Mali opposition leader rejects election result as counting underway
Malian opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse said on Monday he would reject the results of a presidential runoff marred by accusations of fraud, violence and low turnout, calling on the population “to rise up.” Ballot counting was underway on Monday across the vast West African country after the vote Sunday saw one poll worker killed and […]
‘African Union, Sadc toothless bulldogs’
THE presence of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the African Union (UN) observer missions during the just-ended elections has only served to rubber-stamp the political status quo and sanitise electoral fraud, civil society organisations (CSOs) and opposition political parties in Bulawayo have said. The CSOs and political parties said the two regional organisations […]
African Union Closely Monitoring Zimbabwe Elections
The African Union (AU) says it will closely monitor Zimbabwe’s presidential, parliamentary and local government elections scheduled for July 30. According to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the AU said it has already deployed an election observer mission to the southern African nation following an invitation from the Zimbabwean government. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged […]
President Mokgweetsi Masisi Misses African Union Summit
President Mokgweetsi Masisi will miss the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union to be held in Nouakchott, Mauritania from July 1-2. President Masisi was scheduled to leave for Nouakchott today (June 30). A press release from the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation says the trip has been cancelled due to […]
African Union Sends Technical Team to Assist Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
The African Union (AU) Commission has dispatched a five-member “independent electoral assistance mission” to Harare ahead of the country’s July 30 general elections. In a statement, the AU Commission said the team would be in the country until July 8 assisting the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). “The mission has been deployed in response to the […]
UN Chief António Guterres Welcomes Formation of Unity Government in Madagascar
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the formation on Monday of a government of national unity in Madagascar led by a non-partisan Prime Minister, as requested by the nation’s leading constitutional court. According to media reports, the court ordered President Hery Rajaonarimampianina to form a new government with a “consensus” prime minister at its […]
Keeping the African Union Relevant to Africa’s Citizens
Africa Day is celebrated across the continent with cultural festivals, conferences and actions to combat xenophobia. The day commemorates the founding, on 25 May 1963, of the Organisation of African Unity, the forerunner of the African Union (AU). For some, Africa Day is also a time for hard questions: Is a continental organisation like the […]
Burkina Faso in the fight against terrorism
In New York for the 72nd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, participated in a high-level G5 Sahel meeting on Monday 18 September. The objective of the meeting was to make the international community aware of the urgent need to support the […]
President Paul Kagame Urges Africa to Stand Firm on AU Reforms
President Paul Kagame has called on African Union member states not to succumb to pressure by some external partners during the process of the Union’s reforms. Kagame made the remarks while presenting a report on the implementation of the AU institutional reforms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. Kagame warned that some aspects of the reforms […]
With Qatari forces gone, tension rises between Djibouti and Eritrea
The African Union is calling for calm as border tensions between Djibouti and Eritrea intensify. The rising threat of unrest is further fallout from the diplomatic crisis embroiling Qatar. A decades-long border dispute in the Doumeira region that, on occasion, had turned violent, was dampened in 2010 when the two sides agreed to let Qatar […]
