There are ominous trends in Lesotho, where Prime Minister Tom Thabane has vowed to implement long-delayed reforms but finds himself mired in internecine political battles that add to the small southern African kingdom’s instability. Last week, defense minister Sentje Lebona resigned – the second minister to do so, and one…
The electoral commission in Democratic Republic of Congo released on Wednesday its final list of certified presidential candidates, leaving 21 eligible to contest the December 23 elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) approved Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) candidate replacing President Joseph Kabila. They…
In Zambia, a delegation led by the influential leaders of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) met with President Edgar Lungu on Monday to discuss their concerns over the December elections. The delegation asked Lungu, now the chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to ensure that the…
In Lesotho, the Southern African Development Community’s peacekeeping forces will leave in November as planned despite the appeals from Prime Minister Tom Thabane for a three-month extension. The SAPMIL force has served a year in Lesotho, which includes a previous extension of an original mandate that ran through May. The…
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been declared the victor in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, after results released late Thursday showed him with 50.8 of the votes – just enough above the required threshold to avoid a September 8 runoff. Mnangagwa received 2,460,463 votes compared with challenger Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance candidate who received 2,147,436…
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the news of a new cabinet established late Monday in Madagascar, following a May 25 court order to form a national unity government in hopes of ending the island nation’s political crisis. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s picks include Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, both of…
Citizens of Lesotho say they welcome the role the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has in supporting the country’s reforms and want their security forces to step back from political involvement, but they appear disillusioned about democratic elections after years of upheaval. The findings come from polling research done by…
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has extended the mandate of the Preventive Mission in Lesotho (SAPMIL) peacekeeping troops from May until November 2018, the 16-nation body said in a communiqué released Tuesday. The SADC decision came during a summit in the Angolan capital of Luanda attended by Prime Minister Tom…
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has opened an office in Democratic Republic of Congo it says will establish a greater presence for the regional body amid Kinshasa’s national political crisis. The SADC office “provides an avenue for closer collaboration with stakeholders in the DRC, in the continued efforts by…
Africa Times contributed post By Said Djinnit On 24 February 2013, eleven African heads of state made history in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework (PSCF) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region came into being. Sudan and Kenya joined the group 11 months…
The Angolan leader of a peacekeeping operation deployed to Lesotho in late November by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said he’s pleased with the progress to date. Matias Bertino Matondo, head of Preventive Mission in Lesotho (SAPMIL), told Angop that the political climate was tense when he arrived with…
President Ian Khama is completing a farewell tour of Botswana as he prepares to leave office at the end of March – and he’s been using the opportunity to criticize other African leaders for their failure to step down in keeping with their constitutions and the will of the people….
A delayed peacekeeping operation in Lesotho is set for an official deployment launch on Saturday, according to the Southern African Development Community. The SADC said forces from neighboring countries continued to arrive head of the deadline, which was originally set for November 1 but changes to the mission, including the…
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) held an emergency meeting in Botswana Thursday to focus on the crisis in Zimbabwe, subsequently issuing a statement expressing their concern over “the unconstitutional removal of democratically elected governments.” Representatives of Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia met to consider the unfolding situation in…
The global reaction to political developments in Zimbabwe surrounding President Robert Mugabe has been led by Africans urging calm in resolving the political crisis. In Zimbabwe, #thisflag movement leader and pastor Evan Mawarire – at times in tears – published a video and issued a statement Wednesday that called for…