Politics

Mnangagwa wins in Zimbabwe but hope of peace deems

Emmerson Mnangagwa, incumbent President of Zimbabwe, was Thursday night declared winner of the country’s presidential election

Published

6 years ago

August 3, 2018

Africa News Watch

Emmerson Mnangagwa, incumbent President of Zimbabwe, was Thursday night declared winner of the country’s presidential election.

The results were as announced by the electoral commission.

Mnangagwa received 51% of the vote, said Priscilla Chigumba, commission chairwoman.

The results, rather than bring cheers to many Zimbabweans, appear to have been become kicker for rising tension as the opposition party has roundly rejected the outcomes, promising to seek every legal means to upturn them.

CNN reports that opposition party members who questioned the count were escorted out of the room before the final vote was announced amid fears of further unrest and claims of vote-rigging by Mnangagwa’s opponents.

Mnangagwa beat out Nelson Chamisa, 40, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Chamisa received 44% of the vote.

On Wednesday, six people were killed in clashes between opposition protesters and security forces in the capital Harare, prompting statements of concern from the United States, the United Nations and the United Kingdom.

The bloodshed cast a pall over Monday’s elections, the first since veteran leader Mugabe was deposed.

Soldiers spent Thursday morning clearing the central business district of Harare and warning people to leave by noon. Taxi ranks were full of commuters attempting to find a way out. Shop fronts were locked, and riot police surrounded the headquarters of the opposition MDC and blocked off nearby streets.

Police arrested 18 people during a raid at the MDC headquarters, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said. The charges were not immediately clear, but Charamba said, in total, officers have taken into custody 26 people suspected of inciting violence during Wednesday’s protests.

International monitors had called on officials to publish the results of the closely fought presidential race promptly. Partial results of the parliamentary vote, announced Wednesday, gave Zanu-PF two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly’s lower house but prompted accusations of poll-rigging.

As police surrounded the MDC building on Thursday, the party’s spokesman had insisted that Chamisa was set to win the presidential vote.

“We have collated results from the 80% of the polling stations that we’re allowed to do so and we’re very clear that we’re going to win,” MDC spokesman Nkululeko Sibanda told CNN.

Chamisa himself tweeted Wednesday that he had won the presidential vote, even though results had not yet been released by the electoral commission.

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Politics

Digital Rights: Policy enthusiast, Jere, advocates self-regulation as alternative to govt regulations

Published

14 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Copperbelt businessman and mining policy advocate, George Jere, has highlighted the importance of self-regulation in the expanding digital media landscape, countering arguments against freedom of speech.

In an exclusive discussion with Zambia Monitor, Jere challenged notions surrounding media freedom and digital rights, emphasizing the indispensable role of effective media instruments in national progress.

“Digital media’s unrestricted nature facilitates publishing, although tracking those behind it poses challenges for government intervention,” Jere remarked, advocating for self-regulation as a preferable alternative to government restrictions.

He stressed the need for a balanced approach between private and public media operations, criticizing the high level of censorship in public media channels.

“While cyber security laws fall short, self-regulation offers a more effective solution for managing digital platforms,” Jere asserted, expressing disappointment in the government’s failure to enact comprehensive media reforms.

Jere cautioned against subjective regulations aimed at suppressing dissenting voices, urging authorities to reconsider laws through inclusive consultations.

“Media freedom should extend to all, including rural communities, chiefs, and church leaders, across traditional, social, and digital platforms,” he emphasized.

Reflecting on public media governance, Jere noted its tendency to align with ruling interests, calling for fairer recruitment processes for media executives to ensure unbiased coverage.

Regarding proposed taxes on online livestream programmes, Jere questioned the necessity of double taxation, suggesting negotiation of percentage-based levies to support domestic resource mobilization without unfairly targeting individuals.

As debates on freedom of speech and media regulation continue, Jere remained steadfast in advocating for inclusive, balanced media practices to foster national development.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

Politics

African leaders seek change in fight against terrorism at Nigerian summit

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

At a security summit in Nigeria, African leaders have called for a revamp of institutions that fight violent extremism on the continent.

The leaders also began to push to set up a standing military force and give the government more power over efforts to keep the peace.

Attacks on citizens and the military have been happening all the time in Africa, including in the Sahel, Somalia, and Mozambique, by groups with ties to Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo said that coastal states like Togo were facing more threats, even though people were being attacked the most in the Sahel.

“I say this with prudence and regret, but I think the institutions that have been in place for several decades are no longer able to respond to the security situation that we face,” said Gnassingbe.

Moussa Faki, chairman of the African Union Commission, reported that between 2017 and 2021, there were four attacks and 18 deaths a day in Africa. Last year, there were eight attacks and 44 deaths a day.

The AU chief added that last year 7,000 citizens and 4,000 military members were killed stressing that the situation was being used in some countries as a reason for military coups. The Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Amina Mohammed, said that half of all terrorist deaths happened in the Sahel.

Until a military coup in July that called for France to leave, Niger was the West’s last major ally in the central Sahel area south of the Sahara Desert. In July, France pulled out 1,500 troops from Niger.

Faki said that Africa needed more money to help stop the spread of terrorism. Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria, said that more needed to be done to stop the spread of small guns and weapons. He also called for the creation of a regional standby force whose job it would be to fight terrorism.

“I am mindful of the funding, legal and logistical complexities that face the proper establishment of such a force. Such a force can stand as a strong deterrent to large scale and protracted terrorist operations and the capture, occupation or disruption of strategic land and resources,” Tinubu said.