Kenya: Debate Heats Up in Week Before Kenyan Constitution Vote Campaigns in Kenya for the referendum on a new constitution enter the final week, with President Mwai Kibaki leading a spirited effort for the adoption of the draft, while a number of influential politicians and church leaders are waging a concerted effort to defeat it. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:18:31 GMT
Somalia: Militants Sneer at African Union Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the spokesman of al Shabaab, the radical Islamist group vehemently opposing the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, sneered at the outcome of the African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:41:03 GMT
Sudan: Darfur Peacekeepers Attacked Peacekeepers on patrol in the west of the war-ravaged Sudanese region of Darfur were ambushed today by unidentified gunmen, with seven blue helmets sustaining injuries, the United Nations reported today. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:37:40 GMT
Uganda: Bomb Blasts Death Toll Reaches 85 Nine more victims of the July 11 twin bomb blasts in Kampala have, in the past two weeks, succumbed to the injuries. This brings the death toll up to 85 from 76. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:33:19 GMT
Zimbabwe: 'Operation Shut Your Mouth' The violence and intimidation being perpetrated by ZANU-PF to sabotage the constitutional outreach programme has turned into a fully-fledged official campaign dubbed, Operation "Vhara Muromo", which means "Shut Your Mouth". Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:27:42 GMT
Africa: Drug Resistance Threatens Sleeping Sickness Cure Hopes for an effective new combination treatment for sleeping sickness have been challenged by the discovery of resistance to two of the drugs. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:27:05 GMT
Nigeria: Election Commission Targets 70 Million Voters Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday gave an insight into the number of Nigerians expected to be registered in the new voters' registration underway. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:56:52 GMT
Nigeria: 2011 - New Voters' Register Or No Elections, Says INEC Chief Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Atahiru Jega, yesterday warned that the absence of a new and credible voters register may scuttle the 2011 elections. He said within the next two weeks, the Federal Government will have to choose between providing the funds required to produce a new register and the risk of not having any elections next year. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:15:14 GMT
Uganda: New Group Fights UPDF in Somalia An Islamist group, Hizbul Islam, has rejoined the struggle against the Transitional Federal Government and the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia (Amisom). Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:00:27 GMT
Uganda: Medical Union Boss Jailed Over Wife's Death TRADE union leader Apollo Nyangasi was yesterday charged and remanded to Luzira Prison over the murder of his wife, Christine Dambio Nyangasi. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:06:09 GMT
Nigeria: Zoning Can Cause 'Deeper Crisis', Says Group ORGANISERS of the northern political summit under the aegis of G20 (19 northern states and Abuja), yesterday, warned that the country risked a deeper crisis if the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, prevented Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the presidency in the 2011 elections on the grounds of zoning. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:28:19 GMT
Madagascar: Women Form Own Political Parties for Fair Representation Brigitte Rasamoelina and Yvette Sylla are women with two different approaches to politics in Madagascar. One formed a political party, while the other decided to legalise her organisation as an association. But both women are considering running in Madagascar's November elections. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:17:33 GMT
Nigeria: Electoral Body Chairman Revises Estimate on Cost of Elections NATIONAL Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, said what the commission needed to compile a credible Voters Register was N84 billion and not N74 billion as he earlier said. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:00:06 GMT
Kenya: New Court Set Up for Piracy Suspects A special court set up at Shimo la Tewa Prison is set to speed up the trial of suspected pirates, ease the workload for jail staff and cut costs. The courtroom, which is also handling other criminal cases, began its operations almost a month ago. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:57:44 GMT
Mauritius: Treasure Islands - Mapping the Geography of Corruption When is a tax haven not a tax haven? When Mauritius' Vice Prime Minister Ramakrishna Sithanen says so. 'We are a not a tax haven,' stated Sithanen, who is also the country's minister of finance. Ironically, Sithanen would go on to reveal that ring-fenced financial services (FS) - the legal and financial secrecy vehicles facilitating corporate mispricing and corruption marketed to foreign clients, especially India - accounts for 12.5 per cent of GDP. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:50:21 GMT
Niger: Food Crisis in the Sahel - Real Problem, False Solutions When we talk of a 'food crisis', what are we referring to? Beyond cold and disembodied statistics, a Malian journalist has visited a few parts of Niger and reports on means of life, indeed, to surviving.[1] Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:50:20 GMT
Angola: Luanda the Costliest City for Expats and Visitors If you are planning to visit Luanda, Tokyo, N'Djamena Moscow or Geneva, be warned that they are the top five most expensive cities in the world. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:45:36 GMT
Uganda: Authority Finding Less Counterfeit Drugs Uganda's National Drug Authority (NDA) says the failure rate among samples of medicines tested at their laboratories has fallen by 15 percent from the early 2000s. This serves as a possible indication of a drop in the availability of counterfeit medicines in the East African country. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:34:14 GMT
Zimbabwe: To Return or Not to Return Home? THE successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was undoubtedly a plus for South Africa, a country whose crime rate is among the highest in the world. While the event offered South Africa an opportunity to be truly the Rainbow Nation that it has always wanted to be, the spectre of xenophobia threatens to spoil that huge milestone as the welfare of thousands of foreign immigrants who contributed to that country's successfully hosting of the World Cup skirt the knife's edge of simmering racial intolerance. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:31:24 GMT
Chad: Nutrient-Rich Algae Can Boost Women's Incomes and Tackle Malnutrition - UN A local variety of the nutrient-rich, blue-green algae known as spirulina could boost incomes for women in Chad who harvest the product as well as help fight nutrition, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:19:24 GMT
Burkina Faso: Africa and Brazil to Cross-Fertilise Agricultural Ideas An ambitious development partnership aimed at strengthening agricultural collaboration between Africa and Brazil was launched at the 5th African Agriculture Science Week in Burkina Faso last week (21 July). Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:05:06 GMT
Burkina Faso: Biofuels Could Increase Food Production, Says Report Planting biofuel crops in Africa need not damage capacity to grow food and could even enhance food security, according to a controversial review prepared for the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:05:01 GMT
Senegal: Power Cuts Frustrate Dakar Residents Muslim imams in Senegal have called on their followers to not to pay their electricity bills in protest against frequent power outage. Power cuts in Senegal have resulted in anger and frustration in the streets of the capital, Dakar, where blackouts can last up to ten hours. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:14:15 GMT
Ghana: Journalists Condemn Prosecutions The National Executive Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on July 23, 2010 called on the Ghana police to use constitutional mechanisms to address grievances and complaints they may have against journalists and the media. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:12:49 GMT
Gambia: Ghanaians Protest Against President Jammeh Ghana's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Chris Kpodo has given the assurance that the Ghanaian Government would ensure that the human rights situation in the West Africa-sub region, particularly; the deteriorating situation in The Gambia is improved. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:36:43 GMT
South Africa: Bank Pioneers New Way of Farming STANDARD Chartered Bank is providing nearly R3bn to fund agricultural production in SA, using an innovative scheme that avoids the conventional approach of asking farmers to provide a physical asset as security. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:59:06 GMT