Politics

Former Kenyan PM, Raila Odinga, cleared to run for presidency. Will he be 6th time lucky?

Published

2 years ago

June 6, 2022

Former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has been cleared to contest for president in the country’s presidential election due to hold in August.

The veteran politician who had contested the position five times already, is hoping to be lucky in his sixth attempt after he picked popular female politician, Martha Karua, also known as ‘Iron Lady,’ as his running mate on Monday.

The 77-year-old Odinga who has become a mainstay in Kenyan politics, has the backing of current President Uhuru Kenyatta who decided to back him against his Deputy, William Ruto, and his combination with Karua, a lawyer and former Justice Minister, is seen as a master stroke as she is from the majority Kikuyu ethnic group and could swing the votes in Odinga’s favour.

While announcing Karua as his running mate, Odinga said:

“Following tense consultations, we have decided that the holder of this office has to be a woman.

“History is calling us to close the gender gap in our country… cometh the hour, cometh the lady,” Odinga said, going on to describe Karua as a reformist, fighter and a safe pair of hands.

In response, Karua, herself a former presidential candidate, said she was “deeply honoured” to accept the nomination, describing it as “a moment for the women of Kenya.”

“Together, we can finally bring to life the dreams deferred,” she told thousands of cheering supporters in the capital, Nairobi.

Karua, 64, is also a veteran of Kenya’s pro-democracy movement, having risen through the ranks to become a mainstay in the male-dominated East African country’s politics and became famous when she once walked out on the country’s former autocratic leader Daniel arap Moi at a public function, earning her the moniker ‘Iron Lady.’

As it stands, all fingers are pointing at Odinga winning the election with the support from President Kenyatta and the master stroke of naming Karua as his running mate, paving a clear path for his sixth attempt at getting the country’s top job.

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Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

5 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.