African Politics News – Read politics news today, political topics, and updates on African politics with coverage of government, elections, and policy developments.
Mekelle has fallen again, but peace has not followed. The Ethiopia Tigray war escalation is now pulling the whole Horn of Africa into a dangerous guessing game about who will act next. A capital retaken, a war unfinished After nearly two weeks of heavy fighting, Ethiopian federal forces entered the Tigrayan capital as rebel groups, […]
Two presidents sat down in Pretoria this week with one question on the table: can the world’s youngest nation finally go to the polls? The talks centred on South Sudan elections, which are due in December, and on the fragile peace deal that has to hold until then. What the Two Leaders Discussed President Salva […]
A High Court in Malawi has ordered government to restrain from implementing a lockdown aimed to help curb the spread of coronavirus in the southern African country. President Peter Mutharika imposed the 21-day measure earlier this week but the announcement was met by protests in parts of the country. With barely 24-hours for the measure […]
Forces backing Libya’s unity government say they have captured two strategic cities in the West of Tripoli Monday. It is a fresh blow to Eastern commander, Khalifa Haftar a year after he launched an offensive on the capital. A spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, Colonel Mohamed Gnounou, said they captured the city of Sabratha, around […]
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s embattled chief of staff will continue to stay in prison. On Saturday, the Congolese justice rejected a request for the provisional release of Vital Kamerhe, following his indictment by President Félix Tshisekedi. State prosecution accused Kamerhe of embezzling state funds through the award of contracts by mutual agreement to fictitious […]
Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila have been urged to redirect to the 36 states and the FCT, the N37b meant for the renovation of the National Assembly. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) made the appeal on Saturday to the two National Assembly leaders. It said the money will […]
Chad has announced its withdrawal from a multinational task force aimed at combating the threat of terrorist group Boko Haram, President Idris Deby Itno announced on Friday, April 10. “Our troops have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From today, no Chadian soldiers will take part in a military mission outside Chad,” Deby declared […]
Malawi’s Electoral Commission (MEC) says it is pushing ahead with voter registration for July’s presidential election re-run, despite a government-ordered suspension because of the coronavirus. Malawi has so far eight confirmed cases of the virus and one death. Health officials worry people grouped for registration and voting could easily spread the virus but the MEC […]
Cameroon’s aged president is coming under fire for his absence from the national stage as the central African country faces a burgeoning coronavirus crisis. A month after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded, 87-year-old Paul Biya has yet to address the nation — a silence that for supporters is a sign of gravitas but […]
Violent demonstrations broke out in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, Abidjan, where residents in a district protested against the citing of a coronavirus facility. The residents of Yopougon said the facility was being built in a crowded residential area. The facility was pulled down by the angry crowd in videos shared on social media. Police fired […]
Somalia’s former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has cautioned against efforts that could derail Somalia’s march towards democracy. He was weighing in on a recent incident that saw the country’s intelligence outfit label one of Somalia’s top journalists, Harun Maruf, as a national security threat. In a tweet on Monday, the 8th president of Somalia wrote: […]
The Sudanese army yesterday denied reports that it was carrying out a coup coinciding with the first anniversary of the sit-in on 6 April last year. The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted senior Sudanese sources as saying that there were moves by loyalists of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir’s regime to organise a military coup that […]
The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended the state government for its courageous, inspiring, professional and reassuring response to the coronavirus pandemic in the state. According to a statement the party’s spokesman, Mr Seye Oladejo, the APC recalled that the state government before the report of the Italian index case […]
Officials in Mali said Thursday that voter turnout for the country;‘s legislative elections was just 36 percent. Mali’s territorial administration minister, Boubacar Alpha Bah said many chose to stay away from the ballot box due to threats of violence and COVID-19 pandemic. “A total of 797 out of 22,147 polling stations could not open, accounting […]
The presidency has replied Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka over his comment that the declaration of total lockdown in Lagos and Ogun by President Muhammadu Buhari was illegal. The presidency, in a statement issued by Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu lambasted Soyinka over his comment. “Yesterday, the esteemed Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka made comments on […]
Ethiopia’s election set for August has been postponed as the national election board said Tuesday the coronavirus makes it impossible to prepare. The vote has been highly anticipated in a country that has seen sweeping political reforms in the past two years but a surge of violence as some people use the new freedoms to […]
Tunisia announced Tuesday that it will extend a lockdown to contain the novel coronavirus by two weeks as cases and deaths continue to rise. The National Security Council, which was convened under the leadership of President Kais Saied, decided to extend the quarantine from April 4 to April 19, according to a statement by the […]
Critic, Femi Fani-Kayode said he was pleased with the nationwide broadcast of President Muhammadu Buhari on coronavirus on Sunday. Buhari had on Sunday briefed the nation on the coronavirus after much pressure had been mounted on him. Fani-Kayode, a strong critic of Buhari, said he commended the president for an encouraging, responsible and inspiring national […]
Malians vote Sunday in a long-delayed parliamentary election, despite a raging terrorist conflict, the recent kidnap of a leading opposition politician and the coronavirus pandemic. Experts see the vote as a key step towards leading the West African state out of its spiral of violence and closer to a political solution to stop the bloodshed. […]
The leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) in South Africa and his whip tested positive for the coronavirus, the party said late Friday. The Reverend Kenneth Meshoe and Steve Swart attended a prayer breakfast earlier this month in Free State province where they were in contact with five international visitors. The visitors from […]