Kenya’s Raila Odinga, the main opposition candidate who lost a presidential bid to President William Ruto in August, says his party won’t accept the current government following the allegations of false results reporting from an Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) staffer who leaked documents to Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
By Jeffrey Smith One of my personal highlights of 2022 was being present in Kenya in the days leading up to and during that country’s general elections, held on August 9. I was fortunate to have been invited to participate with a diverse team of accredited observers, mostly consisting of…
Stephanie Williams, the United Nations envoy for Libya, called for calm on Saturday as unrest across the volatile North African nation led to the burning of the parliament building in Tobruk, the seat of government in the divided nation’s east. “The people’s right to peacefully protest should be respected and…
Libya’s long-delayed presidential elections have been postponed again, as the country’s electoral commission has yet to finalize the candidates who are eligible to run for the office. Emad Al-Sayih, head of the National High Commission for Elections, said this latest delay was necessary because the process had reached “a dangerous…
A specifics-free statement about “African elections,” issued by the Department of State in the United States, caught some attention Thursday even as the 2020 presidential elections continued to be chaotic in the U.S. itself. The statement from the department led by Mike Pompeo expressed U.S. commitment to free, fair and…
Opposition leaders in Ethiopia warn of the potential for additional unrest following parliament’s decision to allow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to remain in office beyond the end of his term. A joint statement from the Oromo LIberation Front (OLF) and Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) followed Wednesday’s decision to keep Abiy…
Cameroon’s government is denying allegations that its military was involved in a massacre last week in the village of Ngarbuh, a community in the country’s Northwest Anglophone region. Spokesman René Emmanuel Sadi, speaking to reporters Tuesday, said the accusations against security forces were false. “Without the slightest preliminary investigation, several…
Malawi’s top court has thrown out the results of a May 2019 presidential election, one that saw President Peter Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party gain a disputed second term that was challenged immediately by the political opposition. The five judges have ordered a new election to be held within…
The African National Congress (ANC) celebrated in the streets on Sunday after pulling in 57.5 percent of the support in last week’s legislative election, down from previous years but still enough to protect the ANC’s long-standing majority. President Cyril Ramaphosa led the celebrations outside ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, promising that…
Human Rights Watch has launched an eight-part series on changes in Ethiopia since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power a year ago. While there’s been much progress, there also remain many challenges in an increasingly tense political atmosphere. “With elections scheduled for May 2020, the next year will be a…
Nigerian officials have announced a last-minute postponement of the country’s presidential election, holding a press conference at nearly 3 a.m. Saturday – just hours before the polls were set to open. Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said electoral officials will be meeting during the day…
ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, says it supports the decision to hold delayed parliamentary elections in Guinea Bissau but insists that President José Mário Vaz keep his fragile government as-is until the March 10 voting is complete. The country postponed elections in November and December, citing technical…
Opposition leaders in Togo on Sunday confirmed their opposition to the planned December 20 legislative elections, and their resolve to continue protests after at least two people died in clashes on Saturday. Jean-Pierre Fabre and the Coalition of 14 (C14) political opposition accused the government of President Faure Gnassingbé of…
Official campaigning has kicked off in Democratic Republic of Congo, where long-delayed elections are scheduled for December 23. The national elections commission, CENI, designated Thursday as the start of campaigning for a field of 21 candidates certified in September. Front-runners for the presidency include Martin Fayulu of the Engagement for…
Somali-American Ilhan Omar has become one of two Muslim women who are the first to serve in the United States Congress, after easily winning her race in the state of Minnesota. The Democrat Omar was declared winner of her U.S. House of Representatives race with 78.7 percent of the vote…