Author name: Ashton

Senegal’s president will not seek third term

Africa /

Senegalese President Macky Sall on Monday ruled out seeking re-election in 2024, ending months of speculation that he would run for a third term. His announcement in a televised address came after a group of mayors signed a petition on Saturday urging Sall to seek reelection in the polls set for February. “My decision is not to be a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, even though the Constitution gives me the right to do so,” he said in a televised speech. Speculation about Sall’s intentions had fueled protests over the past year after the opposition said running for a third term would be unconstitutional. On Sunday, opposition leader Ousmane Sonko called on his supporters to take to the streets if the president announced his intention to seek a third term in office. Sonko was sentenced last month to two years in prison for “corrupting youth.” Thousands of angry demonstrators took to the streets in several cities and at least 16 were killed. Opposition leader denies all the charges, and his supporters say the charges and the trial was a political hit job to disqualify him from entering the presidential race. Sall, 61, assumed power in 2012 and won reelection in 2019. His supporters had argued that he remains legally eligible to contest elections again under a new Constitution revised in 2016.

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King Mswati III says intracontinental trade must increase to boost wealth in A...

Africa /

“We as leaders on the continent must come up with policies that will enable our countries to collaborate and trade more, with leveraging on natural resources so that we can achieve the aspirations of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Agenda 2063, Vision-2030 and the SDGs,” he said. He made the remarks in Ndola, a city in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, where he opened the 57th annual international trade fair with the theme of: “Stimulating economic development through partnership, trade and investment.”​​​​​​​ The week-long event has attracted hundreds of local and foreign exhibitors showcasing various products and services. Mswati visited exhibits. along with his host, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema, before his address, and further called for the two southern African Development Community states to enhance trade and cooperation. He announced plans to reintroduce direct Eswatini flights to Zambia. Hichilema urged enhanced regional and continental peace to actualize the aspirations of the AfCTA. “We have said before and we want to say it again that instability anywhere, is instability everywhere. There can be no meaningful socio-economic development without peace and stability,” said Hichilema, who is also chairman of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Mswati concludes a three-day visit to Zambia on Sunday, in a program that included the signing of seven agreements Friday between the two countries.

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French police arrest over 1,300 on 4th night of violent protests over killing ...

World /

Dozens of police and gendarmes injured overnight, says Interior Ministry French police arrested as many as 1,311 people across the country as violent demonstrations over the police killing of a North African teenager continued for a fourth night, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. About 45,000 police officers backed by riot vehicles were deployed to quell the protests, which included setting fire to dumpsters, cars and damaging buildings. Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old youth of North African descent, was shot at point-blank range by a police officer on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. France’s police institutions have a well-documented history of systematic racism, many minorities routinely complain about heavy-handed police tactics, discrimination, and racism. The officer faces a formal investigation for voluntary homicide and has been placed in preliminary detention. The UN has also expressed concern about the fatal police shooting, urging France to address “deep issues of racism and discrimination” in its law enforcement agencies.

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Dutch king says sorry but offers no compensation for role in slave trade

World /

Dutch King Willem-Alexander asked for forgiveness and apologized for his country’s role in the slave trade in a speech on Saturday. “Today I’m standing here in front of you as your king and as part of the government. Today I am apologizing myself,” Willem-Alexander said at an official event marking 150 years since the end of slavery in Dutch colonies. One former lawmaker claimed to a Dutch broadcaster that he started crying as the king apologized. Willem-Alexander also said he has authorised a study into the role of the royal family in slavery in the Netherlands as a study published last month showed that the royal family had earned the modern-day equivalent of 545 million euros just from the slave trade alone. Dutch PM Rutte did not offer compensation to descendants of enslaved people when he apologized last year in December for the Dutch’s role in slavery. Before the king’s speech on Saturday, Black Manifesto and The Black Archives groups marched under the banner reading “No healing without reparations.” Speaking to a US wire service, Black Archives director Mitchell Esajas said, “An apology should be tied to a form of repair and reparatory justice or reparations.” The harrowing colonial history of the Netherlands has been under renewed scrutiny following the aftermath of the race riots in the US. The Dutch’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade began in the late 1500s but it took them last than a hundred years to be a major global slave trader.

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