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Kenyan ministers condemn moves to ban Facebook over ethnic hate speech

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Two Kenyan ministers have condemned plans by the country’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to ban social media giant, Facebook, over ethnic hate speech being spread on the platform as the nation gets into gear for general elections on August 9.

The NCIC had given Facebook one week to comply with regulations against ethnic hate speech or risk being suspended following a report by a UK-based rights group, Global Witness (GW), which said the platform approved hate speech advertisements that promoted ethnic violence ahead of the election.

The GW report noted that more than 20 adverts in English and Swahili containing hate speech submitted to Facebook as a test were approved for publication.

It added that after Facebook was notified of the findings, the social media platform issued a statement outlining steps “to help ensure a safe and secure general election.”

“Researchers then submitted two more ads to see if there had indeed been any improvement in Facebook’s detection of hate speech ads, and both were approved,” GW said in the report.

But in separate interviews with the Voice of America on Monday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi and Minister of Information and Technology, Joe Mucheru, said while the issues raised by GW were valid, they did not warrant blocking Facebook in the country.

While Matiangi accused the NCIC of making “a careless decision” on the matter, Mucheru said banning Facebook was not was not the “within legal mandate of the NCIC, and we have been working with Facebook and many other platforms.”

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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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Egyptian court upholds ex-presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawy’s sentence

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Former presidential candidate, Ahmed Tantawy, and his campaign manager, Mohamed Abou El-Diar, were found guilty of faking election paperwork, and given a one-year jail term with labour by an Egyptian court, Tantawy’s legal team announced Tuesday.

Last year, Tantawy was the most well-known candidate to run against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a third term, winning 89.6% of the vote.

To avoid receiving the necessary number of public endorsements to be on the ballot, he halted his campaign before to the election, alleging harassment and arrests directed at hundreds of his family members and associates.

Egyptian authorities criticised Tantawy’s tactic of distributing unapproved copies of endorsement forms to garner popular support, but they denied any misconduct.

Egypt’s Misdemeanour Appeals Court upheld the May court ruling on Monday, which prohibits Tantawy from seeking public office for five years and mandates that he pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($395).

Tantawy’s defence team member and well-known human rights attorney Khaled Ali said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the appeals procedure was riddled with anomalies.

Ali said lawyers struggled for months to confirm court dates, with hearings appearing absent from official schedules and case files missing from court registries.

The public prosecution was not immediately available to comment on the ruling or on Ali’s allegations over the process.

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