Politics

Zimbabwean oppositon figures say government is harassing them with arrests, imprisonment, ahead of elections

Published

2 years ago

September 3, 2022

With the Zimbabwean general elections a few months away, leading opposition figures in the country have raised an alarm accusing the government of harassment and threats of arrest and imprisonment.

The opposition politicians claim many of their members and journalists critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration have been arrested and clamped into prison as a way of intimidating them while public meetings have been banned.

According to an opposition watchdog in the east African country, the situation is reminiscent of the government repression similar to the iron-fisted rule of Robert Mugabe, the former president who died in 2019.

The body said Mnangagwa’s government is responding with force to opposition to his rule which is stoked by worsening economic conditions including an inflation which had climbed to more than 250%.

Among those suffering from the government’s dragnet, according to the body, is opposition member of parliament Job Sikhala, who has been detained in the Chikurubi prison near the capital, Harare, for close to three months on accusations of inciting violence.

The very vocal 50-year-old Sikhala, according to the watchdog, has been arrested more than 65 times in his two-decade political career but has never been convicted of any crime.

“Most recently, Sikhala was arrested in June with more than two dozen other activists of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, known as the CCC, and accused of fanning violence after skirmishes with ruling party supporters. Repeated attempts to get bail for him and the others have failed,” it said.

“The reason they have not been given bail is because they (prosecutors) know they will not get convicted. The idea is to make them serve. They know they don’t have the evidence to prove the cases,” it added.

The CCC party, launched in January and led by Nelson Chamisa, has grown to become the major opposition party with many lawmakers from the ruling ZANU-PF defecting to it.

The new party has also attracted considerable attention and followers especially from the poor, students, political activists, civic organisations, trade union members and working class who are disenchanted with the Mwangaga regime and in response, police in Harare and other cities have been banning the party’s meetings, as well as gatherings of civic organizations and church groups perceived as government critics.

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Politics

Ghana’s Supreme Court reinstates ruling party’s majority

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The ruling New Patriotic Party regained its majority in the legislature ahead of the Dec. 7 election after Ghana’s Supreme Court declared on Tuesday that the speaker of parliament’s declaration of four seats as vacant was illegal.

Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the leader of the NPP caucus, petitioned the supreme court of the West African nation to reverse Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision.

Bagbin had said that one member of the National Democratic Congress and two members of the NPP had resigned their seats when they registered to run as independents.

Another lawmaker with an NPP leaning filed as an NPP candidate to run for office.

Due to Bagbin’s decision, the NDC now holds 136 members in parliament, compared to the 135 held by the NPP, the party of outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The approval of Supreme Court nominees, loans, and bill enactments, as well as the presentation of a provisional budget for the first quarter of 2025, were all delayed by the indefinite postponement of two further parliamentary sessions.

In a televised decision, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo declared that Afenyo-Markin’s appeal was successful by a majority vote of 5:2. She noted that the court will later submit the rationale for its ruling.

According to Afenyo-Markin, the decision permitted the parliament to return to its regular activities. Among other things, it is anticipated to approve a $250 million World Bank loan intended to support the financial industry and give corporations tax breaks.

A request for comment from Bagbin’s representative was not answered.

Although some observers predict a hotly contested election, opinion surveys suggest that primary opposition leader John Dramani Mahama will likely defeat NPP contender and incumbent Vice President Muhamudu Bawumia in next month’s election.

Politics

Senegal: PM Sonko urges followers to avenge campaign violence

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, has advised Pastef party followers to exact retribution for claimed violence against them during the Sunday parliamentary election campaign.

Before a presidential election in March in some of the greatest disturbances in Senegal’s history, supporters of the prime minister, also president of Pastef, battled with police. Since Sonko’s ally, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, won the vote, the nation has remained peaceful. He defeated then-president Macky Sall handily.

However, reports of periodic conflicts between various party supporters have surfaced recently as the nation gets ready for a legislative contest that will finally determine how much Faye and Sonko will be able to carry out their agenda.

Sonko claimed in a social media post attacks against Pastef supporters in the capital Dakar and other towns since campaigning began.

“May each patriot they have attacked and injured, be proportionally avenged. We will exercise our legitimate right to respond,” he wrote.

The text accompanied a photo of a young man showing a gashing wound on his forearm.

The first week of campaigning saw an increase in violence reported by a local civil society group involving conflicts between supporters in central Senegal and the burning of an opposition party headquarters in Dakar.

Calling for calm, the interior ministry said on Monday it had been notified of acts of violence and sabotage against party caravans and other campaign activity.

In order to stop damage, rights defender Alioune Tine asked politicians to exhibit “moderation and wisdom” in their speech and requested the interior ministry to invite various party representatives to meet.

“The verbal escalation has reached a critical threshold, we have the impression of going to war,” Tine posted on X.

Pastef is up against former ruling parties that have united ex-presidents Sall and Abdoulaye Wade into a coalition.

Dissolving the opposition-led national assembly in September, Faye accused legislators of not participating in substantive budget and other proposal debates.