Politics

Incumbent Angolan President Lourenco wins second tenure in closest election ever

Published

2 years ago

August 26, 2022

President Joao Lourenco of Angola has won a second tenure after he edged out his closest rival, Adalberto Costa Junior of the National Union for the Liberation of Angola (UNITA), in the closest election ever witnessed in the oil rich African country.

Lourenco and the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is now set to extend his reign for another five years which will give the party a total of 52 years in power, one of the longest in the continent, after the results of Wednesday’s polls were finally released on Friday.

Lourenco won his second five-year term in office after he garnered 51% of the presidential vote with more than 97% of the votes tallied while Junior came close second with got 44% of the vote, an improvement on the 26% UNITA got in the 2017 election.

The ruling party also won 124 parliament seats out of the 220 up for grabs, though leading opposition groups have questioned the transparency of the electoral commission’s presidential results and is yet to accept the outcome of polls.

The Wednesday poll was the tightest ever witnessed as the MPLA did not run away with the results as were witnessed in the past, showing that its popularity is gradually waning while the opposition, especially the former rebel group turned political party, UNITA, is steadily making inroads.

Related Topics:Angola Election Featured MPLA President Joao Lourenco UNITA

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Politics

Mali: 7 Russian mercenaries killed

Published

1 day 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

3 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.