2 Senior Mozambique Opposition Figures Gunned Down
Two prominent opposition party officials were gunned down Saturday in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, days before the results of the country’s disputed elections are expected to be announced. Eyewitnesses report that gunmen ambushed the car that opposition lawyer Elvino Dias, and party official Paulo Guambe were traveling in Saturday. Dias was a legal adviser to Venancio Mondlane and the People Optimistic for the Development of Mozambique or PODEMOS party. Mozambique’s Minister of Interior Pascoal Ronda confirmed the killings of both men, adding that police launched a manhunt…“It is an attack on democracy … and an attack on a democratic rule of law, and an attack on each and every one of us who believe in the fight for electoral justice in Mozambique,” [Anti-corruption advocate and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, Adriano Nuvunga, said]…Dias was preparing to challenge the results in the Constitutional Council when they were expected to be announced this week. VOA
Senior Tanzanian Opposition Party Official Abducted and Seriously Injured, Party Says
Unidentified people abducted, beat and seriously injured a senior Tanzanian opposition party official before dumping her in a forest, her party said on Sunday, a month after a similar abduction and murder of another of its party leaders. The reported cases may taint the reformist image of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has been praised for easing repression since succeeding John Magufuli, who died in office three years ago. Rights campaigners say Hassan’s government is targeting opponents ahead of local elections in December and a national vote in 2025. The government denies the accusations. CHADEMA, the leading opposition party, said its women’s wing publicity secretary, Aisha Machano, was abducted in Kibiti town in the eastern part of the country while she was on official duties. Reuters
Kenyan Court Blocks Deputy President Appointment Hours after Ruto Picks Ally
Kenyan President William Ruto chose Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy on Friday, but a court blocked his appointment until it hears a case next week challenging the impeachment of Kindiki’s predecessor. The high court’s intervention came after lawmakers had already approved Kindiki’s appointment on Friday…In an order, the high court in the capital Nairobi said Kindiki’s appointment as deputy president and the Senate’s resolution upholding impeachment charges against Gachagua were suspended until Oct. 24, when a bench of judges appointed by the chief justice will debate the issue. A second court order said Kindiki cannot assume office until the case is heard. Reuters
Sudanese Army Reports First Defection of Senior RSF Commander
Sudan’s army said on Sunday a commander from its foe the Rapid Support Forces had defected with some of his troops, the first such move by a senior figure since the two sides went to war more than 18 months ago. Supporters of the army posted photos online purporting to show Abuagla Keikal – a former army officer who became the RSF’s top commander in the southeastern state of El Gezira – after he had defected. The RSF later published a statement alleging that Keikal had switched sides after a “deal”, and saying that it had inflicted losses on the forces that defected with him in the east of El Gezira state, where Keikal is from. Reuters
Zambian President Sacks Top Judges Who Ruled in Favour of His Rival
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has now sacked three top judges he previously suspended over alleged judicial misconduct, drawing further accusations of political interference in the judiciary. The three Constitutional Court judges presided over a presidential petition in 2016 in which they dismissed Hichilema’s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu. They also took part in a controversial ruling allowing Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections, despite having twice served as Zambia’s president. Their dismissal comes after they lost a court application for a review of a judicial panel’s decision recommending their suspension. BBC
Cameroon’s Separatist Conflict Forces Hundreds of Thousands of Students Out of Education
As of 2023, the separatist crisis in west Cameroon and incursions by the Boko Haram extremist group in the north left 1.4 million school-age children in dire need of educational assistance, according to a report from the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group…The Central African nation has been plagued by fighting since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017, with the stated goal of breaking away from the area dominated by the French-speaking majority and setting up an independent, English-speaking state…Separatist fighters, opposed to the French-speaking education system organized by the central government, have killed and abducted students and teachers, burned and looted school buildings, and intimidated families into keeping their children out of school, according to a Human Rights Watch report. AP
Ghana’s Gen Z Voters Poised to Sway December Election
As election campaign fever heightens in Ghana, the focus is turning to an often overlooked yet influential demographic: first-time or Gen Z voters. With more than 700,000 first-time voters on the provisional electoral roll, these young Ghanaians – many of whom have just turned 18 – are being courted by political parties eager to tap into the demographic’s growing influence. In a political climate marked by youth-led protests and mounting economic frustrations, the voices of these voters could prove decisive…Michael Augustus Akagbor, senior programmes officer at Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), highlights that first-time voters could be a “game changer”, particularly because their concerns – ranging from job creation to the high cost of living – are central to the country’s challenges. The Africa Report
