Politics

Kenya’s opposition leader, Odinga sets date for fresh protest

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2023

Kenya’s main opposition leader, Raila Odinga has threatened to resume protests over high living costs and alleged election fraud because of what it called the government’s lack of commitment to talks.

Last week, Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) party said in a statement while referring to Ruto’s ruling Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) party, “Today we have come to the conclusion that as we had feared, the commitment is lacking on the part of Kenya Kwanza.”

The party had threatened last week that if no progress had been made in negotiations by the end of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which ended on Friday, protests would recommence.

While claiming to be devoted to dialogue, Azimio also criticized the composition of Kenya Kwanza’s negotiation team and charged that the government had done nothing to reduce the price of things like bread, fuel, power, and school fees.

The next protest on May 2 would be confined to the capital, Nairobi, Azimio said.

Meanwhile, the ruling party, Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) differs over the details of the talks’ agenda and who should lead them. Kenya Kwanza wants to restrict the discussions’ focus to the choice of electoral officials and to legislators alone.

Kenya held its presidential elections on August 9, 2022. After a closely contested election against a seasoned challenger, Raila Odinga, voters chose William Ruto as the country’s fifth president.

Related Topics:Featured Kenya Odinga Protesters Raila Odinga Ruto

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Politics

Mali: 7 Russian mercenaries killed

Published

9 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

An al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has claimed responsibility for the attack in central Mali, killing at least seven mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military contractor company.

Wagner earlier lost a battle in July with mostly Tuareg rebels and Islamists close to Mali’s Algerian border, exposing the perils faced by mercenaries used by military juntas in the Sahel area of West Africa.

The separatists and strong branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large areas of the Sahel over the past 12 years, are difficult for Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to control.

The al Qaeda offshoot JNIM claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack, according to a statement from SITE Intelligence Group, which keeps an eye on extremist activity in the area. According to SITE, JNIM captured several weapons and killed seven Russian Wagner mercenaries.

Following an attack, the bodies of at least five white males wearing army fatigues were seen laying near a military truck in a video obtained by Reuters. The validity of the footage could not be confirmed by Reuters.

SITE Intelligence posted images allegedly from JNIM that showed many crates of weapons and ammo together with the dead and bloodied bodies of troops.

Although two local officials acknowledged the incident, a Malian army source claimed to have seen seven dead bodies, including Russian fighters. Five Wagner warriors were slain, according to one of them.

At least six Russians have been murdered in the attack, which was carried out by Katiba Macina, a division of JNIM, according to a consultant working on security in the area.

The expert referred to the Russians as Africa Corps warriors, a paramilitary group under Kremlin leadership that has taken Wagner’s position in Africa throughout the previous 12 months.

Mali has previously said that Russian servicemen trainers are assisting local troops with Russian-purchased weaponry rather than mercenaries.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.