Human rights advocates from countries as diverse as Benin, South Sudan and Malawi stood in solidarity with their Tanzanian counterparts on Thursday, in a letter sent to President John Magufuli calling for an end to repression. Some 65 people and organizations signed the letter condemning ongoing attacks against media outlets,…
Six political opposition leaders in Tanzania will appear in court Thursday following their arrest earlier this week on charges of sedition. Freeman Mbowe, head of the CHADEMA party, and five others also were charged with participating in an illegal demonstration in Kinondoni in February. The resulting clashes led to the…
Equatorial Guinea has eliminated its main political opposition party, with the country’s courts dissolving Citizens for Innovation (CI) and sentencing dozens of its members to lengthy prison terms after determining the CI is a threat to security in President Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s small West African nation. The decision this week…
The release of Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba was met Tuesday with a hero’s welcome in Adama and celebrations across the Ethiopian diaspora as the ailing prisoner arrived at his home. Bekele Gerba and six other high-profile opposition leaders were released one day after the Ethiopian government said they were…
A diplomat representing Equatorial Guinea has downplayed reports of an attempted coup in the West African nation this week, but reports from the region suggest a politically motivated uprising – including images that a local media outlet said show a military presence at the opposition party Citizens for Innovation (CI)…
Congolese opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi says he was prevented Tuesday afternoon from leaving a hotel in Lubumbashi, where he has stayed since the weekend arrest of activists meeting at the headquarters of his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party. “I am prevented from leaving the hotel to go and…
The political opposition in Gabon is speaking out against proposed constitutional revisions drafted by the government of President Ali Bongo, changes that follow the months of national dialogue meant to resolve the country’s political instability. Zacharie Myboto, president of the National Union party, issued a statement Saturday warning that the…
Human rights advocates are putting the spotlight on Mauritania, where political opposition leader Mohamed Ould Ghadda was detained without trial in the aftermath of an August referendum to dissolve the country’s senate to which he belonged. Ghadda has been in custody since an August 10 arrest, the Human Rights Watch…
Back in April, Zambian opposition politician Saviour Chishimba said he feared for his life and had gone into hiding. The United Progressive People (UPP) leader had evaded armed men he said were state operatives, who broke into his home to steal laptops and documents relating to corruption cases that Chishimba…
Four dozen members of Zambia’s political opposition party currently holding seats in parliament were suspended on Tuesday – effective immediately – for boycotting President Edgar Lungu’s address to parliament back in March. The 48 MPs, all members of the United Party for National Development (UPND), were suspended for 30 days and…
Authorities in Lesotho have charged two men, including a prominent opposition party leader, in connection with a fatal shooting that happened during an April 2 dispute over a primary election amid the country’s latest political crisis. Thato Makara and Thuso Litjobo are in custody following a court hearing on Wednesday. Police…
Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, where he is expected to face treason charges after being accused of blocking a presidential motorcade, according to legal counsel. Hichilema, a prominent businessman and leader in the United Party for National Development (UPND), was arrested Monday night during…
British citizen Violette Uwamahoro is in police custody in Rwanda, officials say, in the first word of her since she went missing from a bus stop in Kigali more than two weeks ago. The 39-year-old Uwamahoro, a dual citizen and native of Rwanda, left her husband and two children in…
Prominent opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a key figure in both current negotiations with President Joseph Kabila and the history of the nation, has died. “President Tshisekedi died today at 17:42 in Brussels,” said Bruno Tshibala, deputy secretary-general of the UDPS, in a statement from…