South Africa Asks Taiwan to Move Its Unofficial Embassy Out of the Capital
South Africa has asked Taiwan to move its unofficial embassy out of the administrative capital, Pretoria, in a move that’s seen as appeasing ally China. The South African foreign ministry said Friday that it had given Taiwan a “reasonable” timeframe of six months to relocate its “liaison office” to the commercial hub of Johannesburg. The decision was communicated to China last month by South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola when he was in China for the China-Africa summit, the ministry said. South Africa severed formal diplomatic ties with the self-governing island of Taiwan — over which China claims sovereignty — in 1997, but has an unofficial diplomatic relationship with it, as do many countries. AP
As Poor Nations’ Default Wave Peaks, Cash Shortage Could Take Its Place
The punishing post-COVID wave of sovereign defaults has finally crested, with the likes of Ghana, Sri Lanka and Zambia concluding years of painful debt reworks. But the International Monetary Fund and others worry that a dangerous liquidity shortfall could take its place in many emerging economies – setting back development, stunting climate change mitigation and fuelling distrust in governments and Western institutions…with constrained budgets and crises around every corner, Vera Songwe, chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility – a group that aims to lower debt costs for Africa – said current fixes lack the scale and the speed needed. “Countries are avoiding…education, health and infrastructure expenditures to service their debt,” Songwe said. “Even in the advanced economies…there are stresses in the system.” Reuters
Rwanda Says No Community Transmission of Marburg Virus, with Zero New Infections in Recent Days
Rwanda’s health minister said Sunday that an outbreak of the Marburg virus is not spreading in the country, citing the absence of new infections or deaths in the past six days…Identifying and isolating people exposed to contamination is key to stopping outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers like Marburg. Rwanda has documented 1,146 contacts. Nsanzimana spoke alongside Tedros Adhanom Ghebereyesus, the World Health Organization director-general, who praised Rwanda’s efforts to stem the outbreak of the Ebola-like disease. AP
WHO Says It Has Certified Egypt as Malaria Free
The World Health Organization said on Sunday it had certified Egypt as malaria free, marking the elimination of a disease that had been present in the country since ancient times. The WHO grants certification to countries that have proven beyond reasonable doubt that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been interrupted for at least the previous three consecutive years. The status has been granted to a total of 44 countries and one territory globally, the WHO said in a statement. Reuters
Somalia Military Strikes Major Blow to Al-Shabab, Kills 30 Militants
Somalia’s Information Ministry said Saturday the country’s military is targeting al-Shabab militants in the Galmudug region of central Somalia and is making progress in eroding the group’s operational effectiveness. In a coordinated military operation, the Somali National Army, or SNA, supported by Galmudug State forces and pro-government local clan militias, killed 30 al-Shabab militants and injured dozens more, according to a government statement released Saturday…During the engagement, several al-Shabab commanders surrendered to the SNA. Among those were two significant militant leaders, “Mohamed Bashir Muse and Madey Fodey,” according to the government report. This military action follows an incident two days prior when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vest outside a crowded restaurant. VOA
Sexual Violence, Abductions Still Rampant in South Sudan: UNMISS
Between April and June 2024, UNMISS said it recorded 317 incidents affecting at least 1,062 civilians, (including 160 women and 188 children), of which 442 were killed and 297 injured. The mission also said 197 abducted civilians were abducted and 126 subjected to sexual violence…The UN noted with concern the upsurge in documented abductions and sexual violence, saying the number of abductions increased by an alarming 181 percent (from 70 up to 197). There was also a 168 percent rise in the number of victims of sexual violence (from 47 to 126). According to UNMISS, women and girls continued to be disproportionately affected by conflict-related sexual violence, with documented cases of victims recorded at up to 99 percent. Sudan Tribune
Over 1 Million People Affected by Flooding in South Sudan: OCHA
Devastating flooding caused by heavy rains in several parts of South Sudan has affected over 1 million people, the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said. Floods, the agency said on Friday, have so far displaced about 271,000 people in 42 of the country’s 78 counties, with 40 percent of those affected from Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Unity states. According to the UN, unprecedented floods could affect up to 3.3 million people in South Sudan between September and December amidst fears that most areas could be rendered impassable. Already, heavy rainfall and flooding have rendered 15 key supply routes impassable, restricting physical access, OCHA said. Sudan Tribune