Special Reports

A Kenyan High Court has ruled that the election board should include another candidate in presidential poll re-run ordered by the Supreme Court. Ekuru Aukot, polled less than 1 percent in presidential elections held in August but Justice John Mativo said, “I find nothing to bar the petitioner from contesting the fresh election.” The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had planned the October 26 repeat poll to be between the top two candidates – incumbent Uh

Punches have been thrown in South Africa's parliament as opposition MPs tried to disrupt the State of the Nation address by President Jacob Zuma. Members of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters' party (EFF), all dressed in red, scuffled with security guards who ejected them from the chamber. Mr Zuma had twice got to his feet but was shouted down by EFF MPs. Outside parliament, police used stun grenades to disperse opposition and government supporters. Mr Zuma has been dogged

Ivory Coast announced a deal Friday night to end a standoff with soldiers who staged a mutiny last week, though the terms were not confirmed and it was unclear whether security would be fully restored. The deal was reached after tense negotiations in Bouake, the country's second-largest city, between soldiers and a delegation led by the defense minister, said government spokesman Bruno Kone. In the hours before the deal was announced, hundreds of soldiers converged on the hou

Hundreds of protesters demanding jobs clashed with police in several Tunisian towns on Saturday, blocking the route of visiting President Beji Caid Essebsi in one region, on the sixth anniversary of the country’s revolution. Local residents said protests that erupted in the southern town of Ben Guerdane had spread over the weekend to several other areas such as Sidi Bouzid, Meknassi and Gafsa, where Essebsi visited to mark the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El Abidin

Burundi has been warned by The Great Lakes Committee on Peace and Security that it risks suspension from the organisation over its refusal to implement some of the resolutions passed in 2016 during the 7th Plenary Assembly of the Forums of Parliaments of member countries. Uganda’s KFM Radio Station reported on Thursday that according to the Lakes Committee President, Arinaitwe Rwakajara, member countries had agreed that President Pierre Nkurunziza had to embrace dialogue wi

Kenya will not shut down the Internet during the election period unless the situation gets out of hand, government officials said Thursday. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) chairman, Mr Ben Gituku said that the government would only take action if it deemed it as a necessary step to secure the country. “We hope we will not get there, unless it gets out of hand. We do not see Internet shutdown happening,” Mr Gituku said during a press conference in Nairobi to issue g

The party of Gambia’s outgoing president, Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, has filed an injunction to stop the inauguration of the incoming President elect Adama Barrow, country’s chief justice Emmanuel Fagbele has confirmed to Anadolu Agency late Thursday. Gambia was plunged into a crisis on Dec. 9 when Yahya Jammeh, who has held power in the small west African state since 1994, rejected the election results a week after conceding defeat to Barrow, a li

UN human rights investigators accused Eritrean leaders on Wednesday of crimes against humanity including torture, rape, murder and enslaving hundreds of thousands of people and called for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court. Europe announced this week that it was considering working with Eritrea and Sudan as part of a €62 billion development plan to encourage African countries to do more to reduce migration flows to the EU. The move risks a backlash fr

A confidential report to the United Nations Security Council found there have been attempts to smuggle weapons from Democratic Republic of Congo through Rwanda to rebels in Burundi where a political crisis threatens to spiral out of control. The report by experts who monitor sanctions on Democratic Republic of Congo said Congolese authorities arrested Rwandan and Congolese civilians and two Congolese army officers in October and November on suspicion of arms smuggling. They w

Despite overseeing the near-total destruction of Africa’s newest country, South Sudan’s liberation hero-turned-rebel leader Riek Machar says that his war is just. In an in-depth interview at his residence, Machar tells SIMON ALLISON that while he has some regrets, he’s not the bad guy and that history will vindicate him. One of Africa’s bloodiest wars is being waged from a three-storey building in a calm, upscale Addis Ababa neighbourhood. It is here, in a typical suburban vi