in power since 1984.
Source : AllAfrica | 23-Dec-2008 09:31
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Blocking Deal, Say Britain, U.S.
Major Western powers have given up on President Robert Mugabe ever agreeing to share power in Zimbabwe.
Source : AllAfrica | 22-Dec-2008 13:48
Liberia: President Adopts New Tactics in Fight Against Corruption
No country can ever claim to have eradicated corruption totally. However, governments can put in place measures to bring the phenomenon under control, and in her recent policy statement on the issue President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia seems to have placed herself on the path to finding long-term solutions to a scourge that has permeated Liberian society and government from its founding days.
Source : AllAfrica | 15-Dec-2008 11:13
Zimbabwe: U.S. Pushes UN For Tougher Action
The United States has given notice that it intends pressing the United Nations Security Council to take stronger action against the government of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in the coming week. The following is an excerpt from a U.S. State Department briefing by spokesman Sean McCormack on Friday:
Source : AllAfrica | 13-Dec-2008 20:04
Zimbabwe: Britain, U.S. Caused Cholera, Says Govt
A Zimbabwean cabinet minister has accused Britain, helped by the United States, of masterminding the country's cholera outbreak in a "biological chemical war, a genocidal onslaught" against the country.
Source : AllAfrica | 13-Dec-2008 19:26
South Africa: New Party Inflicts Defeat on Ruling ANC
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has suffered a defeat in the courts in its bid to prevent a breakaway party from appropriating the statement of principles which inspired its struggle against apartheid for 40 years.
Source : AllAfrica | 12-Dec-2008 17:35
Kenya: New Media Law Provokes Protest, Arrests
Kenyan police on Friday arrested several well-known media personalities who had gathered in Nairobi to demonstrate against a new media bill passed by Parliament this week.
Source : AllAfrica | 12-Dec-2008 13:44
Ghana: Nation Heads for Presidential Runoff Election
Ghana will hold a second round of presidential elections on December 28 after neither of the principal candidates secured more than 50 percent of the vote.
Source : AllAfrica | 10-Dec-2008 17:04
Egypt: Govt Bans GPS From Cellphones
The Egyptian government has requested that the Apple company turn off the Global Positioning System in its IPhone 3G, its second generation mobile phone, reports Noah Cohen in the New York Times . The government says that in Egypt, GPS is the military's "prerogative." Apple "apparently complied", the Times reported, raising questions about what the company is willing to change in its technology in order to gain access into the markets of countries with poor human rights records. At the U.S. launch of Apple's IPhone 3G back in July, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs stood against the backdrop of a world map displaying the 70 countries that will have the IPhone 3G by the end of 2008. As of now, Apple's website shows the IPhone 3G is available in five African countries: South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Niger and Cote d'Ivoire. The other African countries expecting the IPhone 3G are Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea Bissua, Mali and Botswana. While the Apple webpage for Egypt promises the IPhone's full features, it adds a disclaimer that some features and services are not available in all areas. Cohen asks if Apple now had a policy of modifying its products to appease the demands of governments worldwide. More.
Source : AllAfrica | 10-Dec-2008 16:33
Aspirants Run Neck-and-Neck as Polls Deadline Looms
As the deadline for the release of Ghana's election results approached on Wednesday, the main presidential contenders were still running neck-and-neck.
Source : AllAfrica | 10-Dec-2008 08:31
Zimbabwe: State Moving to 'Failed' Status, Says Annan
Zimbabwe was moving rapidly to join countries such as Somalia to become a "full-blown failed state," former United Nations chief Kofi Annan said in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Source : AllAfrica | 09-Dec-2008 15:42
Zimbabwe: Europe Extends Sanctions on Mugabe Elite
Europe has expanded travel and financial sanctions against members of what the British foreign ministry calls President Robert Mugabe's "closest political circle."
Source : AllAfrica | 09-Dec-2008 11:10
Ruling Party Nudges Ahead in Early Polls Results
Ghana's ruling party presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, retained a narrow lead over his principal challenger early on Tuesday as counting from Sunday's elections continued.
Source : AllAfrica | 09-Dec-2008 08:31
Zimbabwe: Annan Says Mugabe Has Failed
Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has urged Southern African leaders to play a more active role in bringing about a transition to an inclusive government in Zimbabwe.
Source : AllAfrica | 08-Dec-2008 08:08
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Must Go, Says West
As governance in Zimbabwe continues to crumble and the United Nations reports nearly 14,000 suspected cholera cases, Western powers have stepped up their rhetoric against President Robert Mugabe and are lobbying African nations to call on him to step down.
Source : AllAfrica | 06-Dec-2008 12:55
Ghana: Voters Head for Polls in Tight Race
Ghanaians head to the polls Sunday to vote in what in what could be prove to be tightly-contested presidential and parliamentary elections.
