News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Ramaphosa on official working visit to Lesotho

Posted: 20 Aug 2016 12:12 AM PDT

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Lesotho as part of his mandate as SADC facilitator to consolidate peace and security.

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Johannesburg – Deputy President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday paid a working visit to the Kingdom of Lesotho as part of his mandate as Southern African Development Community (SADC) Facilitator to assist the country to consolidate peace and security.

Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call on His Majesty King Letsie III and held discussions with Prime Minister Phakalitha Mosisili and his coalition leaders, Presidency spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement.

“The Prime Minister and his coalition partners briefed Deputy President Ramaphosa among others about efforts to institute constitutional and security sector reforms,” Mamoepa said.

Ramaphosa met with representatives of the opposition political parties, Christian Council of Lesotho, College of Chiefs and the family of the late Brigadier Maaparankoe Mahao.

“Deputy President Ramaphosa will table his report on consultations with various Lesotho’s stakeholders to the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in Swaziland at the end of the month of August.”

Mamoepa said the visit comes against the background of preparations for the forthcoming SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for Mbabane, Swaziland from August 29 to 31, which is expected to review the political security situation in the region.

During the SADC Double Troika Summit, held in June 2016 in Gaborone, Botswana, Ramaphosa was mandated to facilitate the return of opposition political party leaders back to Lesotho from South Africa.

African News Agency (ANA)

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Opposition to challenge Lungu’s re-election in court

Posted: 19 Aug 2016 12:18 PM PDT

Zambia's main opposition leader has filed a court petition challenging President Edgar Lungu's re-election, saying the vote was rigged.

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Lusaka - Zambia's main opposition leader filed a court petition on Friday challenging President Edgar Lungu's re-election at the helm of Africa's second-largest copper producer, saying the vote was rigged.

The southern African nation's economy is buckling under weakened commodity prices, mine closures, rising unemployment, power shortages and soaring food prices that Lungu's rival, Hakainde Hichilema, blames on the current administration.

“We have filed the petition. We are asking for the nullification of the election,” Gilbert Phiri, a lawyer for Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND), told reporters.

Lungu and the electoral commission, an independent state agency set up by the constitution, who are among the respondents named in the petition, have rejected Hichilema's accusation that fraud discredited the Aug. 11 vote.

Lungu's inauguration has been postponed because a rule introduced in January says the winner of a presidential vote cannot be sworn in if the vote is contested in a court, which will have two weeks to decide on such a petition.

In the petition, Hichilema, an economist and businessman and an old rival of Lungu, says that the president did not win the election legally as he failed to score more than the number of votes required to be declared the winner.

To win, a presidential candidate must garner 50 percent of the valid votes cast plus at least one additional vote.

“The first respondent did not receive more than 50 percent of the total votes cast. The voter register was not credible and its non-availability before the elections compromised the transparency of the electoral process,” the petition says.

In the petition, Hichilema demanded a recount, verification and scrutiny of the votes cast at the general election to ascertain the real winner.

He also says in the petition that the number of ballots cast in favour of Lungu was inflated by fake, pre-marked ballots, and asked that the court nullify Lungu's victory.

Lungu won 50.35 percent of the vote against 47.63 percent for Hichilema, according to the electoral commission.

Reuters

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DRC pardons 24 political prisoners

Posted: 19 Aug 2016 11:40 AM PDT

The government of the DRC has announced pardons for 24 people considered political prisoners, in a bid to ease tensions.

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Kinshasa - Democratic Republic of Congo's government announced pardons on Friday for 24 people considered political prisoners by the opposition, in a bid to ease tensions ahead of a presidential election set for November.

Opposition leaders had demanded the release of 26 prisoners as a precondition for participation in talks on the election with President Joseph Kabila, who is due to step down after two terms in office.

“The government ... has decided that we can lift the measures (against them) to allow these people to be immediately liberated with the exception of two cases,” Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba told a news conference.

Those liberated include youth activists arrested in what the United Nations and human rights groups said was a growing crackdown on freedom of expression ahead of the election.

They include Fred Bauma and Yves Mawkambula, detained on charges of plotting against Kabila since their arrests at a March 2015 workshop to promote youth participation in politics. The two men not freed are political party leaders accused of sexual assault and real estate fraud respectively.

The African Union facilitator of those talks, former Togolese prime minister Edem Kodjo, applauded the government's decision and said the talks would begin next week. There was no immediate comment from the opposition.

Reuters

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