The first two cases in Uganda were confirmed in July

Tunisians are set to protest on Friday against the turmoil surrounding the upcoming elections, where candidates have been arrested, barred from voting, or banned from politics for life. The Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms aims to highlight what it sees as a “rise of authoritarianism.” Mohieddine Lagha, secretary general of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, stated that the demonstration is in response to widespread violations of rights and the exclusion of some citizens from running in the presidential election. Tensions have escalated between the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) and judges over candidate eligibility for the October 6 vote. Critics argue that the commission, appointed by President Kais Saied, is biased and lacks independence. The ISIE has rejected election observer groups and excluded three candidates who had won court appeals. Former health minister Abdellatif Mekki, now running with his own party, Work and Achievement, was arrested in July and banned from politics for life. Although a court recently ordered his reinstatement, the ISIE has not complied with the ruling. Ahmed Neffati, Mekki’s campaign manager, urged mass participation in the protest to pressure for democratic reforms, asserting that Tunisians will not forfeit their right to free elections. President Saied has recently reshuffled his cabinet and intensified crackdowns on opposition figures. The International Crisis Group has labeled the situation as “deteriorating,” while Human Rights Watch has called for the reinstatement of excluded candidates, criticizing the election process as undermining democratic rights.

During his visit to the US, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola on Friday called for global solidarity with Palestine. “We continue to call on the collective conscience of the global community to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine… to call Israel to stop the genocide that is currently unfolding” in Gaza, Lamola said at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. “We will continue to do so, despite threats that come from across the globe, because we believe we are standing on principles,” he added. “The future of the world depends on the rule of law being protected” by all nations, said Lamola, who is on his first trip to the US after being appointed in July. He arrived in Washington on Thursday for a weeklong visit, amid reports that Israeli diplomats are lobbying US lawmakers to pressure South Africa into dropping its genocide case against Tel Aviv at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). His schedule during the trip released by his spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, however, did not indicate whether Lamola will have a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart. After his appointment, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone call with Lamola to congratulate him. The two had discussed Russia’s war on Ukraine as well as Israel’s war on Gaza. “We continue to champion human rights in Gaza. We stand with the people of Palestine,” Lamola told the audience in Washington, which included US lawmakers as well as prominent diaspora members of the African community. “This has been a historic position of the South African government,” he said, recalling words of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who had said: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” – ‘Disproportionate’ response from Israel The “whole world was quiet” when South Africa took the decision to take the Gaza case to the ICJ, Lamola said. Condemning last year’s Hamas attack, he, however, said: “The state of Israel’s response to the incident of Oct. 7 is disproportionate to the offense committed.” A trained lawyer himself, Lamola said: “It is going beyond self-defense as predicated by international law and it is against this background that we went to the International Court of Justice to call for a cease-fire, to stop maiming of innocent women and children, to stop the destruction of Gaza.” The court indicated that Israel “should cease its military operations, to cease the destruction of infrastructure,” Lamola, who served as justice minister in the previous term of President Cyril Ramaphosa, said, adding: “Despite the court’s ruling Israel continues to do so.” Pointing to the conflict in Ukraine, he said South Africa’s non-alignment position was a “catalyst for peace and democratic engagements.” “We are unequivocal about sovereignty and independence of all nations,” he said stressing that unlawful occupations “should not be allowed.” Reminding the Global North about the impacts of wars, Lamola said Africans were “most affected” due to the impact on value chains, including in the supply of food. – Mutually beneficial ties with US Taking no qualms, Lamola acknowledged “differences of opinion” with the US on “certain issues.” However, striking a positive note with a call for engagement “on the basis of constructive dialogue,” he said the bilateral relations “should not be based on threats but on mutual respect.” “We believe our relationship with the US is mutually beneficial and we value this relationship,” he emphasized. And Washington, he said, “also benefits from this relationship.” “It is a relationship that must be preserved,” Lamola said. “Let us engage on differences but we may agree to disagree,” he said, addressing the Joe Biden administration. “We will not tell the US what to do and we expect the US not to tell us what to do,” the South African foreign minister said. He added: “We will remain open to be persuaded and we are hopeful that we can also persuade the US on a number of issues in various multilateral platforms and this becomes a relationship of mutual respect.”

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said Friday his government has in place a response plan, with the provision of humanitarian assistance, for Zambians hard-hit by drought from erratic rains in the previous season. In a State of the Nation Address at the opening of the fourth session of the 13th National Assembly in Lusaka, Hichilema said the government was implementing recovery and resilience interventions to mitigate the effects of climate change, after drought wiped out more than 1 million hectares of crops, affecting nearly 10 million people and 6.6 million in need of direct relief in 84 of the country’s 116 districts. Having declared that the El Nino phenomenon introduced a national disaster and emergency in February, Hichilema applauded Zambians for their resilience and patience as well as local and international partners for humanitarian support. Hichilema said his administration was committed to upholding the rule of law, respecting human rights and the Constitution, as well as the core of good governance. His administration was determined to eradicate all forms of corruption, remaining committed to a zero-tolerance policy against the vice, he said. Hichilema said all cases of corruption were being thoroughly investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law, with assorted properties worth more than 100 million Zambian Kwachas ($3.8 million) and cash amounting to $30.8 million and 56.6 million Kwachas forfeited to the state. He said through a foreign policy anchored on the pillars of peace, security and economic diplomacy; Zambia effectively presided over the Southern African Development Community Organ on Politics, Defence (SADC) and Security, fulfilling the bloc’s mandate of promoting regional peace, security and stability: ultimately creating more economic opportunities. This was in addition to successfully leading SADC electoral observer missions to Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Madagascar, Congo DR, Lesotho and South Africa. Hichilema also highlighted growth prospects in agriculture, mining, tourism, energy, manufacturing and technology, among other sectors.

