Politics

Liberia’s opposition candidate, Boakai begins campaign ahead of presidential election

Published

7 months ago

September 18, 2023

Ahead of next month’s presidential election, Liberia’s opposition leader, Joseph Boakai has launched his campaign to succeed incumbent President George Weah.

The supporters of the 78-year-old leader of the Liberia National Union braved the rain at a stadium to dance, wave flags, and call for change. He finished second behind Weah in the 2017 elections and has been called “Sleepy Joe” by critics for reportedly dozing off during public events.

Several erstwhile Weah supporters who have lost faith in him amid growing cost of living, were also present.

“We thought he (Weah) was going to bring the change he promised, but nothing,” said businesswoman Martha Gould. “I need change for the better.”

While the 73 members of the Liberian House of Representatives are chosen by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, the Liberian President is chosen using a two-round method.

Nathaniel Barnes, a former Liberian ambassador to the United States, Clarence Moniba, a former vice president of Liberia, and Alexander B. Cummings Jr., who came in fifth place in the 2017 presidential election, are some of the candidates vying for the top position in the country.

It will be interesting to watch if Boakai and his Unity Party can change the course of events as President Weah remains considerably popular.

According to the electoral commission, the elections will be observed by local and international groups totalling 45 bodies with 1,388 personnel. Some of the observers include the African Union, the United States Embassy, OSIWA, PACCET, ECOWAS, among others.

Related Topics:Boakai Featured Liberia President George Weah

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Politics

Burkina Faso investigating reports of northern killings

Published

11 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A government spokesman has revealed that Burkina Faso is looking into reports that 223 people were killed by the Burkinabe army in two villages in the north in February.

The killing was first reported by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), causing a rift between the junta-led West African state and some foreign media that published the report. The HRW report released on Thursday said that the military had executed residents of Nodin and Soro, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians suspected of working with jihadist terrorists. The report was based on interviews with witnesses, members of civil society, and other groups.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, a spokesman for the government, said that HRW’s claims were “peremptory” and that the junta was not unwilling to look into the claimed crimes.

“An investigation has been launched into the killings in Nodin and Soro,” Ouedraogo said in a late-evening statement, quoting a statement from a regional prosecutor on March 1.

Since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s militaries took over in a series of coups from 2020 to 2023, violence in the area has gotten worse. This is because of the ten-year fight with Islamist groups related to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Attacks on Burkina Faso got much worse in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed, according to the U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.

Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.