Politics

Son of Ugandan president withdraws from 2026 election

Published

2 months ago

September 22, 2024

The son of Uganda’s long-serving president, Yoweri Museveni, announced on Saturday that he had given up on his ambition to seek the presidency in the upcoming 2026 election, and urged his followers to back his father instead of him.

Despite not officially announcing his candidature, President Museveni, who has served as the nation’s leader for 38 years, is generally anticipated to seek reelection.

“I would like to announce that I will not be on the ballot paper in 2026,” said Muhoozi Kainerugaba in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“I fully endorse President Yoweri Museveni in the next elections,” he said, urging his supporters to back his father for a seventh term.

Although he is currently in charge of the nation’s armed forces, Kainerugaba is also well-known for his divisive remarks and is anticipated to succeed his father as head of state in the future. In 2022, Museveni expressed regret to Kenya following his son’s threat to invade the neighbouring country via Twitter.

The opposition has long charged Museveni with trying to install a monarchy on the country; the president disputes this.

The 80-year-old Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986, and to prolong his reign, he twice amended the constitution.

Human rights advocates and those who oppose him politically, such as pop singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, have long charged Museveni with abusing security forces to imprison, threaten, or torture opponents. Museveni refutes these allegations.

In the most recent presidential election (2021), wine finished second. He protested the results, claiming that his supporters had been kidnapped, intimidated, and ballots stuffed. It was Uganda’s fairest vote ever, according to Museveni.

A tendency towards the “sit-tight” phenomenon in African political leadership has been pronounced with Yoweri Museveni having spent 38 years in power. Togo, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon. Guinea and Cote D’Ivoire also have a recent history of long-serving presidents while in Eritrea has been no presidential election since independence in 1993.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

20 hours 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.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.