Botswana President Concedes Defeat in Election after Party’s Six-decade Rule
Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has conceded defeat as early results from Wednesday’s election showed his Botswana Democratic party losing by a landslide after nearly six decades in power. With more than half of constituencies counted, the opposition coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) was heading for a parliamentary majority, with its leader, lawyer Duma Boko, on track to become the southern African country’s next president. Soaring unemployment has hit young people especially hard, fuelling a backlash at the ballot box in Wednesday’s vote against the BDP, which has ruled the country of 2.5 million people since it became independent from Britain in 1966. The Guardian
Women Raped in War-hit Sudan Die by Suicide, Activists Say
Several women have taken their lives in Sudan’s central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists have said…With RSF fighters continuing to advance, one rights group has told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are contemplating taking their own lives as they fear being sexually assaulted…[Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa], which has been documenting gender-based violence in Sudan during the war, had confirmed three cases of suicide by women over the last week in Gezira state, she said. BBC
Kenya’s New Deputy President Sworn in as His Predecessor Challenges His Impeachment in Court
Kenya’s new deputy president has been sworn into office, two weeks after his predecessor was overwhelmingly voted out in an impeachment motion in parliament over allegations of corruption and inciting ethnic division. Kindiki Kithure took office on Friday after a colorful event in the capital, Nairobi, attended by government officials and western envoys among other guests. His swearing-in was cleared by the court on Thursday after orders that had suspended it were lifted, despite a continuing court case challenging the impeachment of the previous deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua. AP
Western Envoys Concerned about Arrests and Disappearances as Kenya Takes UN Rights Council Seat
Western envoys in Kenya have raised concerns over reports of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances and urged swift investigations as the country takes up its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council…Human rights groups have accused the authorities in Kenya of arbitrarily arresting and detaining government critics, while several people have been reported missing and, in some cases, their mutilated bodies discovered days later. AP
Africa CDC Warns Mpox Is Not under Control, Appeals for Resources
The African Union’s health watchdog has warned that the mpox outbreak was still not under control and appealed for resources to avoid a “more severe” pandemic than COVID-19. “The situation is not yet under control, we are still on the upward trend generally,” Ngashi Ngongo from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) told a briefing on Thursday. More than 1,100 people have died of mpox in Africa, where some 48,000 cases have been recorded since January, according to the CDC. Al Jazeera
UN Extends Mandate for UN Peacekeepers in Western Sahara, with Algeria Protesting over Human Rights
The U.N. Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Western Sahara for another year Thursday with Algeria refusing to vote in protest at the resolution’s failure to include a reference to monitoring human rights in the disputed north African territory…The U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote have prevented the referendum from taking place, and Morocco insists it will now only support autonomy for the Western Sahara. AP
Nigeria: Tinubu’s Northern Support Base Turning against Him over Blackouts
Several days after most of northern Nigeria was plunged into darkness due to a cut in electricity supply, staunch supporters of President Bola Tinubu in the region have begun questioning his commitment to their welfare. The power outage has brought immense hardship to residents amid a sharp increase in petrol prices and a general rise in the cost of living. Businesses in the north are reportedly on the verge of collapse…The North West region, housing Nigeria’s largest voting bloc among the six geopolitical zones, delivered 30% of Tinubu’s total votes last year—the highest for the president across all regions, including his native South West. Africa Report
Mauritius Suspends Social Media until after Election amid Wiretapping Scandal
Mauritius’s communications regulator ordered all internet service providers to suspend access to social media platforms on Friday to Nov. 11, a day after the upcoming general election, as the country reels from a wiretapping scandal. Some 20 conversations involving politicians, police, lawyers, journalists and members of civil society have been leaked on social media since mid-October, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says…The Prime Minister’s office said the restriction was necessary to preserve the national security and integrity of the country, following the publication of “certain” audio clips…In a joint statement two civil society groups, the Internet Governance Forum and the Internet Society, said the dangers of shutting down the internet far outweighed any perceived benefits. Reuters
Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region Report Network Disruptions as Government Forces Fight Rebels
Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region say access to phone communication and internet service has been disrupted for months as government forces fight against two rebel groups. The disruption of mobile phone calls and internet data has been concentrated in conflict-hit Oromia zones, where government forces have engaged in fighting against the Oromo Liberation Army, or the OLA…The disruptions have been present since the yearslong fighting between federal forces and the OLA began in 2019. VOA
Not One Government Has Paid into Fund for Victims of Uganda Warlord, Says ICC
Not a single country has contributed towards reparations for the victims and survivors of the Ugandan warlord Dominic Ongwen, despite the international criminal court awarding €52.4m (£44m) in February, according to the ICC Trust Fund for Victims (TFV). The ICC reparations order – the largest in the court’s history – was issued after a 2021 ruling in which the court found Ongwen, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army militia group, guilty of various war crimes committed between 2002 and 2005…The bulk of the reparations would go towards symbolic payments of €750 to each person. The rest would be used to provide community rehabilitation programmes, including access to education and healthcare, and to provide remembrance to victims through monuments and memorial activities. The Guardian
Morocco Detains Activist after France Spying Allegation
[Fouad Abdelmoumni], a Moroccan human rights activist has been detained amid an investigation into spreading false information, authorities said on Thursday, October 31, following a Facebook post referencing Morocco’s alleged spying on France in 2021…In 2021, Morocco was accused of deploying Pegasus to monitor prominent figures, including Macron. The spyware, developed by Israeli firm NSO Group, can infiltrate mobile phones, extracting data and activating cameras or microphones for surveillance. These allegations were based on a report by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International, which Morocco called “baseless and false.” Le Monde avec AFP
‘Why I Spent My University Fees on Somali TikTok Battles’
The battles are popular with TikTok users across the world but the premise of the Somali game is different because the influencers on either side often represent a Somali clan and sometimes trade insults that can descend into vitriol. It is known as the Big Tribal Game and tens of thousands of people regularly tune in as the influencers play rap music that extolls the virtue of their clan, with lyrics that praise the bravery and beauty of their people…Doing “battle” largely means encouraging viewers to give the players more gifts, which they need to win each five-minute round. The winner is the influencer that has received the most gifts – and the loser is then expected to congratulate their opponent by admitting their clan is more powerful on the night…Clan identity is deeply ingrained in Somali society and politics, but it can be a sensitive topic. Clans fought against each other in the Somali civil war that started after the overthrow of long-time ruler Siad Barre in 1991 and the worst of the fighting continued until 2001. BBC
Giant African Rats Join Crackdown against Illegal Wildlife Trade
Scientists have flipped the cliché of smelling a rat by training giant rodents to sniff out contraband from rhinoceros horns to pangolin scales, boosting the fight against the lucrative illegal wildlife trade…African giant pouched rats — which can grow to almost 1 metre long, nose to tail — were trained in several phases using rewards such as flavoured pellets. They started with learning to “nose poke” into a hole containing a target scent, such as elephant tusk or African blackwood. Then they were taught to ignore other odours commonly used to hide contraband shipments, including electrical cables, coffee beans and washing powder. Financial Times