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Angola’s ruling party in slender lead as vote counting begins in tight election

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Angola’s ruling party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled the oil-rich nation for nearly five decades, has a slender lead as vote counting begins after voters went to the polls on Wednesday.

So far, most votes in parliamentary elections have been counted and provisional results on Thursday morning show that the MPLA party is ahead with a 52% majority, while their main opposition rivals, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA),
have 42%.

The election commission also said that 86% of ballots had so far been counted, which suggested that the MPLA was likely to extend its near five-decade stay in power.

In what many international election observers say is the most tight and keenly contested elections in the country’s democratic history, incumbent President Joao Lourenco and the MPLA are facing the most serious challenge since the first multiparty elections in 1992.

Lourenco is squaring up against a very popular and charismatic opposition leader, Adalberto Costa Junior of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), who is giving the president real tight run.

Though eight political parties are running in the election, opinion polls indicate that the real contest lies between the MPLA and UNITA, its long-standing rival and ex-rebel movement.

The opinion polls also suggest that support for the MPLA which won 61 percent of the vote in the 2017 elections will dwindle, however, there are also indications that while the UNITA has made inroads, Costa Junior might not garner enough votes to unseat Lourenco who succeeded the late Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

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Politics

Burkina Faso releases 4 French spies after Moroccan intervention

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In a diplomatic spat over their imprisonment, France and Morocco announced Thursday that four French nationals detained in Burkina Faso for a year had been freed after mediation from Morocco.

They were spies, according to a prior statement made by the director of France’s foreign intelligence organisation, the DGSE.

A request for comment was not answered by the DGSE or a representative of the French military, which is in charge of the agency.

Since December 2023, they have been held in Ouagadougou.

President Emmanuel Macron hailed King Mohammed of Morocco on Wednesday for his intervention, “which made possible the liberation of our four countrymen who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year,” according to a statement from the French administration.

King Mohammed and President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso were also commended by Morocco’s foreign ministry, which stated that “this humanitarian act” was made possible by their positive bilateral ties.

In October, France made peace with Morocco, one of its former protectorates, after three years of hostilities between Paris and Rabat stoked by immigration concerns and the disputed Western Sahara region.

Morocco offers Burkina Faso and other military-ruled Sahel republics Atlantic trade.

However, France’s relations with former West and Central African colonies, such as Burkina Faso, remain difficult. In Ouagadougou, French troops and diplomats were ejected, the defence attache and ambassador were asked to depart, and certain French media were suspended.

The military junta that took control in 2022 in Burkina Faso has been criticized by international rights groups for cracking down on free expression and harassing dissidents to handle a security crisis precipitated by Al Qaeda and Islamic State extremists.

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Ghana: President-elect Mahama appoints anti-corruption team

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According to a statement released by his transition team on Wednesday, Ghana’s President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has designated an anti-corruption committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.

When he takes office next month, Mahama, the leading opposition candidate in the presidential election held on December 7 and who received almost 56% of the vote, has pledged to reclaim the proceeds of corruption and hold those responsible for it accountable.

In anticipation, an anti-graft squad has been established. The parliament’s Committee on Assurances, which has previously raised suspicions of governmental corruption, is chaired by MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah.

An investigative journalist, a private attorney, a former auditor general, and a former police officer with experience in high-profile robbery cases make up the other three members.

After looking into alleged financial irregularities that took place during the previous administration, Daniel Dumelovo, the former auditor general, was fired.

Recovering lost assets and fighting corruption were two of Mahama’s main campaign pledges.

“He intends to hit the ground running on these commitments,” the statement said.

Eight years after leaving office, former President Mahama is back to head the West African country. Despite not being personally contaminated, he faced criticism during his 2012–2016 administration due to claims of political corruption.

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