Al Burhan-controlled SAF used missiles with toxic gases on a refinery in Khartoum Bahri, resulting in severe respiratory problems and casualties among workers, RSF says.

The South Sudanese government has extended the transitional period and postponed elections until 2026.

A Congo military court sentenced 37 people, including three Americans, to death for their involvement in a failed coup attempt.

A notorious bandit leader, Halilu Sububu, was killed in a military ambush in Nigeria, marking a significant victory in the fight against criminal gangs.

Cyril Ramaphosa rejects the notion of limited veto power for Africa’s potential UNSC seats, emphasizing the need for full participation and equal status for the continent.

The High Court in Nairobi sentenced Kenya’s acting police chief, Gilbert Masengeli, to six months in prison for not revealing the location of three men taken by police.

The government’s decision has sparked concerns about the country’s democratic progress.

President Cyril Ramaphosa praises departed former minister as beacon of South Africa’s fight against corruption

Stretching along the northern coast of Namibia, the Skeleton Coast is hauntingly beautiful

 Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the country’s opposition-led National Assembly on Thursday in a bid to break the tension between the legislature and the executive branch. In a national address, Faye said snap elections will be conducted on Nov. 17 this year. “By virtue of the powers conferred on me by Article 87 of the Constitution, and after consulting the Constitutional Council on the right date, the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly, on the expediency, I dissolve the National Assembly,” he said. The move came six months after Faye was elected under an opposition platform. He said the opposition-dominated legislature had made it hard for him to carry out the “systemic transformation” he promised during campaigns. He asked voters to give his Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) party a mandate. The outgoing house, elected in 2022, was dominated by members of former President Macky Sall’s Benno Bokk Yakaar (United in Hope) coalition. Tension between the executive and the legislature was reported recently after opposition lawmakers cancelled a budget debate and threatened to table a motion to censure the government. The Benno Bokk Yakaar parliamentary group criticized the dissolution, saying it was aimed at avoiding the submission of a motion to censure the government by the parliamentary majority. In a statement, the group accused President Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko of “manipulating institutions to serve their own political interests.” “This dissolution is a blatant attempt to silence the parliamentary opposition and avoid any democratic debate on the management of the country,” said Abdou Mbow, president of the majority parliamentary group.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with high-ranking representatives of BRICS countries on Thursday (Sep. 12). Russia took the rotating presidency of the group in 2024.  Putin who met with the representatives in the Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg announced a possible new wave of BRICS expansion.  “We cannot ignore the increasing interest in BRICS from many countries. Today, more than thirty countries, specifically 34, have expressed a desire to join our union in one form or another. Therefore, an active discussion has been initiated among all BRICS participants regarding the modalities for a new category of partner states.”  The meeting is part of the 2-day BRICS security summit set to discuss the parameters of the future world order. Th intergovernmental organization comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has a stated aim to build a multipolar world. Its founding members have called for a fairer world order and the reform of international institutions like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Zambia’s president fired the country’s army commander Thursday, replacing him with his deputy. “President Hakainde Hichilema has in exercise of the provisions of Article 91 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia elected not to renew the contract of appointment of Lieutenant General Sitali Dennis Alibuzwi as Zambia’s army commander. The President congratulates the outgoing army commander on his distinguished career in the Zambian Army and wishes him God’s blessings pending his redeployment in the diplomatic service,” said a statement issued in the capital Lusaka by State House Chief communications specialist Clayson Hamasaka. Hichilema swore in Major General Geoffrey Zyeele on the same day at State House in Lusaka, with Hamasaka adding that the appointment and promotion was in exercise of the provisions of Section 165 (1) of the Defense Act, Chapter 106 of the laws of Zambia and Article 91 (1) of the country’s Constitution. “The President has since appointed Major General Geoffrey Zyeele as Zambia’s army commander and has since promoted him to the substantive rank of lieutenant general in the Zambian Army,” Hamasaka further indicated. He said Hichilema had also appointed Brigadier General Luswepo Sinyinza as deputy army commander and promoted him to the substantive rank of major general. “The appointment and promotion is in exercise of the provisions of Article 91 (1) and Article 92 (2) (e) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia,” Hamasaka said.

Nearly half of Maiduguri city in Borno State is still submerged 2 days after devastating floods, says official

The RSF affirmed their willingness to cooperate fully with the investigation, stressing the importance of ensuring that the mission’s objectives are met

The victims were captured and executed in a brutal manner.

The United States has proposed a significant expansion of the UN Security Council, including the creation of two permanent seats for African nations.

The mpox outbreak has been particularly severe in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Africa is home to one of the most expansive road networks in the world, covering over 5.6 million kilometers

Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, has threatened mass protests after accusing the government of killing and abducting its members.

Urgent call from WFP for global action to address hunger crisis in Sudan as violence and climate change worsen the situation.