Source : AllAfrica | 05-Dec-2008 10:35
South Africa: Tutu, De Klerk Call for Arms Deal Probe
South African Nobel Peace laureates Desmond Tutu and F. W. de Klerk have called on President Kgalema Motlanthe to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry into the country?s controversial arms deals.
Source : AllAfrica | 04-Dec-2008 18:07
Africa: Campaign Presses Obama to Abandon Bush Plan for Africom
The administration of incoming United States President Barack Obama is likely to continue the militarization of U.S. policy toward Africa unless it comes under pressure to change direction, writes AllAfrica guest columnist Daniel Volman.
Source : AllAfrica | 04-Dec-2008 10:18
Ghana: Election Focuses on Issues, Not Personalities
This Sunday, December 7, the people of Ghana will go to the polls to elect a new President and National Assembly. This will be the second transfer of power between presidents through the democratic process and the fifth national election held since Ghana ended military rule in 1992. Meanwhile, in the past eight years, Ghana has become one of Africa's success stories.
Source : AllAfrica | 02-Dec-2008 10:26
Africa: Winning the Fight Against Aids?
The global fight against Aids is not a losing battle ? at least not entirely. On the positive side, more money is being ploughed into combating the disease: Last year, global investment into HIV/Aids programmes was six times the amount in 2001.
Source : AllAfrica | 01-Dec-2008 08:29
Lifting a Nation From Its 'Heart of Darkness'
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will not lift itself out of its ?heart of darkness? until it addresses the human rights violations of its brutal past, writes Olivier Kambala wa Kambala, a Congolese human rights lawyer and co-founder of a new initiative, the Congo Memory Institute.
Source : AllAfrica | 28-Nov-2008 10:07
Africa: Trade Chief Calls on Leaders to Commit to Aid, Trade
The global financial crisis raises threats to developing economies in Africa and elsewhere as well as to those in the developed world. Writing ahead of a major international meeting on development finance this weekend, Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, says the times demand that world leaders show by their deeds that they remain committed to helping developing countries grow through trade and aid.
Source : AllAfrica | 28-Nov-2008 04:57
South Africa: New Party Reads Signs of the Times
South African political leaders who have broken away from the African National Congress (ANC) in the ruling party?s biggest split in half a century are to form a new party ? probably to be called the Congress of the People (COPE) ? next month. Zubeida Jaffer, who has covered South Africa?s liberation movements since the early 1980s, reports on a recent meeting which was held to discuss the move.
Source : AllAfrica | 27-Nov-2008 08:32
Go! Tsvangirai Tells Mbeki
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has publicly repudiated the mediation of South Africa's former president, Thabo Mbeki, in the country's crisis, while Botswana has suggested President Robert Mugabe could be forced from power by a blockade of his borders.
Source : AllAfrica | 26-Nov-2008 18:42
Côte d'Ivoire: One Million Children Get Life-Saving Mosquito Nets
Nothing But Nets, an initiative of the United Nations Foundation, aims to prevent malaria by providing free mosquito nets for children. In this guest blog, Adrianna Logalbo, deputy director of Nothing But Nets, shares her experiences distributing bed nets in Côte d'Ivoire.
Source : AllAfrica | 26-Nov-2008 08:26
Liberia: Amid Challenges, Children Are Eager to Learn
From the sky, the huts dotted along unpaved roads leading to the port city of Harper resemble those in rural areas in Liberia. But while life in Harper resembles village life in many ways, several features set the city apart.
Source : AllAfrica | 25-Nov-2008 08:24
Liberia: Govt Has 'Political Will' to Fix Education, Says Minister
In a recent interview with AllAfrica's Boakai Fofana, Liberia's education minister, Joseph Kortu, discussed the successes and challenges of rebuilding the country's educational system after a devastating civil war.
Source : AllAfrica | 25-Nov-2008 08:09
Africa: Continent's Size Pushes IT Firm to Satellite Solutions
Greg Wyler, the founder of O3b Networks, explains why he wants to bring the Internet to Africa with low-orbiting satellites.
Source : AllAfrica | 24-Nov-2008 17:56
President Attacked After Election
Soldiers attacked the residence of President João Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau in the early hours of Sunday in what appeared to be post-election instability, news agencies report.
Source : AllAfrica | 23-Nov-2008 19:03
Zimbabwe: Mugabe Bans Annan, Machel, Jimmy Carter
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has barred the former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the former United States President, Jimmy Carter, and the advocate for the rights of women and children, Graça Machel, from entering Zimbabwe.
Source : AllAfrica | 22-Nov-2008 10:02
UN to Crack Down on Pirates, Arms Smugglers
The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution establishing a framework through which the international commmunity can crack down on Somali pirates and better enforce the UN arms embargo on the country.
Source : AllAfrica | 21-Nov-2008 12:25