Politics

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

Published

1 year 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

EU agrees sanctions framework for actors linked to Sudan war— Sources

Published

1 day ago

October 3, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Sources close to developments in Sudan have revealed that European Union ambassadors on Monday agreed on a framework of sanctions against actors linked to the ongoing crisis in the country.

The proposal for sanctions was submitted in July, but it was not approved until Monday. Later this month, the EU’s foreign ministers will give their final approval before the bloc can begin adding people and organisations to the list.

The sanctions are likely to be in the form of asset seizures and travel bans, similar to measures already taken by the United States, Britain, Norway and Germany, who all plan to submit a motion to the United Nations Human Rights Council to set up an investigation into alleged atrocities in Sudan, including ethnically motivated killings, a draft motion showed on Friday.

Last week, The US continued its sanctions on persons of interest in the crisis as it imposed sanctions on two companies, including one based in Russia, and one person. The move is the latest in sanctions imposed by Washington following a conflict that erupted in mid-April between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over proposals for a political transition and the incorporation of the RSF into the military, four years after long-time ruler, Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in an uprising.

The United Kingdom has also penalised at least six commercial entities in relation to the conflict which has rendered more than 5 million people displaced and killed hundreds.

Politics

Tunisian opposition leader, Ghannouchi to begin hunger strike in prison

Published

4 days ago

September 30, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Embattled Tunisian opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi, who has been a political prisoner since April, has threatened to begin a hunger strike in captivity.

Ghannouchi’s party, Ennahda made the announcement in a statement on Friday, stating that the 82-year-old fierce critic of President Kais Saied, has now decided to stay without food.

Ghannouchi was convicted in absentia in May after his refusal to appear before judges on the grounds that the accusations were false and the prosecution was politically motivated.

Along with other jailed opposition figures, who accuse Saied of a coup for closing the elected parliament and implementing rule by decree, he is also accused of planning against state security.

Since coming into power, President Saied has been firm on dissenting voices in the country. More than 20 political personalities, including Ghannouchi, have been detained by the police this year on suspicion of attempting to undermine state security.